Padraig Harrington arrived back home to Dublin today after a long haul overnight from Singapore spoilt by the nightmare of his defence of the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia – Report by Bernie McGuire, Haikou, China.
In any other season Harrington would have been delighted with a share of third place.
But then this is not any other season with Harrington still starting at one of his poorest-ever years.
Needing an eagle to force a play-off with Dutchman Joost Luiten, Harrington sent his second shot into thick rough on the edge of a water hazard and under the lip of a retaining wall to the left of the island-like par five 18th green on the Horizon Hills course.
Harrington’s chip shot was short while his birdie attempt to share second place with Sweden’s Daniel Chopra was also wide of the mark in an eventual round of 69 to be among a trio on 13-under par.
Padraig Harrington stiding to disappointment in Johor. (Photo - Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
Harrington was the last player in the rain-shortened event to leave the scorer’s hut and no sooner had he done so and he was his phoning wife, Caroline despite it being 4.30am Sunday morning in Ireland.
He and caddy, Ronan Flood then made their way back over the Straits Causeway Bridge and onto to Singapore’s Changi Airport for the long flight home to Dublin.
Desperately needing to qualify for the season-ending Dubai World Championship, Harrington moved from 76th to 65th place on the Race to Dubai but still five places shy of his goal
“The biggest disappointment is that a birdie at the last would have got me into the Race to Dubai and while I’ll take sharing third, the move on the Race to Dubai is near irrelevant,” he said before leaving Johor.
“So I’m still about Euro 50,000 short.
“In any other year a third place is not bad and I would be happy with that but in the bigger picture, and when I reflect back on the week, I should have been so many shots better this week.
“I know I will be thinking about them a lot before I go to sleep on the flight back home.”
Harrington’s European Tour winless streak now stands a run of 49 events over the past three years and three months.
The Dubliner’s career longest European Tour stretch without success is 103 events in between capturing the 1996 Spanish Open and his maiden Tour title, and victory in Brazil and a week prior to the 2000 U.S. Masters.
His next event will be the December 1st starting UBS Hong Kong Open, an event he captured in 2004 and what will be his last chance of playing in all four year end events in Dubai.
He will tee up in suburban Fanling Euro 36,257 behind Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher who is in 60th place.
It means, Harrington who captured the 2004 UBS Hong Kong Open, needs to either repeat that success or, at worst, finish inside the top-10 to guarantee the one last event of his season in Dubai.
