Poor finish hurts Harrington as Dunne and Lowry salvage bad days
A bogey finish on 18 for Pádraig Harrington at Pebble Beach
He might have finished the day in the top 30 and four shots ahead of his compatriots but Pádraig Harrington's poor finish left him far more disappointed than Paul Dunne and Shane Lowry in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
All three played the iconic host course in perfect conditions on Friday. But while it looked like it would be a day to forget for both Dunne and Lowry, late birdies helped them keep their hopes of making today's 54-hole cut alive as Harrington took four to get down from just short of the 18th, three putting for bogey and a one under 71.
After struggling for much of a long day, Dunne's mood may have brightened a tad when he holed a pair of 10 footers for birdies at the 17th and 18th for a four over 76 that left him tied for 75th with Lowry, who picked up shots at the 14th and 17th for a 72, on level par.
They're 11 strokes behind Sung Kang of Korea, who came to his 18th at Monterey Peninsula needing a birdie two for a 59 only to struggle for par and a record 60 and a share of the halfway lead with Japan's Hiroshi Iwata, who shot 66 at Pebble Beach.
As it turned out, Kang was blissfully unaware that he had a chance to shoot 59.
Kang and Iwata lead by one from Phil Mickelson, who shot 65 at Monterey Peninsula, Sweden's Freddie Jacobson who shot 69 at the Spyglass Hills Course where the three Irish must do battle today, and Chez Reavie, who carded a 70 at Pebble Beach.
Paul Dunne birdies the 18th
But on the evidence of their play on Friday, it wasn't difficult to work out who was the more disappointed of the three.
"It's obviously a disappointing finish," Harrington told Sky Sports. "I made a few mistakes — chipped and three-putted the last, for example. And I had an easy chip and putt on 16. But to be honest, I hit it poorly on the range this week so when I've gone on the golf course, I haven't had much confidence. I have been working it around rather than freeing up, let's say."
After birdies at the second, sixth and 10th (chip in), left him inside the top 10 on six under, Harrington was hoping to pick up another shot or two on the back nine but couldn't keep it going.
"It was pretty good up until the 16th, I was quite happy and thinking on the last five holes with a few sand wedges, if I could make a birdie or two, eight under par is right in the tournament and I went the other way."
Despite the beautiful sunshine and light winds, the course was no pushover, as Dunne and Lowry could attest.
Dunne started the day at four under par but he struggled with his technique from the start with bogeys at the first two holes appearing to irritate him greatly.
He had to scramble for pars at the third and fourth but then bogeyed the par-three fifth following a bunkered tee shot and followed a birdie four at the sixth with a bogey at the ninth.
Out in 39, he bogeyed the 12th, 14th and 16th to go one over for the tournament and five over fo the day before fine birdies at the 17th and 18th eased some of the pain.
Padraig Harrington reads a putt for JP McManus at Pebble Beach
Lowry, who played with Dermot Desmond alongside Harrington and JP McManus, was also out of sorts.
While he holed a good putt for birdies at the first and chipped close for another at the sixth, he made a poor bogey at the par-five second, missed a short putt for par at the eighth and dropped another shot at the ninth with a poor second from the fairway.
Another bogey at the 12th left him thinking about the cut line at two over par but he holed a seven footer for a birdie at the 13th and a 11 footer for a two at the 17th to undo some of the damage.
In the pro-am, Harrington and Desmond are tied 56th on nine under (66-68) with Dunne and Peter Dawson (62-73) tied 64th and Lowry and Desmond (68-68) tied 77th. Pro-Am scores
