Hot Harringtons blitz the Ritz as Singhs reign in Orlando
Harrington
PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON and his son Paddy looked inspired by Argentina's epic World Cup win over France as they closed with a sparkling 12-under 60 to finish fourth in the PNC Championship in Orlando.
Five strokes behind Justin and Mike Thomas after an opening 62, they took sneak peeks at the coverage as they birdied five of their first seven holes before following a lone bogey at the par-three eighth with a blistering homeward nine of eight-under 28.
As Tiger Woods and his son Charlie shot 65 to finish tied eighth on 20-under, the Dublin duo started for home with seven straight birdies before finishing with a birdie to set the clubhouse target at 22-under.
They eventually finished four shots behind Vijay and Qass Singh, who shot 59 to win by two shots on 26-under from the Thomases, who shot 63, and holders John and John Daly II, who also shot 59.
"We did watch a bit of football while we played, yes," Harrington Snr said. "Great game. Golf, certainly for me, for one, Paddy for two, when you're enjoying it, you play better. That's the way it is. We were reasonably relaxed. Definitely felt like Ronan, my caddie, had already entered the festive spirits. He was giddy all day.
"That's what this event is about, really. It's not just to play with our kids. We are obviously here to have an enjoyable experience and we did."
The three-time Major winner took the blame for their costly bogey on the eighth, but he heaped praise on his eldest son for his contribution to their best finish in their fifth appearance in the season-ending event.
"He's just getting better," Harrington said. "He's hitting lots of shots; the two wedges in the first two holes were his wedge shots closer. He holed a lot of putts."
He added: “He didn't play four rounds of golf this year. That was our fun fact. I won more tournaments this year than he played rounds of golf.
“He had exams. He knows if you want to get better, he needs a golfing brain now,. He can hit it fine. But you've got to play a lot to have a golfing brain.“
More golf with Dad is apparently not the secret.
“You've got to learn some things yourself,” Harrington said. “Get out there and figure it out yourself is the best way. Dig it out of the dirt.”
Meanwhile, Gary Hurley is looking forward to recharging for 2023 after completing "a fairytale year" with a career-best tie for 14th in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Frenchman Antoine Rozner (29) closed with a five-under 67 at Mont Choisy Le Golf to turn a two-shot overnight lead into a five-stroke win over Spain's Alfred Garcia Heredia on 19-under par.
But Hurley was almost as pleased after he recovered from a two-over outward nine and birdied four of his last seven holes for a closing 70 and a tie for 14th on seven-under (€14,700).
The West Waterford man (29), who had no status on any tour 12 months ago, heads into the winter break ranked 44th in the Race to Dubai after making his first three cuts as a rookie since winning his card at the Q-School in November.
"It's been an amazing year for me," Hurley said. "I started on the Alps Tour this year. I had no status on the Challenge Tour. I had a few invites there and did quite well in a few of them and then I went to Q- School and got my card. It was a fairytale year from the outside looking in really.
"Me and my team, we've been working really hard. We're not surprised I got through Q-School. It's a difficult thing to do, of course, but I've been playing really well all year and managed to control myself and my emotions really well that week and gave myself every chance and it happened to be enough. This year I get to play on the DP World Tour. It's a big jump. So it's brilliant. I'm happy."
Holywood's Tom McKibbin, who turns 20 today, closed with an eagle three for a final round 72 to tie for 40th on one-over and move to 33rd in the Race to Dubai after making four cuts made from four.
As for Rozner, he carded an eagle and three birdies to stretch his lead to five strokes at the turn, then safely parred the next seven holes in breezy conditions before a bogey-birdie finish helped him forget his play-off defeat to Rasmus Højgaard in Mauritius three years ago.
"Unbelievable," an emotional Rozner said after his third win on the DP World Tour and first since the 2021 Qatar Masters. "It's a tough game. We practise so hard all year long and a win is a win and I'm so glad I got this done. It's so hard to win, so I'm just so happy."
