Watney wins by two shots

GOLF:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON insisted he had no regrets as he fell victim to Doral's TPC Blue Monster last night and went from title contender to also ran in the space of three drama-filled holes. The 39-year-old Dubliner was as pleased as could be after rounds of 68, 71 and 69 left him just four strokes off the lead entering last night's final round.

But having put himself in position to take a step forward with his game for the first time this year, he was no more than an after-thought by the time he reached the fourth tee.

An eagle three at the first, where he hit a 197-yard seven iron to just 15 feet, left him just two stokes off the lead held by overnight leader Dustin Johnson. It was the perfect start.

He then played a glorious 20 yard bunker shot to four and a half feet to save par at the second before running up a tournament-ending triple bogey seven at the 436-yard third.

In the end he carded a one-over par 73 to finish tied for 10th with the likes of Tiger Woods (66) and an out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy (74) as American Nick Watney birdied the last from 13 feet for a brilliant 67 to win the title by two shots from compatriot Dustin Johnson on 16-under par.

Harrington made a major error when he found the lake that guards the right hand side of the crescent-shaped par-four with his tee shot and was faced with a 213 yard carry over water with his third

But his five-wood came up short in the drink and after knocking his fifth through the back after another penalty drop, he did brilliantly in the end to make a seven by holing a slippery, right-to-left breaking 14 footer down the slope.

Shooting down suggestions that he might have laid up with his third, Harrington said: “I was going for the middle to the green lads. I hit it lovely. What else are you going to do. I had 213 yards to the front and hit a beautiful third shot with a five wood straight at the middle of the green but it came out spinney out of the rough.

“When I hit it my tee shot I thought it was fine. I was trying to hit it down the middle with a cut into a right to left wind.

“When it came off the club-face I thought this is good but it just kept cutting. Had it crossed the hazard a couple of yards further left if would have been nice and I would only have had an eight or a nine iron to go.

“At the end of the day I was forced into taking on the shot. Such is life. It is disappointing obviously. It is just one of those things. At times you are going to get some tough shots. But I very happy leaving this tournament.

McIlroy was just three behind starting the day but while the young Ulsterman birdied the first, he failed to fire on all cylinders off the tee and holed little on the greens as he closed with a two over par 74 as he mixed four bogeys with three birdies.

Graeme McDowell closed with a 75 that left him in tied for 42nd on one over par. But he was upbeat about the state of his game and feeling good about his build-up to Augusta.

“It was a frustrating week overall,” said McDowell, who also fell victim to the third where he took a double bogey six. “I didnt keep the ball in play often enough and made too many mistakes with my long game.

"But weve a really nice run into Augusta now with the Tavistock Cup this week and some nice time off at Lake Nona. I know exactly what I am working on and I have some good fine-tuning to do. I am really excited about a lot of positives in my game, the short game especially.”