'One of the hardest holes in golf'

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24: Padraig Harrington emerged from his brush with Port Royal’s famous 16th hole to shoot a fine 66 and take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

The Irishman admitted he came up short in bogeying what he described as the toughest hole in world golf but recovered immediately to birdie 17 and consolidate a good day’s work at five under.

Harrington, only called up three days ago as a late replacement for the injured Ernie Els, lost Slam play-offs at Mid-Ocean in 2007 and 2008 and will today bid to finally go one better in the four-man event.

However, the chasing pack are not far behind. In particular, gallery favourite Bubba Watson — driving the ball superbly — is two shots back on three under and Webb Simpson is loitering dangerously in third on two under.

Defending champion Keegan Bradley had a mixed day but recovered from being four over after six to finish just one over par.

Harrington remains in the driver’s seat, although he admits he’s more than a little scared of facing the par-three 16 again.

He said: “Sixteen has got to be one of the hardest golf hole we ever see — certainly in strokeplay golf. It’s incredibly difficult.

“I didn’t have a club in the bag for it to be honest — it was a three iron for me today and I only carry a four iron and a five wood and I wasn’t risking a little five wood across that water.  So I tried to hit a hard draw with a four iron and laid up nicely 15 yards short.

“I wasn’t disappointed with that, actually. It was a fairly straight-forward chip and putt but it was a poor effort on my behalf. It was good to make a birdie at the next but I think my short game has got to be a lot stronger.

“There’s plenty of par threes that strike fear into me — I can give you a long list. I can start with the 17th at Sawgrass but I don’t know of many that are as long as here, it’s a small target out there. A lot of the times you get a long par three the green will be three times as wide.

“In terms of a raw hole, the 16th is as a tough a hole as you could see, especially as the conditions were benign today.

“It’s tough and scenic — you put the combination together and it’s a tough a golf hole as you’ll find. Hopefully I’ll get through it again.”

Hot on Harrington’s heels is 2012 Masters champion Watson, who out on a display of driving, including a monster on the 399-yard 14 that ended up in the bunker but left his competitors 50 yards back.

Unbelievable

Harrington said: “He hits it so straight — it’s unbelievable how straight he hits the ball. It’s incredible.

“I’ve played with guys who can hit it a long way but Bubba is incredibly straight.  It’s quite unique to hit it so far and so straight — a nice talent to have.

“It’s unusual to see the long hitter always reach for the driver but it’s obviously his best club in the bag. It must be easy to play golf from where he hits it though.”

Yesterday’s rounds saw plenty of interaction between the players — something the three-time Major winner believes will probably stop once the tournament reaches its business end today.

It’s fair to say, though, that Harrington likes a chat.

“Every day I play I always try to make an effort to enjoy the day and talk to my playing partners. Today it was better than ever.

“Sometimes you can play with guys who don’t want to talk back so you just have to keep talking.

“But today everyone was enjoying it. Selfishly I play better when all the guys are enjoying it so if they guys have any sense they won’t talk to me anymore!”