Padraig Harrington confessed he “squandered” a great opportunity to boost his chances of winning the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and the season-long points title in the third round of the season finale in Arizona.
The Dubliner (53), who can win the Charles Schwab Cup with victory at Phoenix Country Club, birdied three of his first four holes but played the remainder in one over.
A two under 69 left him tied for ninth on five under heading into the final round, eight shots behind veteran Bernhard Langer (67) who matched his age again and shot 67 to lead by a shot from New Zealand’s Steven Alker on 13 under.
“Squandered a good start,” Harrington said on X after hitting just nine greens in regulation. “Just was out of position too often.”
Harrington was projected to remain fourth in the points list with Alker set to edge out Charles Schwab Cup leader Ernie Els, who was tied for 14th on three under.
Darren Clarke was tied 27th on two over after a dropping five shots in his last six holes in a 74.
Langer has won the overall points title six times but he has never won the Charles Schwab Cup event.
“Well, it would mean a great deal to win on a golf course and in a tournament that I hadn’t won for a number of times.” said the German, who has had three runner-up finishes in the final event in 15 starts but no wins . “So yeah, always means a lot to beat the best and the best are here.”
Langer can extend his record on wins on the PGA TOUR Champions to 18 years with a win
“I’ve got to continue to play aggressive and hit as many fairways as I possibly can and as many greens,” Langer said. “The key for me is making putts. I’ve got to try and hit 15, 16, 17 greens in regulation if I can and make a bunch of putts.”