Golf: Harrington’s hoping to be a diamond geezer
A real gem of a shot - in every sense - has given Padraig Harrington the chance of a day he will never forget tomorrow. And one his wife won’t either.
In front of his home fans at the K Club in Kildare, Harrington hit a 259-yard five-wood to eight feet on the final hole and sank the eagle putt to leave himself just two behind Swede Mikael Lundberg with a round to play in the £2m Smurfit European Open.
Having also eagled the 568-yard fourth, Harrington is both 10 under par for the tournament and 10 under for the four par-fives on the course.
And the significance of that statistic is that a diamond worth nearly £100,000 is on offer if he can get to 14 under for them in the final round.
‘‘I’ve been paying attention,’’ he said.
‘‘If you see me with about 260 to the pin on 18 on the last day I will probably hit driver.
‘‘I’ll be going hard for it - I’m under instructions to.’’
Wife Caroline already has in her possession another diamond worth around £2,000, Harrington’s reward for playing the par fives better than anyone else on the first two days.
Lundberg, three clear at halfway, resumed shakily with two bogeys, but a closing two-putt birdie kept the 27-year-old tour rookie on course for the massive £333,330 first prize.
Joint second on 11 under are another Swede, Jarmo Sandelin, and Norwegian Henrik Bjornstad - respectively 143rd and 116th on this season’s Order of Merit.
Lundberg has slipped quietly to 42nd, but if he hangs on to win he will be in the top five and also close to securing a Ryder Cup debut.
