Harrington has a day to forget

GOLF ROUND-UP: US TOUR -Veteran Fred Couples was turning back the years last night as he grabbed the lead in the final round of the Houston Open, the final PGA Tour event ahead of this week's US Masters.

Couples was one under for his round and 12 under overall after 15 holes at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas, which had him one shot clear of clubhouse leader JB Holmes.

England’s Paul Casey was also on 11 under after 12 holes of his final round.

Pádraig Harrington had begun the day on nine under par, just two shots off the lead, and a birdie at the first yesterday suggested he was ready to mount a challenge.

Instead, the Dubliner crashed to a five-over-par 77 and will head to Augusta this week as he chases the third leg of the Paddy Slam with a lot of thinking to do.

After his bright start he came unstuck with bogeys at five and six, and three more dropped shots at the 11th, 12th and 14th saw the Dubliner slip well out of contention.

He did birdie the par-five 15th, but closed a miserable day with a double bogey six at the last to lie on four under.

Rory McIlroy, in contrast, had a day that should send him to Augusta this week in good spirits.

Although he did bogey the last, his four earlier birdies meant he closed with a fine, three-under 69 to climb up the leaderboard to five under overall for a top-30 finish.

His challenge had been undone by a disappointing 74 on Saturday.

A disastrous 77 in the second round ended Darren Clarke’s slim hopes of making another appearance in the US Masters.

The Dungannon man had to win this weekend to secure a place in the field for the season’s first major.

Like Clarke, Phil Mickelson also missed the cut in Texas, but he is hoping that will have taken the “ridiculous” mistakes out of the equation as he bids to win a third Green Jacket.

The world number two crashed out following weather-interrupted rounds of 77 and 76.

Yet the American, a two-time winner already this season, tried to view his week in Texas in a positive light.

“I obviously didn’t want to shoot what I did,” Mickelson said. “I made some ridiculous mistakes that you can’t make, and it was great that I played because I didn’t want to go into Augusta making those same mistakes, and some of the key shots that I hit, like on five where I put two balls in the water – you can’t do those things.

“Fortunately, those drives would have been fine at Augusta, but there’s so much water here that it wasn’t good.

“It was really good that I played here because I made some mistakes during the first two rounds that you just can’t do competitively. Stuff like that I needed to get out of my system here.”

Instead of getting in two more rounds of competitive golf at Redstone as he had intended, Mickelson, who took two weeks off following his victory at Doral in the WGC-CA Championship, had to resort to plan B, which involved extra practice time with instructor Butch Harmon.

“I’ve got to forget about the score,” he said. “That wasn’t close to what I was hoping for, but I’m looking forward to next week.”

As for Augusta National, Mickelson added: “I expect to play a lot better than I did. I certainly am struggling on the greens, too. I can’t see the break, for whatever reason. They’re immaculate. They roll perfect. I’m not able to make many putts on them.

“It doesn’t feel like my game is far off. I’m not overly concerned with what the numbers showed. Butch is here, and we had some good work this morning.

“Next week is going to be a severe challenge. It’s in an area where I love. The short game is good. Much wider corridors off the tee without the penalty of a hazard.”

LPGA:American Kristy McPherson, boosted by three consecutive birdies from the 10th, held her nerve to snatch a one-shot lead after Saturday's third round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

On a difficult day for scoring at a sun-baked Mission Hills Country Club in California, the 27-year-old upstaged some of the biggest names in the game in the season’s first major with a two-under-par 70.