Timing detracts from epic Woods/Harrington duel

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It was the matchup we’ve all been drooling over for more than a year. Ever since Padraig Harrington won the first of his three majors at the 2007 Open, the world of golf has been willing the Irishman to go down the stretch with world number one, Tiger Woods.

Last weekend it happened. In the final round of the WGC World Championship event in Akron, Ohio, Harrington and Woods played in the final pairing on Sunday. The fact that Harrington started Sunday three shots ahead of Woods, just made it even more intriguing, and bookmakers were making it 50-50 as to who would win at the start of play.

First blood went to Tiger when he eagled the par-5 2nd from 35 feet, and Harrington had to hole a tricky 7-footer, just to retain a one-shot lead. After making pars at the first 10 holes, the Irishman then birdied the 11th and was still a shot ahead of Woods on the 16th tee.

An unbelievable turnaround then occurred when Harrington made a triple-bogey 8, after chipping his fourth shot from the edge of the green back into the water at the front, only moments after Tiger had put his third (an 8-iron from 178 yards) to one foot. A four-shot swing on the hole effectively meant game over.

Both players had been put on the clock on the 16th tee by referee John Paramour, and afterwards Tiger made it clear he thought this was unnecessary and detracted a bit from their epic fight. As he shook hands with Padraig he said “I’m sorry that John got in the way of such a great battle.”

But Harrington refused to blame the incident on his collapse. “It’s an awkward situation,” he said. “There are rules and the players make the rules and we’ve got to apply them. I got out of position and just got myself out of the zone.”

Despite the result, it was hugely entertaining to watch and a perfect preview to this week’s tournament, the USPGA Championship at Hazeltine. The organising body of the fourth major, the PGA of America, will be doing well if they produce a tournament which is half as good…

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