Harrington survives latest rule skirmish

GOLF:GOLF IS a game of inches, mainly those inches between the ears of a player. In that case, Pádraig Harrington – obviously a very intelligent gentleman and, some would say, probably too analytical on the course – could never be accused of lacking anything in the old grey matter.

Yet, the Irishman – who was disqualified earlier in the season in Abu Dhabi for unwittingly failing to add penalty strokes after his ball moved – again found himself as the central character in a potential rules infringement during the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. Only, this time, he came out on the right side of a post-round consensus that he had no case to answer.

Harrington, who finished his round with a 68 for a 10-under-par 278 which left him in tied-ninth position, was informed after his round that a spectator alleged he had played his tee shot on the Par three 13th from in front of the markers. For a player who is a stickler for the rules, and who in the past has called shots on himself for believing the ball had moved on address on the fairway, this latest accusation rankled.

As his playing partner Phil Mickelson later observed, “it’s things like this that as a player you don’t ever want any calls under question because you value your integrity more than anything. And Pádraig has more integrity than anybody out here.

“The fact that one person would say something, I don’t ever want that to come into question because he’s constantly checking to make sure he’s playing by all the rules.”

Mickelson – who along with Harrington, caddies and tournament officials returned to the scene of the alleged crime on the 13th tee to reconstruct the incident – added: “I remember watching him move the ball back, and he checked it. I’m fine with it . . . . it’s not an issue, Pádraig is one of the most honourable guys we have on tour.”

For his part, Harrington was adamant no infringement had taken place. He acknowledged he was closer than he normally would have been to the front of the tees at that particular hole because he needed to get his six-iron to the green. But nobody in his group felt he was ahead of the tee and the video review didn’t show that either.

“There is just no reason to say ‘yes’, even though it certainly looks close when you look at it on TV. The left marker is good; the right marker is a bit iffy. At the end of the day it’s inconclusive and that’s where it stays.” .

He added: “It’s certainly tight when you look at it. The tee markers are a little bit askew. But we didn’t see anything at the time. We looked at the TV and it’s not conclusive on the TV. So it really would be a question of being a martyr if I took a penalty. I’ve done that before but this was just inconclusive . .players know what’s happening out on the golf course, caddies know what’s happening . . In that situation, there was no reason for concern at the time.”

Harrington had no issues about how the issue was handled.

“I think the referees did a good job. We went out, we had a look at it, we came back in, we had a thing, and the tee markers are a little askew, but I know I lined up with the right-hand one, and actually that’s the one that’s more out than the left-hand one, so it actually would have given me more room than I would have thought.

“The caddies were very happy. Phil was happy. He’s left-handed, I know. But the two caddies (Ronan Flood and Bones McKay) were very happy. And you’d know something like that. Somebody would see it, feel it, expect it, and obviously there was nothing in our minds about it.”

Harrington has accepted his fate in the past, most notably at the Benson and Hedges International in 2000 when he led by five shots heading into the final round only for it to be discovered that he had inadvertently signed the wrong scorecard in the first round.

And, following the incident in Abu Dhabi earlier this season, where he was again the fall guy but accepted his fate with grace, the RA and USGA moved swiftly to bring about a change in the rulebook so that players wouldn’t be disqualified if a similar incident recurred.

The furore over the teeing incident on the 13th overshadowed Harrington’s return to form as he obtained a top-10 finish for the first time on tour since the WGC-Cadillac championship at Doral in March. Although he climbed only one spot to 41st in the latest official World rankings, the birdie run in tandem with Mickelson, was only blighted by closing bogeys on the 17th and 18th. It provided a confidence boost as he heads on to this week’s Players Championship at Sawgrass.

Harrington will be joined there by fellow Irishman and US Open champion Graeme McDowell who returns on tour for an intensive schedule that takes in the Players, the Volvo World Matchplay, the BMW PGA Championship and the Wales Open in the run-up to the defence of his US Open title.

There are seven Irish players competing in the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca on the European Tour this week, with Gary Murphy getting a rare outing on the main tour thanks to a sponsor’s invite. Murphy is joined by Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane, Paul McGinley, Simon Thornton and Colm Moriarty. Niall Kearney – who has made the cut in each of his last three outings on the Challenge Tour – is competing in the Tuscany Open.