Padraig Harrington finishes strongly for share of lead in Malaysia
He might have played a role in Europe's Ryder Cup victory a few weeks ago, but Padraig Harrington is still looking for his first individual win of the season - and he may just be about to claim it in Malaysia.
The Irishman shares the lead with Australia's Marcus Both and Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the first round of the Iskandar Johor Open, all three men currently eight-under-par 64. But Harrington left it very late to vie for the lead, the Dubliner carding two eagles in the final three holes to propel himself up the leaderboard.
"It was nice to finish eagle, par, eagle. That’s a rare thing to do. It certainly bumped up my score," said a cheerful Harrington. "It’s a long way to go yet. You can always lose it on a Thursday but in regards to winning it, there’s a lot of work to be done.
"It was a tough day with the wind. It was an awkward day and it’s nice to return a score like that. I got the breaks and holed a few putts. At the end of the day, if you’re going to shoot a 64, you’ve got to hole a few putts. I certainly holed two nice ones on 16 and 18 and holed three 15 footers as well."
There are a lack of household names at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Johor Bahru, with promising Korean Noh Seung-Yul in fourth place on six-under, tied with countryman Lee Sung. But one or two familiar names are still in the mix, with South Africa's Retief Goosen currently four strokes off the pace on four-under.
The Scot who masterminded Europe's victory at Celtic Manor earlier this month was in action too, Colin Montgomerie coming home two-under-par as he starts his bid to turn his game around in earnest. The one-time world No. 2 has sunk to a world ranking of 425th as his game has deteriorated in recent years, but success in Wales may have galvanised the famously grumpy Glaswegian.
Earlier at a pre-tournament press junket, Monty had told reporters: "I really want to get my world ranking back. I feel I can get back into the top 50."
"I really want to try to play in the Ryder Cup again [and] everybody who played, all 24, [at Celtic Manor] all of them were top 50 in the world."
After missing out on Valhalla in 2008 when the USA beat Nick Faldo's European team, Monty would appear to be h**l-bent on facing the Yanks on their home turf again in 2012. It would take some doing to get there; maybe Monty, who will be 49 by the time of the next Ryder, can hope for a wildcard pick?
Just hopefully not at Paul Casey's expense.
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