Pádraig Harrington takes one-shot lead at Senior Open despite ‘a weird day'
is hunting down more silverware as the 53-year-old Dubliner – winner of the US Senior Open last month – claimed the halfway lead in the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Sunningdale where a bogey-free second-round 65 for a 36-holes total of seven-under-par 133 gave him a one-stroke lead over Thomas Bjorn and KJ Choi.
Five birdies, combined with some feats of escapology when occasionally in trouble, most especially a remarkable approach from gorse on the 16th, enabled Harrington – who hit the opening tee shot at last week's 153rd Open at Royal Portrush – to navigate a route to the top of the leaderboard.
Falling acorns, bugs landing on his foot and leaves drifting by on his backswing were among the unusual incidents in what Harrington described as 'a weird day' where he kept his focus and strategically worked his way around the tight, heathland course in Berkshire.
'I rode my luck a lot today. Got my head in the game. Did a lot of good stuff mentally. Short game was sharp ... but I did a good job, where I should make a score, I scored, and then I got in trouble on plenty of other holes. Hit some recovery shots and managed my game, but I never showed much confidence out there at all in my swing,' said Harrington, who outlined the 'crazy' things that also happened:
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'As I was teeing off on seven, I was nearly hit by acorn coming out of the tree. On that par-5 a bug landed right down by my shoe as I took my backstroke and completely, like, distracted me.
'Then on 17 it was actually a leaf. I didn't know what it was. Came in front of my ball and I nearly topped it. I had a weird day in many ways. They didn't cost me. I wouldn't want to play like that [over the weekend], I would like to score like that the next two days.'
In the ISPS Handa Scottish Women's Open,
Leona Maguire
shot a second-round 71 to add to her opening 67 for a midway total of six-under-par 138 in tied-eighth. That left her six shots adrift of midway leader Lottie Woad – recent winner of the KPMG Irish Open – playing in her first tournament as a professional.
Woad's 65 is the best round so far and leaves here two shots clear of world number one Nelly Korda and Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who both carded 66s.
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Irish Independent
9 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘I'm thrilled, euphoric, that I've gotten it done' – Padraig Harrington makes history with Senior Open win at Sunningdale
As Kilfenora schoolteacher Keane (25) became the first Lahinch man to win the Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland title for 57 years in west Clare, Harrington (53) joined Gary Player, Bob Charles, Tom Watson and Darren Clarke in an exclusive club at Sunningdale's Old Course. Thirty years after he lost his second successive South of Ireland final at Lahinch, Harrington closed with a three-under 67 to win by three shots from Justin Leonard and Thomas Bjorn on 16 under par. 'Right now I'm just thrilled to have won the tournament and gone out there and played well,' said two-time Open champion Harrington, who claimed his third senior major and became just the third man after Player and Bernhard Langer to win the Senior Open and the US Senior Open in the same season. Conscious that his days of winning might be running short, he added: 'I think that will seep in. I know you were talking about how I won The Open, to win the Senior Open, there's only five players, so you want to be in that category. 'I think they are the sort of things that you realise over the next couple of days, the significance of it. I'm thrilled, euphoric, that I've gotten it done. 'There are some great names on the trophy. I was watching it coming out last night. I was looking up inside at the board that has all the winners. It's a deep sense of satisfaction. I'm kind of on a high of winning, but then there will be that deep sense of satisfaction knowing that you've done both. 'And especially you come to this stage, there's only a certain window. You know, you can win later on as a senior but the window, they say, sort of up to about 55, 56, so you want to get it done. 