1. .500 MARK: PGA champion Padraig Harrington has now won three of the past six major championships.
Earlier in his career, Harrington was known as a guy who had trouble closing out tournaments. He won with a back-nine 32 Sunday, just as he did at Royal Birkdale. He holed putts of 12, 8 and 18 feet on the final three holes.
“I think I was willing them into the hole at that stage,” Harrington said. “You have to get focused and give it a go.
2. HIGH PRAISE: Ben Curtis, who tied for second, gave the Irishman the biggest of compliments.
“That’s Tiger-like, right there,” Curtis said.
3. DROUGHT ENDED: Harrington’s PGA victory was the first by a European in 78 years. He’s also the first European to win consecutive majors. He’s the first Irishman to win the PGA, as well.
4. CONSOLATION PRIZE: Ben Curtis didn’t win his second major Sunday, but his T-2 finish did earn him a spot on his first U.S. Ryder Cup team. Curtis moved from No. 20 to No. 7 on the points list. Boo Weekley - who shot 66 Sunday, the low round of the day – held down the eighth and final spot.
5. LOOK FAMILIAR?: Did you feel like you were having flashbacks watching Harrington take a major from Sergio Garcia? We saw this show last year, when Harrington outdueled Garcia in a playoff at the British Open.
6. LOST OPPORTUNITY: Garcia had his chances to make this his first major victory. After playing bogey free for the first 15 holes Sunday, Garcia made bogeys on Nos. 16 and 18.
He hit his approach into the water on No. 16 and failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on the final hole. In between, he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.
“Next question, please,” Garcia replied when asked if he thought his first major was within grasp on the back nine. “Let’s try to keep this as positive as we can, please.”
7. GOOD ADVICE: Garcia didn’t seem to follow his own advice in his post-round press conference. He seemed to blame the loss as much on bad luck as poor execution down the stretch.
“There’s guys that get a little bit fortunate,” Garcia said. “They get in contention, in a major, and manage to get things going their way, either because they play well or because somebody else comes back. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened to me.”
8. DRINK UP: No doubt the Guinness was flowing for Harrington after this victory. But ingesting some fluids midway through the week may have helped him walk away with the Wanamaker Trophy.
Harrington was 5 over through two rounds, and didn’t sound like a man who was headed to victory.
“I’ve just run out of steam,” the Irishman said. “What can I say? I haven’t got the focus this week. Obviously, I’m still just having a hangover after winning the Open.
“I think I need to spend 24 hours in bed.”
After talking with his trainer, the two deduced that he may be dehydrated. Harrington made sure to ingest plenty of fluids and it seemed to work.
“It gave me something to focus on,” he said. “I focused on Friday evening and Saturday, and all through Saturday and Sunday in rehydrating myself. And at least whether that was the cause or not, whether it was it might have been tiredness, as well.
“But at least I had something tangible that I could actually pin it on and try and put some effort into it and give me the belief that if I can get my hydration right, basically my coordination would come back.”
9. ROUTE 66: Harrington shot 66-66 in the final two rounds. His 132 weekend total was low in the field by three shots.
10. HOLMES NOT SO SWEET: J.B. started the final round in second place, but shot a final-round 81 to drop 27 spots on the leaderboard. He struggled right off the bat, hitting his opening tee shot under a tree.
He attempted to punch the ball back to the fairway with his 3-wood, but it barely moved and stayed within the boughs of the low-hanging evergreen. After taking a one-shot penalty, he chipped out to the fairway and ended up two-putting for a triple-bogey 7.
Holmes was 6 over through five holes and finished the forgettable round with nine bogeys, a double and the triple in an 11-over 81 to finish at 290.
“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” he said. “It was my first time in the last group in a major and I don’t think it will be my last time.”
12. DERAILED: Curtis’ shot at proving he’s not a one-major wonder slipped away with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch starting at No. 8.
The 2003 British Open champion had a one-shot lead through 54 holes, built a three-stroke cushion after birdieing the first hole and got to 4 under with a birdie at No. 6.
His 68-71 finish put him at 1-under 279, tying Sergio Garcia for second, two shots behind Padraig Harrington.
11. LONG DAY: Curtis had one request when he entered the interview room.
“Anybody got a pillow?” he joked Sunday after playing 36 holes.
13. LINEUP SET: The PGA was the deadline for U.S. players to earn the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team.
Your U.S. team thus far: Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley.
14. LEFT OUT: Steve Stricker entered the week No. 8 in the Ryder Cup standings, but dropped to ninth after finishing T-39. He rallied with a final-round 69, but a third-round 77 was too much to overcome.
15. TOUGH FINISH: How tough was No. 18 playing Sunday? Steve Flesch made the only birdie on the hole in the final round. He had to hole out his third shot from 112 yards to do it.
16. ACE UP HIS SLEEVE: Fredrik Jacobson didn’t make much of an impact on the tournament, finishing 12 shots behind Padraig Harrington in a tie for 24th.
But the Swede did earn his way onto Sunday’s highlight reel, acing the 193-yard 13th by dropping a tee shot just short of the hole and watching it roll into the cup.
17. LEFTY’S DAY: Phil Mickelson said he had an OK year that would have become a great one if he won the PGA Championship.
Put an OK year in the books for one of the best players on the planet.
Mickelson made a minor climb early in Sunday’s final round, but never really scared the leaders, shooting an even-par 70 that left him at 4-over 284 and tied for seventh at Oakland Hills.
“I would have liked to obviously play better, but I had a good week,” he said. “I had my ups and downs, had a little go of it early in the round and tried to make a move.”
18. AUGUSTA-BOUND: Camilo Villegas shot 67-68 over the final two rounds to tie for fourth after barely making the cut; the finish earned him a return trip to the Masters, where he’s missed the cut in his first two starts. Villegas also finished T-9 at this year’s U.S. Open and was in contention at the British Open after a second-round 65 in awful conditions before fading to 39th.
– Staff and wire reports
Posted: 8/10/2008
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