Disaster at 16th costs Harrington

GROTESQUE, UNBELIEVABLE, bizarre. Pádraig Harrington caressed a historic victory in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last night only to see the title slip sickeningly from his grasp and into a watery grave at Firestone Country Club.

Two behind with eight to play after an incredible Woods charge on the front nine, the resurgent Dubliner found himself one in front with just three to go when he birdied the 11th and then saw Woods bogey the 13th and 14th to hand him the lead on 11-under par.

But it all ended for the Dubliner with a horrendous triple bogey eight on the 667-yard, par-five 16th and he eventually carded a two-over-par 72 to a five-under-par 65 for Woods, who claimed a four-stroke win and his 70th PGA Tour win and his 16th WGC victory from 30 starts on 12 under par from Harrington and Robert Allenby.

Sweet 16 it wasn’t.

Both men had sprayed their drives at the downhill par-five, Woods to the left and Harrington to the right. But while the Dubliner’s attempted lay-up found an awkward lie on the grassy face of a fairway bunker, Woods safely found the fairway and then hit the kind of shot that makes him the best player inthe world.

Faced with a 182-yard third over water, he hit a towering eight iron that screwed back to a foot and watched Harrington implode in stomach-churning fashion.

With 159 yards to the pin and standing with one foot in the sand, the Dubliner’s ball plummeted into rough over the green from where he chipped his fourth across the slope and into the lake. After a penalty drop he overshot the green again from 94 yards before chipping and putting for a triple bogey eight. Cruel.

By the time Woods tapped in for birdie and a four-shot swing, Harrington had played five shots and found himself tied for second with Allenby on eight under. Looking on the bright side, the Irish star can take solace from the fact the his game is very much back on track after eight months of agony. He’s also certain to qualify for the first FedEx Cup event, the Barclays, at the end of the month.

Woods was simply sublime on the front nine, hitting every green in regulation and racking up an eagle and three birdies to turn in five-under-par 30 to Harrington’s level-par 35. He used the blade just 14 times to go from three behind to two in front.

His two longest putts were a 24-footer for eagle at the second and a 27-footer at the fifth and inevitably, he holed both.

But Harrington stuck to his guns admirably during the onslaught and cut the gap to a shot when he followed a run of 10 pars with a wedge to eight feet at the 11th.

That appeared to rattle Woods, who missed his first green of the day at the 12th and had to hole a six-footer to stay ahead. At the 13th, the world number one drove into the trees right but after a lucky ricochet into the fairway, he overshot the green and bogeyed. They were level and it was game on.

Harrington knew he was in for a torrid time on a course where Woods has now claimed the Bridgestone Invitational seven times. But he was hit by the proverbial Tiger Woods Express over the opening holes.

On Saturday night, he looked up at the leaderboard after missing a 15-footer for birdie on the 18th green and saw that Woods had shot 65 to join him in the final group.

Asked how he felt at the time, he said: “I was surprised, yeah. I didn’t know he was up there. Okay, he’s in second place, there he is, seven under par, there you go, three-shot lead, is that enough? Probably not. Now I really wish that putt went in on 18.”

Those words turned out to be prophetic as Woods erased the three-shot deficit in the space of four holes and took the lead at the fifth.

Having shared the first in pars, the tide began to turn Tiger’s way at the 526-yard second where Harrington was bunkered off the tee and had to lay up. Smelling blood, Woods unleashed a towering 224-yard five wood that nestled 24 feet below the hole.

Harrington’s 60-yard approach spun off the green against the collar of rough and Woods pounced by draining his eagle chance to close the gap to a single stroke. Harrington had to dig deep just to hole an eight-footer for par.

At the fourth they were level on 10 under when Harrington missed from 16 feet and Woods holed from 11 feet for birdie. The world number one appeared to have stolen Harrington’s magical putting touch.

Harrington got inside Woods for the first time at the 200-yard fifth but Woods stole his thunder by rolling home his 27-footer for birdie to take the championship lead for the first time.