IRISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: PADRAIG HARRINGTON endured the worst of the weather on Wednesday and when he teed off at 5.30pm yesterday evening to start his second round of the Irish PGA Championship, sponsored by Ladbrokes.com, at The European Club he could have been forgiven for casting a glance to the leaden skies once again.
The links course had been bathed in sunshine for most of the day, but as the Dubliner made his final preparations on the putting green the heavens opened, the claps of thunder pre-empting a torrential downpour. Within half-an-hour - just minutes after he had suffered a double bogey on the 11th, his second hole - the skies cleared and the wind disappeared.
Harrington wasn't about to spurn such ideal conditions, and rattled in birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th to turn in one under for his round, two over for the tournament and in the process grab the lead.
Holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the second hole, his 11th, he promptly birdied the par-five third, before succumbing to a bogey at the next, the by-product of a three-putt.
At 9.30pm the light may have been fading but the defending champion's sheer quality remained undimmed, and he recorded his sixth birdie of the round at the par-four fifth to move to three under for the round, one over for the championship and hold a three-shot lead over Philip Walton (73, 73), Eamonn Brady (74, 72) and Robert Giles (73, 73).
The British Open champion tagged on a couple of pars, missing from eight feet for birdie on the seventh, his 16th, and amazingly decided to plough on despite the fact that it has just gone 10pm. It wasn't until 24 minutes later he finally brought his second round to a close, two-putting from 35 feet for a 68; basically, it was dark.
For the 46-year-old Walton it had already been an auspicious week. On on Tuesday he earned a place at next week's British Open at Royal Birkdale by winning final local qualifying tournament over the notoriously testing West Lancs course.
Having played just six holes - he started on the 10th - on Wednesday, he recovered on the resumption of his round yesterday morning from a bogey, bogey start. He admitted: "I got out of bed at five o'clock and was on the 15th tee so I'm a bit tired now.
"I played really solid this morning. I sat down and had breakfast, which was probably a mistake because I should have stayed moving around so I was a bit stiff starting off again. I didn't putt well."
Having attended to the minutiae, Walton was asked how he'd fancy a final-round duel on Saturday with the defending Irish PGA and British Open champion, Harrington.
"I'd love to have a battle with Padraig. It would be good for next week, tune me up and in fact would be good for both of us. I would love to play with him on the last day, to be in there with him.
"No, (it's) not to compare my game with him. I play my own game. I miss the cut-and-thrust of the championships. Think of Brendan McGovern (runner-up last year when losing a play-off to Harrington); I'd say he got tingly last year. I miss that tingle. I'd say the last time I had it was in the Ryder Cup," a reference to holing the winning putt against Jay Haas at Oak Hill (1995).
"When you're swinging it well, you're enjoying it. I stopped enjoying my golf after the Ryder Cup. This week and next week could give me a new lease of life. It would be a boost for my confidence."
He doesn't cast wistful glances at the European Seniors Tour for which he'll qualify in four years.
"I know people who wished their lives away and they didn't do it. I'll just keep myself fit and I'll be going to the Tour School again in September/October. I was getting really tired out there and my big toe was killing me as well. I have a touch of arthritis."
Walton is joined on four over par by Yorkshire-born, Greenore professional Giles and Brady (Clontarf), the 33-year-old nephew of soccer icon Liam. Brady, too, was enjoying a momentous week. On Monday he learned he had passed his final exam to become a registered club professional.
A former West of Ireland champion, he won his on his first start as a professional, at Myrtle Beach on the Canadian Tour, and managed a couple of wins on the EuroPro tour before deciding on a three-year course to become a club professional.
Like Walton and Giles he teed off at 7am yesterday to resume his first round and it was 5.40pm when he walked from the recorder's hut after finishing his second. They key to his rounds?
"Patience. Even if you make a double (bogey) you just have to say that there is no one out there who isn't going to make a bad score. You'll get one bad lie and it's bad enough to get a double (bogey).
"It's all about patience. I was hitting loads of greens earlier on and wasn't holing putts and I walked up the ninth (in his second round) saying, 'be patient', and I holed a birdie putt."
