Harrington nets singles prize at last

WHILE preparing for the professional season in bitterly cold winds at The Island yesterday, Padraig Harrington achieved a distinction that eluded him throughout an illustrious amateur career. A level par 71 in the Esso sponsored Links Society outing, earned the former Stackstown international his first ever singles nett prize.

Typical of Harrington, it was an admirably tidy performance, incorporating 16 pars, one birdie and one bogey. And given the difficult conditions in which some of the par fours were barely reachable with two woods, it provided a promising pointer to his prospects in paid ranks.

He finished a stroke clear of established European campaigner, Des Smyth, whose 72 secured the gross prize on a count back from the Foxrock assistant, Leslie Walker. Meanwhile, a reflection of Harrington's enthusiasm for the game was the fact that after handing in his card, he went out to face the elements once more, on the practice ground.

Starting on the 10th, he birdied the short, 210 yard 13th the old fifth where a five iron downwind finished eight feet from the pin. The lone bogey came at the 443 yard seventh which became unreachable when he drove into rough.

Though precise short iron play yielded birdies at the sixth and 16th for Smyth, he paid a heavy price for slightly wayward driving with bogeys at the seventh, 15th and 18th.

Still, he achieved far greater consistency than the powerfully striking Walker who had only seven pars in a sharply fluctuating round.