Padraig Harrington is a winner on the PGA TOUR again! Although Harrington’s last victory was at the Indonesian Open on the Asian Tour at the end of last year, the three-time Major Championship winner hadn’t won on the PGA TOUR in more than six years. That win in Indonesia did a world of good for his confidence though – during a Monday finish at The Honda Classic, he sank a clutch 15-foot birdie putt in the 72nd hole to force a playoff and ended up beating 21-year-old rookie Daniel Berger on the second playoff hole. The win also brings him back to Augusta National for The Masters.
This year’s Honda Classic was heavily delayed by weather – the final round took two days to complete! The weather and conditions definitely made it difficult to score. It was a pretty crowded leaderboard with Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Paul Casey (who was in a playoff last week as well), Padraig Harrington and Daniel Berger all having a chance to win.
Ian Poulter and Paul Casey were the leaders heading into Round 4. After a series of mishits by Poulter, including a triple bogey on hole 14, his chances of victory or even joining a playoff were eliminated. He had a couple of shanks and loose shots this tournament, but overall, it was a decent week that he can build off of heading into the rest of the season. Both he and Casey would finish T3 for the tournament.
On an interesting note, for two consecutive weeks, the 297 ranked player in the world has won on the PGA TOUR – James Hahn at the Northern Trust Open and now, Padraig Harrington. In the video above, watch Padraig’s second playoff hole and the tee shot that clinched his sixth PGA TOUR victory! Players now prepare to tee it up for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral or at the Puerto Rico Open.
Source: The Honda Classic
