Golf:Following Pádraig Harrington is a frustrating past-time these days; one big roller-coaster ride every time he steps onto a golf course. In any case he remains firmly in touch of the lead at the halfway stage of the Shell Houston Open in Texas.
An eagle late in the day rectified previous errors as the triple major winner eventually signed for a second round 69 and, at seven under, was just two off the lead.
All year the Dubliner has shown glimpses of his major winning form, but all too often stitching a solitary round together, let alone four, has proved problematic. The Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February being a case in point (69, 68, 73, 78).
There was more of the sublime mixed in with the ordinary at Redstone Golf Club yesterday where he blazed a trail to grab the early lead and then fell back with a run of bogeys before getting out of jail with a late eagle.
The 39-year-old, in his final dress-rehearsal before next week's US Masters, burst out of the blocks after starting at the 10th.
Back-to-back birdies from 10 and five feet respectively were converted at the 11th and 12th. And though finding a greenside bunker at the short 14th cost him a bogey, he was soon back on the birdie trail.
It was an immediate response with three birdies on the spin from the 15th. First up came a 14 footer at the par five before holing from the same range at the par three 16th. At 17 his approach from 151 yards landed 10 feet from the hole to set up his fifth birdie of the nine.
The front nine was a different story when a greenside bunker at the second, wayward drive at the third and a visit to water at the par five fourth resulted in a hat-trick of bogeys.
From leading the €4.1 million tournament, Harrington was back playing catch up. But he's nothing if not entertaining and eventually had the final say with an eagle three at the eighth, his 17th.
A 345 yard drive left 225 yards to the pin with the approach finishing 18 feet from the cup, which Harrington converted to return to the business end of proceedings.
Chris Kirk was in the driving seat after a 69 ensured the American's lead on nine under. He was closely followed by compatriots Johnson Wagner (67) and Anthony Kim, whose eight birdie haul in a round of 64 was one shot off the course record, left the pair in a share of second on eight under.
Defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson and last year’s runner-up Lee Westwood continued their preparations for Augusta with rounds of 70 and 72 respectively to leave them both at four under par.
