Harrington in sight of his medal dream
PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON has had no rival as an enthusiast for Olympic golf since arriving in Rio de Janeiro.
That passion is finally finding reflection in his play after a round of four under par yesterday left him with designs on a medal.
He is now five under for the tournament, four shots off the bronze medal position held by Marcus Fraser. Designs on gold appear fanciful, given leader Justin Rose is on 12 under, seven clear of Harrington, with Henrik Stenson 11 under.
After that, though, the field tightens. Fraser, the leader for the first two days, dropped two shots yesterday to 11 under. There is a group of three players on six under: Bubba Watson, David Lingmerth and Emiliano Grillo, with Harrington next.
Gregory Bourdy, Mikko Ilonen, Matt Kuchar and Rafa Cabrera Bello join him on that mark.
It will take a round at least equal in quality to what Harrington produced yesterday to put him into the tussle for a place on the podium, but he was excellent here to tie for seventh.
He recorded three consecutive birdies on three, four and five, and another on nine to complete a storming front nine. Bogeys on 10 and 11 checked his progress but he finished strongly, birdying 16 and 17.
His round was one of the best of the day, but a brilliant six-under from Rose leaves him in control.
Even a round of par for the Englishman today would probably keep him in the medal positions, given there are six shots between him and fourth place.
But he will want more. Rose has rivalled Harrington as a man keen to spread the gospel of Olympic golf, a message many have found unconvincing. He is hugely experienced and knows how to close out a tournament on a Sunday.
He is also tremendously driven to land the gold medal for Great Britain, never contemplating joining the spate of major withdrawals that dominated coverage in the build-up to golf’s Olympic debut.
‘It would mean an awful lot to win, especially when you see what it means to other athletes here,’ Rose said after yesterday’s round. ‘It would be unbelievable.’ Stenson is the most in-form player in the world and a solid round of three-under kept the pressure on Rose, but wily former Irish Open champion Mikko Ilonen shot five-under and will have the same designs on a podium push as Harrington.
For a time yesterday it seemed as if the latter would not be the Irishman with big ambitions for today.
Teeing off on the sixth hole, Séamus Power was six under par, after birdies on the first and the fifth.
But his challenge stalled before then creaking. He bogeyed seven, ten, 12, 14 and 16, to finish with a round of threeover, to lie one-under after three rounds.
That puts him in a tie for 26th place, and given his lack of experience in a field of this quality, would in most circumstances constitute an encouraging round.
However, after climbing so high earlier in the day, he will be very disappointed with how his game subsequently came undone. He is 11 shots off the lead.
The course once again offered up birdie opportunities, but there is more pressure on Harrington and the chasing pack to pick them up than Rose and Stenson.
The Dubliner would have settled for that kind of pressure yesterday morning.