COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Padraig Harrington chipped in from 20 yards off the green on the 18th hole Saturday to salvage a floundering round and pull back into a tie for the lead with Stewart Cink and Mark Hensby at the U.S. Senior Open.
Harrington’s chip-in for birdie capped a round of 2-under 68 and put him in the same spot he was in to start — tied with the same two opponents he played with over another tricky day at the Broadmoor that included wind, rain, even a flash of lightning that pulled the players off the course for a half-hour.
“We could’ve taken the day off,” Harrington said as he shook hands to wrap up a day of twists and turns.
Hensby’s 68 included another four birdies, along with an eagle, to bring his total to 19 for the tournament. But his best look of all — a 6-foot uphill attempt that on No. 18 that came as the course was still buzzing from Harrington’s shot — fell far off to the right and he settled for par.
Cink’s included a third shot on the par-3 16th that came from farther away than the second after a misread on a putt from just off the green curled some 30 feet away from the hole. Cink’s bogey there dropped him into a tie, and he finished with a pair of pars.
They were at 8-under 202. One shot behind the leaders was Thomas Bjorn, whose 66 matched the best round of the day and set up what appears to be a four-man fight for the title.
Steve Flesch (67) was next at 4 under and Steven Alker’s 66 left him at 3 under, tied with Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Paul Stankowski (67).
One more shot back was Billy Andrade (70), who collapsed in agony after his approach on No. 17, yet somehow still made par there.
That came about an hour after his tee shot on No. 13 slammed into a tree about 40 yards left of the tee box and came to rest in the closely mown strip of grass between the tee and the fairway.
Behind him, Harrington needed two chips from the deep rough on the par-3 12th and made a double bogey to fall out of the lead. Another bogey came on 15 when he babied a 5-foot par putt and it curled away well before the hole.
Harrington yanked his tee shot on 18 into the rough left of the fairway and he had no choice but to hack out over the lake and short of the green. But he turned a possible bogey into an unlikely birdie and guaranteed himself a spot in the final group Sunday, where he’ll try to add to the U.S. Senior Open title he won in 2022.
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