Fisher holds off Harrington to take Irish Open
Call him a Houdini if you like, but Padraig Harrington’s magic couldn’t unseat the strong play from Ross Fisher at this weekend’s Irish Open in Killarney.
Fans – over 81,000 through the weekend – turned out in droves to watch Harrington, along with fellow Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, chase Fisher, who after posting a 61 on Friday, conceded the lead only once before finishing at 18-under 266.
“It feels really good," said Fisher, whose final round 65 capped off a strong weekend. "This is what we play for. We want to give ourselves a chance come Sunday and I'm no different. I want to go out there and win golf tournaments. I knew it was going to be a tough day. I just hung in there and stayed patient and holed some nice putts."
After Saturday’s par-71 left Fisher with only a one-stroke advantage heading into the final round – he’d entered Saturday up three strokes, narrowly missing 59 a day earlier – a double bogey on the third left him one stroke back of Richard Green and Francisco Molinari. He’d recover on the fifth, draining a long-birdie putt before taking an outright lead on the seventh with an 18-footer for eagle. Back-to-back birdies coming out of turn gave Fisher a three-stroke cushion and that’s when Harrington brought out the heroics for what seemed like the umpteenth time that weekend.
Leading up to his late round push, Harrington had been scrambling through the Open with surreal success.
It started in round two on the back nine. Heading into the turn at two-under after back-to-back birdies on eight and nine, he teed a shot into the trees on the 11th and bogey seemed likely after an approach that left him 20 feet from the pin. Harrington would hole the putt but his efforts were overshadowed only three holes later when he hit a long putt so hard that the ball rimmed off the back of the cup, hopped a few inches into the air and bounced off the front rim before dropping.
He got at it again on the 17th with a shot into the ferns that he would hack out cleanly and chip in to stay level and well within striking distance of Fisher, finishing the day in a tie for third and only five back.
Saturday was no different for the Irishman: a hooked tee shot on the fourth left him behind a tree, a double bogey on the eighth left him behind the pack, but a 40-footer on the 18th saved par and garnered much applause from a crowd who had taken him on as the ‘hometown’ favourite.
Many thought he would do it again on Sunday after a birdie on the 15th followed by a nine-foot eagle putt on the 16th knotted him up with Fisher at 16-under, but the Englishman would drain consecutive birdies on the same holes to pull out the two-stroke victory.
"That (par) putt on 17 was huge,” said Fisher, whose Birdie putt on the 17th ran well by the hole, leaving par in question. “If I come up the (to the last hole) one ahead, it could have been a different story. It was nice to a have a two-shot gap and be able to hit four- iron off the tee."
Harrington, meanwhile, was left feeling unsure of a tournament that had it’s ups and downs.
"Overall, I had a lot of chances. I've been comfortable with my game for a while, but I just have to trust it a little more. I should not get so stressed, I just have to let it happen a bit more."
Notables
Green and Molinari, who had been trailing Fisher most of the weekend, struggled in the final round of the event. Green bogeyed the final two holes to finish fifth while Molinari posted three bogeys on Sunday and ended the day in eighth. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Chris Wood finished the tournament at 14-under 266 to share third place.
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