A gallant third place for Padraig at the Portugal Invitational as his eight week marathon on Tour comes to an end. He picked up one Major title, the Senior US Open, and performed well considering the scheduling. He made two early birdies, both on par fives, but a dropped shot at the par three 6th hole, put him behind the eight ball as the eventual winner, Zach Johnson, was three under par after seven holes. To his credit he fought gamely but three bogies on the day were too much of a deficit to overcome. A well earned break is the order of the day!
Daja vu is the overwhelming sensation as Padraig yet again faces his recent nemesis, Stewart Cink, in the final round of the Portugal Invitational. He co-leads with Cink and Rory Sabbatini on thirteen under par after a sparkling 65 vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard. The day could not have started any better as he made eagle on the par five, 1st hole, and he was rock steady after that as he picked off five more birdies with no blemishes on the card. He will need to repeat the feat on Sunday as a top class field waits to pounce. He tees off last at 11.55am with Cink and Sabbatini.
It’s a pleasant suprise as Padraig shoots a six under par round of 66 to lie in third place and just two behind the leader after the opening round of the Portugal Invitational. He raced to the turn in five under par, recording birdies at the 1st, 3rd and 5th, all par five’s, and closed out with two birdies to shoot 31. He added another at the 10th but the he had to wait another five holes before dipping under par again. He did drop one shot, at the par three 17th where he found incurred a penalty shot but over all a very successful day! He tees off Saturday at 11.51pm with Charlie Wi and Mikael Lundberg.
It’s the final week of an eight week marathon on Tour, as Padraig tees it up at the Portugal Invitational at the Els Club in Vilamoura, Portugal. It is part of the PGA Champions Tour and a strong field has assembled this week. Its a par 72 this week that stretches to 7,335 yards and it’s a 3 millon dollar purse. Padraig currently lies in third place in the Schwab Cup standings so it’s all to play for this week!
Tee Times -> Opening round at 12pm with Bernhard Langer and Darren Clarke.