PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - A rare mistake by Vijay Singh on Sunday helped Padraig Harrington become the first Republic of Ireland golfer to win on the PGA Tour.
Singh missed what Harrington called a "gimme" par putt on the second hole of sudden death in the Honda Classic, allowing Harrington to rally from seven shots back for the victory at The Country Club at Mirasol.
Singh, the world's No. 2-ranked golfer, missed a 3-foot putt on the playoff hole, No. 18, after Harrington had made a 5-footer for par. Both had missed the green on the par-4 hole to the left.
"It was a shock," Harrington said Singh's miss. "I was mentally preparing to go back to the tee. It took me a couple of seconds for it to sink in. There's not much you say to a player who misses a 2-footer. You can only say, 'Hard luck.' "
Singh had won five of his past six career sudden-death playoffs.
"I'm a little disappointed," Singh said. "I hit that putt a little too hard. I should have just rolled it in; it was straight downgrain. You can't miss putts like that in playoffs."
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland has won twice on the PGA Tour, but no one from Ireland had won before Sunday. The victory came in Harrington's first year playing the PGA Tour full time. It was his 63rd career start on the tour.
"It does mean a lot to me know that I've done it," said Harrington, who won $990,000. "Nobody can take that away from me. I've worked very hard to get to this level.
"When I turned pro in 1996, I would have very happily settled to be an absolute journeyman pro on the European Tour," he said. "So I've come a long way."
The 33-year-old Harrington, who was ranked No. 8 in the world coming into this week, has nine European victories, but has finished as a runner-up 26 times in his career, including three times on the PGA Tour.
Harrington and Singh both came from way back to get into a playoff at the Honda and overtake 54-hole leaders Brett Wetterich and Geoff Ogilvy, who shot 73s to tie for sixth place.
Harrington closed with a tournament-record tying 9-under-par 63, which included birdies on 10 of the first 13 holes.
Singh, who was six back at the start of the day, had 64. They finished at 14-under 274, as did Joe Oglivie (68 on Sunday), who bowed out of the playoff with a bogey the first time around on No. 18.
Augusta's Vaughn Taylor shot 70 to tie for 65th place.
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Back
