Padraig Harrington aims to end a run of seven second place finishes in the past eleven months when he goes into the final round of the Brazil São Paulo 500 Years Open at São Paulo Golf Club sharing the lead with Welshman David Park.
The Dubliner fired a third round 65 for an 11 under par total of 202. That seemed sufficient to give Harrington the outright third round lead for the second successive week in Brazil, but two closing birdies earned Park a 68 and a total to match the Irishman’s.
Last week in Rio de Janeiro, Harrington was edged out by Roger Chapman in a sudden-death play-off for the Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open. Earlier in the season he had also finished runner-up in the Benson & Hedges Malaysian Open behind Taiwan’s Yeh Wei-tze.
It has become a familiar pattern for Harrington, who took second in the Italian Open last April and occupied that position four more times in 1999. However Harrington knows as well as anyone that one day the door must eventually open to him.
He prised it ajar in the third round in Brazil and his six under par 65, with six birdies and no mistakes, was an example of the rich vein of form Harrington is in at the moment. He arrived in Brazil having missed the cut at Bay Hill in Florida and expressed the desire for more competitive golf to hone his cutting edge.
That has happened over the past fortnight and he said: “My intention was just to get closer to the leaders and be in with a shout. I managed that and I’m happy enough to be sharing the lead going into the last round. I’ll take my chances now.
“In this situation there are numerous possibilities and you can’t predict anything. There are a lot of people up there who can still win.”
Park, who won the Compaq European Grand Prix last year, set a scorching pace by birdieing the first four holes to move from second place overnight behind rookie Matthew Blackey into sole leader on 12 under par.
However he dropped three strokes in the middle of his round, before composing himself once more and making birdie putts of 25 feet and 30 feet at the last two holes for his round of 68.
Park will be in the final match with Harrington and Miguel Angel Martin – coincidentally, the person who beat him in a six-hole play-off for the Moroccan Open the week before his victory last year.
Martin shot a 66 to be just one stroke off the pace, while Blackey (71), Jean-Francois Remesy (68) and American Gerry Norquist are tied for fourth on nine under. Norquist, winner of the Malaysian Open in 1999, carded the day’s best round, a seven under par 64.
Park commented: “It’s all to play for now. Padraig is obviously a great Ryder Cup player and is probably the man to beat, although you can’t really pinpoint one. He is definitely the man in form.
“Funnily enough I played with Miguel Angel in the first two rounds here and we were talking about last year in Morocco. I said: ‘We don’t want another play-off…you know how long they can last!’”
Martin compiled his bogey-free round using the left hand below right putting style he has adopted this season. He said: “I started doing it because I wasn’t putting well. Now I am holing a few putts and it’s getting better. I’m starting to warm up.”
