Tiger Woods is almost always a lock to win major championships when he shares or holds the lead going into the final round. But never has he been in this position before. The man that stands two shots behind him has recently been one of the best at coming from behind in majors.
Padraig Harrington stands at a three-round total of six-under-par, 210. In recent years, this has been the position Harrington thrives in.
In his 2007 Open Championship win over Sergio Garcia, he was six shots behind the Spaniard entering the final day but fired a final round 67 to get into a playoff and win his first major championship.
In the 2008 Open Championship, Harrington was two shots off Greg Norman's lead entering the final day but shot a final round 69 to capture his second straight Open Championship. Less than four weeks later at Oakland Hills in the PGA, Harrington shot 66-66 on the weekend to overcome a three-shot final day deficit to defeat Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis by two.
If not for a gaffe by a European Tour rules official last week, Harrington might have won the Bridgestone Invitational but made a disastrous triple-bogey eight on the sixteenth hole after he was put on the clock for slow play. Harrington, who was tied for the lead at the time, ended up losing by four to Woods.
Harrington is one of the more accomplished players in the sport and has no problems with going low on the final day of a major. As long as Harrington doesn't get put on the clock during the final round, I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to overtake Tiger Woods for his second consecutive PGA title.
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