PADRAIG HARRINGTON SURGED to a brilliant top five finish today after the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as overnight joint leader Shane Lowry’s hopes of success evaporated.
Lowry began the day at the head of the leaderboard on 13-under, alongside Francesco Molinari and Min Woo Lee, but the Offaly man finished with a disappointing four-over 76, which saw him 28th in the overall standings.
French golfer Victor Perez made his mark decisively to win the tournament after a 66, finishing on 18-under, one shot clear of Sebastian Soderberg and Min Woo Lee.
Harrington was joint third, today’s final round of 67 following yesterday’s superb 64 as the 51-year-old jumped up the leaderboard to fourth position.
Having enjoyed brilliant success last season on the Champions Tour, Harrington made his presence felt here. He bogeyed the first but the remainder of his round just featured one more dropped shot and he recorded seven birdies. He was level par for his day after the 7th before exploding to life with five birdies in the next seven holes, shining on the 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th.
It was a difficult day for Lowry, a nightmare run on the closing stretch of holes seeing him drop down the rankings. He had began his round impressively with birdies on the 2nd and 5th, seeing him move to 15-under, before bogeys on the 6th and 9th cancelled those out.
The 2019 Open winner rallied again with birdies on the 12th and 13th but hopes of a late charge were wiped out as he was six-over for the next four holes, including a triple bogey on the par-four 16th.
Seamus Power finished with a three-under 69 today to take his tournament tally to -10.
The Waterford man began sluggishly with two bogeys in his opening six holes before an eagle three on the 7th, a bogey on the 8th and a birdie on the 9th, saw him reach the turn at level par for the day. He made ground on his back nine, no dropped shots and reeled off birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th.
Lowry had started the day as joint leader after an impressive day for the Irish yesterday in the United Arab Emirates.
Lowry was top of the field alongside fellow former Open champion Molinari and Min Woo Lee of Australia, the pair trio on 13-under after three rounds. The Offaly man carded a 66 yesterday.
Harrington, meanwhile, started out today two shots back after his sizzling third round of 64. The Dubliner rolled back the years, shooting six birdies in-a-row on the back nine as he bid to become the oldest winner in European Tour/DP World Tour history.
