Golf: Padraig Harrington tried to cajole his way out of the Recorder's hut at St Margaret's Golf Club but the price of passage was pretty much the contents of his bag. Besieged by children, he armed himself with a dozen golf balls and six gloves, which he doled out with a sense of fairness not always prevalent in the professional game.
It was an instructive cameo on a day when the world number eight displayed similarly measured patience on the golf course. It allowed him to claim a second Irish PGA Championship, his 71 for a five-under-par total enough to edge past playing partner Philip Walton by a single stroke.
Harrington's competitive edge stood to him as the championship was pretty much decided over the closing three holes.
He had trailed Walton by one shot but the par-five 16th and 17th and a hugely demanding par-four 18th into the stiff breeze presented an ideal platform for change. Harrington made birdies on the first two against his opponent's pars, an excellent four at the last guaranteeing victory and a cheque for €20,000.
"Obviously I'm very happy that I made the birdies at the right time," Harrington conceded. "To finish four, four, four on that course is not bad on a day like today. I hit two great balls down 16 to get just past pin high and a great drive down 17 but got a very poor lie just off the fairway."
His pitch to the latter green off a tight lie was exquisite.
"At 18 I hit the perfect drive, as tight as you could to the apex of the corner, and a great three-iron. On Saturday I hit drive and sand wedge. We made the hole as short as it could possibly be (today) and (still) I had to nut a three-iron (from 205 yards).
"I struggled with some pace putts during the day but I could see it was down-grain and it was one of those putts where you try and get it just running over the hill and it should run all the way down. There was a lot of break in it, maybe 15 feet, but I was reasonably comfortable that I had got a good read (on it)." From 60 feet he left it five inches away.
Walton had a chance to take the championship into tie holes but his putt was only marginally nearer and in an effort to guarantee a run at the hole he watched it slide six feet past; he did well to hole the return.
The Malahide man had played superbly from tee to green - Harrington observed afterwards that it was Walton's chipping and bunker play over the weekend that probably cost him victory - and it was he who looked to initially enjoy the better of the duel.
Four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine took him to the turn in two under but despite having four successive birdie putts he couldn't convert, and this infused Harrington with the belief it could be his day.
"I didn't feel too bad at any stage. Philip played very well around the turn; 9, 10, 11 and even 12, he had four birdie chances that he didn't hole. With the birdie on the 12th, I was feeling good because I had made up a shot. I had a bad three-putt on the next. It would have been the pivotal hole if I hadn't won."
Harrington wasn't about to panic, confident that the finishing stretch would provide opportunities; the only question was whether he could avail of the chances.
"It's a tougher golf course when you're trying to protect (a lead) in that wind. I hit the ball far better today than I did over the first three rounds, much longer off the tee and hit a lot more fairways."
It wasn't simply a contest between the Dublin duo as Ballyliffin's Francis Howley and Michael Hoey periodically threatened. Overnight leader Howley had three birdies and three bogeys either side of the turn but suffered a calamitous finish, double-bogeying 17 and 18.
Hoey stood at three under playing the final hole but three-putted, although his two-under-par total was enough for third.
Harrington will take a couple of weeks off before returning to competition in Macao and from there will go on to defend his BMW Asian Open title.
For Walton there is the consolation that his game is in good shape, certainly at a level that will make him competitive on the Challenge Tour.
