‘Youngster’ Harrington dominating Saucon Valley, leading the Senior Open by 5 strokes after three rounds
Harrington heads to the final round of the Senior Open with a 5-stroke lead.
BETHLEHEM – Padraig Harrington is one of the youngsters on the PGA Tour Champions, still 50 years old for another two months. And he’s showing everyone at the U.S. Senior Open that he still can hit the ball nearly as long as he did as a PGA Tour player.
Harrington capitalized on the par-5′s on the Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club again Saturday, posting an eagle on one of them and birdies on the other two, and enters the final round of the 42nd national championship for seniors with a 5-stroke lead.
The citizen of Ireland shot a 5-under 66 on a toasty day in the Lehigh Valley, good for a 54-hole score of 11-under 202. Gene Sauers, the 2016 Senior Open champion, and former New York club professional Rob Labritz were tied for second at 207.
The winner of two British Opens and a PGA Championship, Harrington has played the par-5s in 9-under through three rounds. At the 608-yard 12th hole Saturday, he powered a 5-wood from 269 yards to about 10 feet and sank the putt for an eagle 3 to get to 12-under and a 7-shot lead at the time.
He also birdied the 547-yard first hole with a one-putt, and reached the 568-yard sixth hole in two and 2-putted for a birdie.
“I have an advantage on those holes,” said Harrington, who is averaging about 297 yards on his tee shots. “So if I don’t take that advantage, it feels bad for me. When you don’t do it, it gets you down a bit. It was nice for once to make not just a birdie, but an eagle.”
Harrington extended his streak to 42 holes without a bogey dating back to the eighth hole of Thursday’s opening round before the run ended at the par-4 15th.
Sauers, 59, birdied his final two holes for a 68 and earned a spot in the final pairing with Harrington. He knows he has his work cut out for him.
“Padraig is tearing it up,” he said. “He’s playing a 6,500-yard golf course and I’m playing a 7,500-yard golf course.”
Labritz, 51, in his first year on the Champions Tour, fired his third consecutive 69 and might be having the most fun of any contestant, interacting with the crowd and taking video with his IPhone.
“All these people are watching, it’s so cool,” he said.
Ernie Els shot a 67 and moved into fourth place at 209. Steve Stricker, who trailed Harrington by one at the start of the day, struggled to a 73 and was tied for fifth at 210 with 68-year-old Jay Haas and Steven Alker, the leading money winner on the Champions tour.
Defending champion Jim Furyk, who made the cut of 5-over 147 on the number, bounced back Saturday with a 66 that included an eagle at No. 10, where he drove the green and sank a 30-footer. He’s part of a seven-man group tied for 15th at even par 213.