AS Eamonn Darcy's weekend and his sure touch on the greens disintegrated around him, there was a touch of deja vu about Ireland's fortunes in the South African Open yesterday.
The week before, Padraig Harrington had led the Heineken Classic, only to flatter to deceive to slip to 11th place after the final round. Darcy surprised everyone and himself by leading this event on Saturday afternoon coming to the turn. But then he followed a similar path to Harrington's by letting the tournament slip out of his grasp and having to settle for 12th place in Johannesburg.
In the end, the Druids Glen professional finished 11 strokes behind the very player with whom he had shared the top of the leaderboard in round three, Vijay Singh. While Darcy, who slipped to a 73 on Saturday after dropping two shots coming to the turn, closed with a level-par 72 to be seven-under-par, Singh went on to keep out Nick Price and Ernie Els to take the £71,000 first prize.
The event quickly became a two-horse race, and the elegant Fijiian won by a stoke from the resurging former world number one Price, who lost his chance of catching Singh, first by going into the water at the short 15th, and then by only parring the long, 7th.
On the penultimate hole, Singh had not even made the green in three but still also managed a five. Price missed his birdie chance from five feet and flattered the winning margin by birdieing the last.
While Singh credited his seventh "European" Tour success, his first since 1994, with changing back to the short conventional putter, as he carded a three-under par 69 for 18-under-par, ironically Darcy is predicting he will give the long-handled model another try this week at Sun City in the Dimension Data Pro-Am.
"Shooting 145 at the weekend gets you nowhere," said a deflated Darcy, forgetting he had promised not to be hard on himself in his first tournament of the season, the first for four months.
"I was feeling good with the putter at first, but when the tournament really started, and by that I mean the weekend, then it didn't feel good at all. And if you can't putt, you might as well stay back home on the farm.
"I might just be using the long putter next week, because I just didn't feel comfortable with the short one all weekend. Today I was switching grips so much I confused myself whether I was going to putt orthodox or unorthodox. It was just no good at all."
So Darcy may discard the Odyssey given to him by a friend in Barbados a little while ago. It did earn him nearly £7,000, however, an amount he would have settled for at a flash of the palm on Thursday. "I would have taken just making the cut," added a regretful Darcy, "but when you get to the top like that you then expect more of yourself."
If Darcy is ringing the changes, then so is Harrington. The Stackstown man finished well with a 69 for one-under-par and 27th place to earn $4,274, along with the similar Ryder Cup points. And he did it in spectacles.
"I was putting so badly, I decided it had to be my vision," said Harrington, keeping David Gilford, who finished seventh here, in 15th place. "I put on the glasses. They not only help me see better on the greens, where my biggest failing was in the first two" rounds, but also to judge distance better with the drives and longer shots. I never worry too much about the putting, because it is temperamental, but I've begun to realise I need to see better."
Harrington has a couple of pairs of contact lenses with him, too, as he toys with the idea of using them on the course. Yesterday's improved vision earned him a more solid putting round, but he also produced two stunning approaches to a foot.
Raymond Burns, after his thunderbolt fright of Friday, came back with a fine finish for a 71 to move up to 32nd place on one-over-par to earn £3,438.
For David Higgins, though, it was an inglorious finale as he closed with a 76, dropping himself all the way down to 55th place on four-over-par to pick up just £1,520.
