Padraig Harrington won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for the third consecutive year on Sunday, making a key par save on the par-3 17th to hold on for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Canadian Mike Weir.
Harrington captured his eighth PGA Tour Champions title and his second of the year.
Weir was playing two groups ahead of Harrington and closed to within one shot by making birdie on the 17th hole. Harrington missed the green to the right and faced a difficult lie, with the ball sitting down on a slight slope.
He chipped it about eight feet past the hole and made the par putt, and then closed out with a par on the 18th at En-Joie Golf Club to finish at 15-under 201.
“I suppose I’m good value for money,” Harrington said. “When I was coming down that stretch, you’re not really sure what you’re going to get. I’m either going to hit it stone dead or I’m going to have to get it up and down out of some weird place. It’s entertaining. I wish it wasn’t as entertaining.”
The victory comes one week after Harrington was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame during the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Weir closed with a 67.
Ken Duke (68), Mark Hensby (66) and Ken Tanigawa (70) tied for third, two shots behind. Tanigawa was part of a three-way tie for the 36-hole lead with Harrington and Stephen Ames.
Calgary’s Stephen Ames was tied for the lead after 36 holes and was still in the mix until making bogey on the 13th and 14th holes to fall too far behind to make a run. He held onto his points lead in the Charles Schwab Cup.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BREAKING</a> Climate Activists Spray Smoke as they STORM THE GREEN at the 18th Hole of the PGA Tour as SCOTTIE SCHEFFLERS was finishing his game. <a href=”https://t.co/zfHJn68gQd”>pic.twitter.com/zfHJn68gQd</a>
—@ScooterCasterNY
Protestors disrupt Scheffler’s 6th win of season
Six people protesting climate change came out of the crowd and stormed the 18th green while the leaders were lining up their putts on the final hole of regulation at the Travelers Championship on Sunday, delaying the finish for about five minutes.
The protesters sprayed white and red powder, leaving stains on the grass before Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia finished their rounds. At least one of the group was wearing a white T-shirt that said, “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET.”
After the protesters were tackled by police and taken off, Scheffler left a potential 26-foot clincher from the fringe on the right edge of the cup, then tapped in for par.
Kim, who trailed by one stroke heading into the final hole, sank a 10-foot birdie putt to tie Scheffler and send the tournament to a sudden-death playoff.
Scheffler won with a par on the first playoff hole, the 18th. After the players finished in regulation, workers with leaf blowers came out to clean off the remaining powder, and the hole location was moved before the playoff.
The crowd surrounding the 18th green heckled the protesters by yelling profanities and cheered the police who intervened.
