Harrington gives ‘juniors’ a lesson

PÁDRAIG Harrington heads to this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic with a pep in his 51-year-old step after coming so close to kicking sand in the eyes of ‘the juniors’ in Abu Dhabi.

Harrington outscored the field over the weekend, with a 64 and a 67, soaring to fourth place and banking a cheque for €415,691.

The Dubliner finished 16 under par, two behind (Victor) Perez as he threatened to usurp Miguel Angel Jimenez to be the oldest winner on the DP World Tour

Harrington’s 67 included a seven-birdie haul, three in a row from the 12th, and further fuelled his belief that he may play more in Europe in 2023, rather than focus on the US Champions Tour.

‘I could see myself chasing my tail all year and trying to get a win on the regular Tour. I’m playing with the juniors for the next couple of weeks.

‘We’ll see if I can continue to be up at the top and be competitive. If I am, it will have to be a different schedule,’ he said.

For the second year running, Shane Lowry fell away on the final day with a fourover-par 76 – one better than 12 months ago, when he was also in contention.

Standing on the 14th tee, Lowry was 15 under par, and on the heels of Perez, Harrington and Co when, all of a sudden, the wheels came off.

A wretched run where he suffered a bogey, bogey, triple-bogey – he twice found water – bogey, saw Lowry tumble off the leaderboard which then placed him in a tie for 28th.

‘Tough day today but unfortunately that’s golf. Will dust myself down tomorrow. Long year ahead,’ he tweeted.

Séamus Power’s closing 69, which included an eagle at the seventh, lifted him to 10 under par overall, a shot ahead of Lowry in 20th, which was worth €90,308.