Hat-trick hunting Padraig is four clear

IN FAIRNESS, the official world rankings tends to reflect the pecking order in golf. Tiger Woods leads, and everyone else follows. In the case of the Ladbrokes Irish PGA championship, the rankings have also worked out to a tee, as the top two players on the listings – Pádraig Harrington and Simon Thornton – completed yesterday’s third round at the European Club as the two principal contenders for the title.

Admittedly, a world of a different sort separates the two. Harrington, at number 12, occupies a place in the stratosphere whereas Thornton, a native of Yorkshire who these days calls Ireland home, is ranked 846th. Such a gap, though, wasn’t quite as apparent yesterday as both players signed for 73s, with Harrington’s round giving him a four-shot lead heading into today’s final round.

On a day when the wind changed direction and blew across the links to provide a stern examination, Harrington reached the 54-hole stage on 211, two under, which left him four clear of Thornton. Naas club professional Gavin Lunny and Richard Kilpatrick, who bides his time between the Challenge Tour and the third tier EuroPro Tour, were a shot further adrift.

Unfortunately for Leslie Walker, the leader after the first round and who emerged as Harrington’s main challenger as the championship developed, the third round ended prematurely. Walker aggravated an old wrist injury to his left hand when playing out of a bunker on the third hole and, although he attempted to solider on, he suffered back-to-back double bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes – although a birdie on the ninth got him back to level par for the tournament – before the injury got so inflamed that he was forced to call it a day after finishing the 10th.

“I was coming along grand . . . and then I hit into the sleeper (on the third) and that was it,” said Walker, who didn’t really feel its full affect until a number of holes later when it swelled up. He was actually given a bandage and ice by Harrington but to no avail, and, sadly for him, had to withdraw.

Harrington had a great deal of sympathy for Walker’s plight, although he remarked that, if it was him in that position on the third with the ball lodged up against the old railway sleeper that is a feature of the bunkers on this links, he would not have attempted to play the shot. “There is no way I would have played the shot, because the (British) Open is next week. If I was Leslie Walker, I would have.”

Rather than Harrington finishing the remaining eight holes alone, Connor Doran – an Irish international – filled the void. Doran had driven down from Banbridge to support his pal Richard Kilpatrick (who was in the match in front) and didn’t have to be asked twice if he wanted to act as playing marker for the triple-major champion.

Incidentally, Walker wasn’t the only player forced to leave the links with an injury. Ulsterman Darren McWilliams injured his wrist playing out of the rough to the left of the eighth fairway and he, too, left prematurely.

Thankfully for Harrington, who is seeking a three-in-a-row of titles here and who will attempt to do the same in next week’s British Open at Turnberry, there were no such injury worries. Of more concern to him was the state of his game. “I didn’t feel like I played very well but I scored well and managed my game well . . . I am getting closer, (but) there is a bit of urgency as well,” he said.

Harrington added: “I am good at preparing for majors and getting my game to peak, but I’ve failed miserably at that for the Open coming up. That doesn’t mean I can’t play well but I would normally be in a better situation the week before the Open and not have so much up in the air. It makes for a much more stressful three or four days going in, whereas normally you are just winding down.

“I probably don’t have that luxury . . . I have probably hit the ball the poorest I have all year in terms of shots I am capable of hitting. It worries me in that I would like to be better prepared. I’m going in not knowing what is going to turn up. I’m certainly not easing my way into this. It is not automatic on the course. I am not trusting it, and somewhere between now and next Thursday I have got to find that trust.”

Before heading away, his injured playing partner had more faith. “He looks to be very, very close to being very, very good. His short game is excellent and mentally he’s as strong as ever,” said Walker.

Yesterday, Harrington worked hard for his 73, which didn’t feature a single birdie. His two dropped shots came on the sixth and 12th but he still finished the day with a larger lead than he started out with. Four shots? Sufficient? “If I was on form, four shots could be a comfortable lead,” admitted Harrington, “but it doesn’t feel comfortable to me. And it’s not that comfortable on this golf course anyway. I’ve proved it myself in the past, it’s easy to run up a score on any hole out there. I certainly won’t be taking it for granted even with a four-shot lead.”

Thornton opened yesterday’s round with a birdie on the first and also included three bogeys in his 73 to stay within touching distance of Harrngton heading into today’s final round which has been brought forward – with a two tee start – in a bid to beat the bad weather that has been forecast.