Ireland’s Padraig Harrington carded a 6-under-par 65 on Saturday to forge a tie with Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee atop the leaderboard with a round to play at the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz.
Harrington pocketed two impressive eagles over a three-hole stretch (holes 9-11) which also included a birdie as he surged into contention at La Paloma Country Club at 11 under for the tourney.
“You know, every hole out here, if you play it well, you’ve got a birdie chance. But it’s so difficult being committed to your shots,” Harrington said. “Nobody can expect to be perfect, but you’ve got to be committed to whatever number you come up with. Whatever formula you use, you’ve got to stick to it, and probably just roll with the punches when it doesn’t quite work out.”
Harrington finished with two eagles, five birdies and three bogeys.
Jaidee’s day was much calmer, as the veteran went bogey-free while snatching four birdies. His 4-under 67 followed a Friday round that more resembled Harrington’s Saturday: two eagles, four birdies and a bogey (64).
That had been good enough to position him in second, alongside South Africa’s Retief Goosen, who fell off the pace with a 2-over 73. That tumble left Goosen in a tie for 26th.
Defending champion Steven Alker of New Zealand might have raised eyebrows with his scintillating 9-under 62 that tied the course record and brought him back within striking distance at 9 under overall. No player has yet to successfully defend his title at the Cologuard Classic, but Alker will have a chance on Sunday.
“I just wanted to put up a good day to get back in the tournament,” Alker said. “Defending champ, so I wanted to kind of give it a good run. Kind of feel like I’ve put myself in there, three or four back, you never know at the end of the day. Yeah, it was a nice round. Some positive stuff going forward.”
Bo Van Pelt, who had also tied the course record with a 9-under-par 62 on Friday, shot 10 strokes worse than that in Round 2 (1-over 72), dropping him into a tie for eighth at 8 under for the tournament.
Two golfers are ahead of Alker in a tie for third at 10 under after shooting matching 67s: Tommy Gainey and Germany’s Bernhard Langer.
Zach Johnson (65) and Jason Caron (66) are tied with Alker in fifth.
