Harrington goes wrong direction on moving day
Padraig Harrington started and finished with a bogey to all but kiss goodbye his chances of winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
The world No 33 carded a disappointing, three over par 73 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club to slip from tied fourth overnight to 29th on four under par.
Harrington is now eight strokes behind leader and playing partner Steve Marino, who carded an eagle, two birdies and five bogeys in a nervy 71 to head the field by a stroke on 12 under par from Jimmy Walker and Bryce Molder.
Starting on the par-five 10th, Harrington drove out of bounds and did well to make a birdie with his second ball to limit the damage to a bogey six.
He bounced back straight away with a two at the par three 11th but failed to birdie the par-five 12th after a driving into a fairway bunker and then dropped another stroke at the 16th, where he again found sand off the tee.
Things didn’t improve on the way home and after a bogey at the par-four fourth, where a poor second forced him to take a penalty drop, he closed with another bogey at the par-three ninth.
Harrington spent his winter break working a host of swing and routine changes. He is still trying to work them seamlessly into his game but he also wants to start contending for titles again before the first major of the season at Augusta National in April.
“To be honest, I’d like to get back in the mix before then,” Harrington said after Friday’s round. “So, in some ways, every week is a big week now. I haven’t won over here for a while.”
Leader Steve Marino, who was playing alongside Harrington for the first three days, bogeyed the 11th and 12th but retrieved those shots with birdies at the 15th and second before putting in a rollercoaster finish.
After a bogey at the fifth, he eagled the par-five sixth, but then bogeyed the short seventh and ninth holes to see his four-stroke overnight lead reduced to just one.
Phil Mickelson birdied three of his last five holes at Pebble Beach to move up to tied 11th on seven under - just five off the pace - and then jetted home to San Diego to attend his daughter’s recital.
Bryce Molder and EMC executive Harry You lead the pro-am competion by a shot from DA Points and actor Bill Murray on 29 under par with Marino and Irish businessman Dermot Desmond tied for seventh on 23 under.
Harrington and partner JP McManus posted a seven under 63 but failed by four shots to make the cut for the top 20 teams who will tee it up on the final day at Pebble Beach Golf Links.