Harrington three strokes off pace in Georgia
Padraig Harrington moved to within three strokes of the leader Zach Johnson of America after a third round 67 took him into a share of second place alongside another American Scott Hend on 206, ten under par, in the BellSouth Classic at the TPC at Sugarloaf, Georgia.
Harrington, runner up in The Players Championship to fellow European Tour Member Adam Scott of Australia after coming within a shot of forcing a play-off when he finished the TPC at Sawgrass with six threes last week, is once again in contention for his first US PGA Tour title after recovering from a triple bogey seven on the fifth with eight birdies elsewhere on the course.
Two early birdies had lifted Harrington to within two strokes of Johnson but minutes later he had fallen back into a share of 14th. After pulling his tee shot on the fifth he was forced to take a penalty drop and then hit his third into sand on the other side of the fairway. He elected to lay up short of the creek with his next shot and then took three more to get down for a seven.
But the Dubliner, the current leader of The Ryder Cup World Points List, knuckled down and stated chipping away at the lead. A birdie on the difficult ninth took him out in 36 and then he hit the flag with a bunker shot on the tenth, holing from four feet for a birdie. A magnificent seven iron to three feet on the 11th set up another birdie before he finished with a flourish, birdieing the 14th, 16th and 18th holes to lie joint second.
"It would be important to win on the US PGA Tour," Harrington said. "But I'm not putting pressure on myself to do it (here) or anything like that. We'll wait and see how it goes."
Johnson, a US PGA Tour rookie who led the Nationwide Tour money list in 2003, posted a four under par 68 to keep the chasing pack at arms length. Hend, another US Tour rookie who made his first cut in six starts this week, also shot a 68 to join Harrington on 206.
European Tour Member, Peter Lonard of Australia, moved into a three way tie for sixth place on seven under par 209 following a third round 69 in the final event before the Masters Tournament, the first Major Championship of the season.
