Golf:Pádraig Harrington failed for a second day to tap into the kind of form that helped him card an opening 61 as he fell four shots off the lead at the Transitions Championship in Florida.
The three-time Major winner opened with a stunning 10-under 61 on Thursday, his lowest round as a professional, but followed that up with a 73, he could only manage to shave a shot off that in his third round and fell back to a tie for 10th spot on seven under.
Much of Harrington’s success in the opening round was down to his putting, where he required just 22 strokes. He has struggled ever since, taking 33 in his second round and 29 today as he carded three birdies and four bogeys.
South Africa’s Retief Goosen overcame the pain of a long-term back injury to claim a share of the lead alongside Jim Furyk on 11 under at the Innisbrook resort in Palm Harbor.
Goosen, twice a winner of the event, carded a six-under-par 65, while Furyk carded a 66.
Halfway leader Jason Dufner is a shot behind on 10 under alongside Korea’s Sang-Moon Bae, with Ernie Els and Luke Donald three off the lead on eight under.
Goosen needed just 25 putts to card seven birdies and one bogey as he looks to climb from 52nd in the world rankings to inside the top 50 to qualify for next month’s US Masters. But the former US Open champion revealed he is not a certainty to play at Augusta anyway after scheduling treatment for his back problem next week.
“It’s been a struggle for the last year with my back and I’m going to get some injections done on Wednesday like Vijay (Singh) did and see if that helps,” Goosen said.
“I’m struggling around the course. Every shot is a pain in the back but I’m keeping it together.”
Donald needs to win to reclaim the world number one spot from Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy and made the ideal start when he holed out from a greenside bunker for an eagle on the par-five opening hole.
However, that was followed by four bogeys and three birdies in an erratic round of 70 to leave the Englishman on eight under overall.
Asked about regaining his status as world number one, Donald said: “I’m not really focused on it, the aim is to win the tournament and everything else takes care of itself. I didn’t have it today, but I’m still only three back.” seven under, four off the lead.
