Padraig Harrington Conquers the U.S. Senior Open in an Epic Duel
In an exciting day that resembled a match play showdown, Padraig Harrington emerged as the champion of the U.S. Senior Open, culminating his round with seven consecutive pars to beat Stewart Cink by a single stroke.
Playing alongside Cink for the fourth consecutive day, Harrington signed a card of 67 strokes, three under par, finishing with a total of 269 strokes, 11 under par, on the challenging Broadmoor course, known for its steep slopes. The Irishman secured the victory by leaving his approach 8 feet on the 18th hole, putting pressure on Cink, who was one stroke away but 30 yards away in the fairway.
Cink’s approach landed on the edge of a ledge, but it backed up and stopped 35 feet away, forcing him to take two putts.
This gave Harrington the advantage, who also needed two putts to secure the victory, although the Broadmoor course had the last word.
Minutes earlier, Cink had birdie opportunities from less than 6 feet on holes 16 and 17. The one on 16 veered left, while the one on 17 grazed the edge and stayed to the right. Cink, who holed more greens in the 72 holes than anyone (64), but downplayed his performance on this course, proved to be right.
In this sport, the putt is what counts. Cink needed two more putts than Harrington on the last day of the match, the difference between winning and losing.
Harrington won his second U.S. Open title in four years, adding it to his collection, which includes the 2007 and 2008 British Opens, and the 2008 PGA.
The only player who threatened to join this duel was Miguel Ángel Jiménez. After starting with a bogey, Jiménez achieved eight birdies and got within one stroke of the lead.
However, his tee shot on the 18th hole veered left, forcing him to lay up with an approach shot and make bogey. Despite this, he achieved the best round of the tournament, with 64 strokes, six under par, and finished in third place, two strokes behind the leader.
The other player in the Cink-Harrington group, who went out in groups of three to avoid the bad weather, was Mark Hensby.
Celebrating his 54th birthday, Hensby couldn’t repeat the magic that led him to achieve 19 birdies in the first three days and share the lead. He only managed two birdies on Sunday and signed a card of 73 strokes, three over par, tying for fourth place with Thomas Bjorn, with a total of 5 under par.
The most notable shot by Harrington was his last birdie of the day, a 12-foot putt on the 11th hole, par 4, which put him at 11 under par. It was a straight putt, one of the few that can be achieved on this course.
But, in reality, it could have been less than 24 hours earlier, when he chipped in from 20 yards off the green for a birdie that tied him with Cink before the final round, giving them the same tee time for the fourth straight time and setting up a match play scenario that was decided on the final shot.
