Advertisement

Harrington in the hunt for second Irish Open

Triple Major winner Padraig Harrington is on target to become only the second Irish-born golfer to capture two Irish Open titles. The 43-year old Dubliner continued to impress in difficult weather conditions and despite bogeying his closing two holes, Harrington stayed within a shot of the clubhouse lead at two under par on the Royal County Down in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. The duo of Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger each carded four under par 67s to lead the 2.5m euro event at three under par. However strong winds and continuing intermittent showers again played havoc with the field with a number of former Irish Open winners and leading European stars certain to miss the halfway cut. World number seven Sergio Garcia, who captured the event and his first European Tour title in 1999, shot scores of 75 and 79 for a 12-over par total while Irish Open defending champion, Mikko Ilonen of Finland carded rounds of 75 and 77. Top-ranked French golfer Victor Dubuisson, and a member of last year’s victorious European Ryder Cup team, recorded just one birdie but also five bogeys, a double bogey, a triple bogey and also a quadruple bogey in a round of 84 for a shock 16-over par tally. Harrington teed-up three days after missing out by a stroke in making a US Open qualifying play-off last Monday at Walton Heath. The current World No. 86 can still earn his way into the June 18th commencing US Open at Chambers Bay in Washington State by finishing top-three this week in Northern Ireland. However he was left disappointed after having moved to seven under par after 10 holes to complete his closing eight holes in five over par. "I clearly would have preferred to finish on seven or eight under par and move away from the field but then there will be a lot of people who will make the cut still feeling they have a chance of winning now that I've come back to the field," he said. "So I'm disappointed with my finish today as I was very comfortable through 28 holes. "I had a putt to go eight under par and everything was easy at that stage. "What I went through over the last six or seven holes is what most of the players are going through all the time, so I feel bad, but then it seems to be the way that most of the course is playing for most of the guys. "Hopefully, I've had my bad run but then I have to be pleased to be in contention." Irish golfing great Harry Bradshaw is the only Irishman to win two Irish Open titles in 1947 and 1949. Wiesberger capped his round with back-to-back birdies at his seventh and eighth holes before eagling his ninth as he seeks a third European Tour title but a first in three years. Ramsay is chasing a second victory this season after capturing the Hassan 11 Trophy in Morocco earlier this season and despite the difficult wet and cold conditions says he warms to golf in Ireland. "I've always tended to play well in Ireland for some reason," he said. "I seem to also get a lot of support here while Ireland is just full of some fantastic golf courses. "So you put those two ingredients together and only good things come from it." World number one Rory McIlroy was out in the afternoon half of the draw and commencing his round at nine over par but desperate also as tournament host not to miss an Irish Open cut for a third time in succession.