'And having had a couple of second places, I didn't want to leave it too long. It would start becoming a problem if you don't win it too soon, and I'm glad I got mine.' More than 500 miles away in Co Clare, Keane claimed an emotional win at Lahinch, making a five-footer for birdie on the 18th green ringed by hundreds of local supporters to beat Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty one up and become the first local Lahinch member since watching his boyhood coach JD Smyth in 1968 to capture the coveted 'South'. "I don't know what to say," Keane reflected after a day when he beat Edmondstown's Liam Abom 2&1 in the semi-finals and 2018 champion Rafferty played the first five holes in five-under en route to a 5&3 win over Grange's Jake Whelan. "Absolutely delighted. This has been my dream since ever I joined this golf club, and for it to come true, it's absolutely unbelievable. Just thrilled. Thrilled.' Two up at the turn, Keane was just one up after 11 holes but after winning the 12th to go two up again, he lost the 15th and 16th. Pegged back to all square, there was a chance the dream could evaporate but after making a nerveless eight-footer for par at the 17th to remain all flat, he drilled a 240 yard five-iron to 50 feet at the 18th and two putted for birdie and victory as Rafferty failed to get up and down from short of the green. He dropped his putter and put his hands over his eyes in disbelief as his father, Johnny, and mother, Mary, ran onto the 18th green to envelop him in an emotional embrace. Chaired from the green by his supporters, he recalled afterwards how he was out of the game for nearly three years with a back injury. But thanks to medical attention from two Lahinch Golf Club members, doctors Gerry O'Sullivan and Conor O'Brien, and seven months of strength and conditioning work with former champion Robbie Cannon, he came back stronger than ever in 2023 before going on to achieve his dream. "I have to give credit to those three men there for helping me come back from that injury," he said as mentor Smyth gave him some final words of advice before he headed out to make the sweetest of victory speeches. It was also a special day for England's Lottie Woad, who closed with a four-under 68 to win the ISPS HANDA Scottish Women's Open and her first LPGA Tour title on her professional debut. 'Yeah, I think it's quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,' said Woad, who romped to a six-shot win in the KPMG Women's Irish Open as an amateur last month. She won by three shots on 21 under from Korea's Hyo Joo Kim while Leona Maguire shot 71 to tie for 16th in six under heading into this week's AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl.
The Journal
10 hours ago
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Padraig Harrington wins Senior Open
LAST UPDATE | 34 mins ago The 42 PADRAIG HARRINGTON HAS won the Senior Open by three stokes after a final day round of 67 at Sunningdale Old Course in Berkshire. The 53-year-old won the US Senior Open for the second time last month and has been a runner-up at the Senior Open in 2022 and 2023. Harrington finished on 16-under overall this weekend, three clear of Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and the American Justin Leonard on 13-under. Advertisement The Dubliner's 67 today followed rounds of 65 yesterday, 65 on Friday and 67 on Thursday. Final leaderboard More to follow . . . Written by The 42 and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here .
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Jonathan Keane becomes first Lahinch local to win South of Ireland in 57 years
Jonathan Keane became the first Lahinch local to win the Pierse Motors South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship since 1968 on Sunday. The 25-year-old claimed a 1 up victory over Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty, the 2018 champion before emotional scenes in front of hundreds of spectators surrounding the 18th green in Lahinch. Keane was embraced by family and friends as well as JD Smyth, who won this tournament 57 years ago. Jonathan Keane celebrates after winning the South of Ireland with the last local winner JD Smyth. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'Absolutely delighted, this has been my dream since I joined this golf club and for it to come true it's absolutely unbelievable. Just thrilled,' said Keane. READ MORE 'I felt good over it [the putt on 18] because I have had that putt loads of times before, that back left pin. Just knew what to do. I wasn't feeling any nerves or anything, just feeling 100 per cent confident. 'It was just shock for about five seconds.' Rafferty had all of the experience coming into the final but it was Keane who took the early advantage winning the third and fourth holes. They traded holes before the end of the front nine and Keane took a 2up lead into the turn. The crowd continued to swell as the afternoon wore on and the tension grew in an enthralling contest. Rafferty got one back on 11 but the Kilfenora man bounced right back on 12. When Rafferty won 15 and 16 it looked as though he would push on but Keane held his nerve on 17 to sink an eight-foot putt. His brilliance on 18 left him with six feet for the win and he duly obliged before massive celebrations. Keane spoke about spending almost three years out of the game with herniated discs, from too much gym work and trying to drive the ball an absolute mile, the 'Bryson DeChambeau effect', he said. 'Some nights you'd be waking up with pain, couldn't fall asleep. So it's just unbelievable now that I've come back from that and managed to win the competition I've always dreamt of.'
