It was all going so well for Darren Clarke - that was until he ran up a triple bogey seven at the dreaded 17th -while bright-eyed boy of Irish golf Padraig Harringon kept on smiling as he finished the third round of his European Open in spectacular style at the K-Club today.
All credit must go to Mikael Lundberg, though, who coped with the pressure and his indifferent form to take a slender one shot lead on 12-under into the final day. The Swede grinded out a gutsy third round level par 72.
Harrington, two shots adrift in fourth on his own, struggled all day but eventually finished with a three-under 69. His birdie, eagle finish on the notoriously difficult 17th and par five 18th was the obvious highlight in an otherwise challenging round.
"I was struggling with my head and concentration badly all day today. I felt rushed and subsequently I lost my rhythm.It got so bad I was even listening to a bus going down the nearby road 200 yards away," said Harrington.
"I will go to the range right now and work on it, so that I can ignore the way I hit it today," said Harrington.
But Clarke’s disaster on 17 ruined any chance the Tyroneman had of leading the tournament.A pulled drive into the Liffey River on the left meant a reload off the tee.He over-compensated, however, and pushed the second into the thick rough on the right.Forced to hack out in four, Clarke then hit it over the green in five and did well to pitch and putt for seven.
Clarke rallied well to finish with a birdie at the last and although he will be disappointed, he is still very much in contention at nine-under and only three off the pace.