View photos of multiple-time major winner Padraig Harrington throughout his long career.
Padraig Harrington may be the billboard for having a career as a professional golfer after 50.
The beloved Irishman has had quite the resurgence on the PGA Tour Champions since hitting the qualifying age of 50 back in 2022. The three-time major winner has racked up five wins on the senior circuit, including the 2022 U.S. Senior Open.
After a successful amateur career, Harrington turned professional in 1996, joining the European Tour. In 2005, Harrington made the full-time jump to the PGA Tour, winning the Honda Classic and Barclays Classic in his rookie season.
In 2007, Harrington claimed his first major, winning the Open Championship at Carnoustie. In 2008, he would defend his title at Royal Birkdale and add on a PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
Over the years, Harrington has racked up 37 professional wins around the globe and continues to add to that number as he proves to get better with age.
The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open begins Friday.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and the accompanying $315,000 cut of the purse begins Friday morning at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.
Back to defend his championship will be 51-year-old Padraig Harrington, whose Dick’s Open debut brought rounds of 66-67-67 and a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee, with Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh another shot back.
One of the most-followed players across decades at En-Joie will not be in the field for the first time since his 2008 Dick’s Open debut.
Joey Sindelar, a long-time resident of nearby Horseheads and now residing in the Town of Lansing and twice a B.C. Open champion, has concluded his competitive playing career due to health reasons. He did, however, play in Dick’s Open Pro-Ams Wednesday and Thursday.
Here is a smattering of players to keep an eye on:
Harrington has gone down as one of the most popular champions since the Dick’s Open’s 2007 inaugural event.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Preliminaries for the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open − part PGA Tour Champions tournament, part musical treat and part old-home week − get underway at En-Joie Golf Course in earnest Wednesday and the event continues through the conclusion of final-round play Sunday.
The defending champion could hardly be of higher profile, and ditto for the Friday night concert headliner relative to modern country acts.
The former, Padraig Harrington, has gone down as one of the most popular champions since the Dick’s Open’s 2007 inaugural event, for reasons extending beyond scoreboard superiority.
The latter, Kenny Chesney, represents a high blip on the tournament’s screen in terms of big-timers to perform Friday night off the 18th green.
“I’d like to think we’ve got a lot going for everybody, whether it’s people watchers, golf fans, kids − the whole bit,” said tournament director John Karedes.
All told, it would appear the latest in a long line of summertime sports and entertainment offerings in Endicott is up to snuff, though falling on a mighty crowded weekend. For how that might impact the masses, one needn’t look beyond Karedes, who’ll duck away from the premises to attend son Jake’s graduation Saturday morning.
Padraig Harrington and his wife, Caroline and sons Patrick and Ciaran pose with the trophy after Harrington won the 2022 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York. (Photo: Ryan Young/Getty Images)
“It’s actually the kids, because certain ages are still going to have finals. So, it is making it a little bit more challenging for some of those organizations where kids under 18 do help us,” Karedes said of the graduation-weekend conflict. “But I think we’re covered. It just took a bit more creativity and a few more phone calls to get it done. But I think we’re in good shape.”
For many visitors, the week’s highlight will come after sundown Friday when Chesney walks on stage. He and his band played to 1.3 million fans on their 2022 Tour, stops including 21 NFL venues.
“We’re bringing that show to Endicott and it’s big. I think it’s the biggest show that we’ve had when it comes to the name, the star power,” Karedes said. “But what we’re going to do is make it like a 14,000-people night. This isn’t going to be a 20,000-type night with fans.”
Concert attendees approached a Dick’s Open-high 25,000, Karedes said, for the 2017 Bon Jovi fiasco.
Back to defend his championship will be 51-year-old Harrington, whose Dick’s Open debut brought rounds of 66-67-67 and a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee, with Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh another shot back.
Harrington’s impact last summer, and presumably this week, was and will be felt beyond numbers relative to par.
“Padraig is such a nice guy, and an amazing guy when you look at what he’s done around the world,” Karedes said. “He certainly likes the grasses here in the Northeast, when he was at Saucon Valley last year, here, he made the Senior PGA cut at Oak Hill. When it comes to his sheer personality, they don’t come any nicer.”
“ … He made time for everybody (post-tournament 2022). Here’s a guy who has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, but here we are in Endicott, N.Y., he took time for everybody, autograph-wise, picture-wise, anything that anyone was looking for. He made sure that they did not leave empty-handed.”
Among other highly recognizable players who’ve committed to play at En-Joie: Darren Clarke, John Daly, Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh.
One of the most-followed players across decades at En-Joie will not be in the field for the first time since his 2008 Dick’s Open debut.
Joey Sindelar, long-time Horseheads resident now residing in the Town of Lansing and twice a B.C. Open champion, has concluded his competitive playing career due to health reasons. He will, however, play in Dick’s Open Pro-Ams Wednesday and Thursday.
Joey Sindelar at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open.
As for what spectators may discover to be new and/or updated?
“Last year we were still coming off COVID, still coming off 2021, no tournament in 2020,” Karedes said. “I think in 2023, I can say ‘We’re back.’ And we’re back as far as crowds, concession stands, I think all but one of the bleachers have already been put in place.
“The concert is a little bit bigger than what we’ve done but we still aren’t going huge because we’d like to keep it to a manageable fun crowd. That was one of the things we learned during COVID that bigger isn’t always better. We’re looking for a comfortable crowd for concert night.”
Stricker’s youngest daughter, Izzi, looped for her pops like a pro in her debut.
FRISCO, Texas – Steve Sticker is yet again a major winner on the PGA Tour Champions.
The 2021 Ryder Cup captain took down Padraig Harrington on the first playoff hole of the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship to take home his sixth major on the senior circuit.
The win is also his second major title of the season after claiming the 2023 Regions Tradition earlier this year. With Joe LaCava Jr. on his bag that week, Stricker opted to keep it in the family this week at Fields Ranch East.
Stricker’s youngest daughter, Izzi, looped for her pops like a pro in her debut. Never caddying for her dad before, both Strickers admitted they had some nerves coming down the stretch, but they never let it get in the way of the special moment.
“She did well,” Stricker told reporters. “Both of us, we got a little, we clammed up a little bit coming in. I think we were both – I had my head down grinding and trying to figure out how to get it in the hole at times…But all in all, after it’s all said and done, it was a lot of fun.”
The rising high school senior shared a similar sentiment.
“Yeah, I was pacing,” Izzi told Golfweek. “Like he (Stricker) said, we were kind of clammy, we didn’t really talk much but I knew if I kept my focus, we would give off similar vibes and I needed to keep my head down as much as he did.”
— KitchenAid Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 28, 2023
So what was the coolest part of the week for Izzi?
“I have always watched him outside the ropes and this is a whole different experience,” she said. “I learned so much about his mental game, too. I see his physical game all the time but I never really get to see him that close in a major championship so I learned a lot on the mental side.”
For Stricker, the win also holds a special place in his heart.
“This means a lot,” he said. “I said it in there when I was toasting the people inside there that I spent a lot of time with the PGA of America during the Ryder Cup. I got to know a lot of people. We spent basically three years, two and a half years because of the COVID issue and I developed a lot of friendships. John Lindert from Wisconsin as well and just special people to me and our family. I mean, they gave me an unbelievable opportunity to captain a Ryder Cup team in my home state.”
For Padraig Harrington, his chance at a wire-to-wire victory came and went a handful of times Sunday.
After losing the lead to after a Stricker birdie on No. 11, the 51-year-old had a day of what-ifs.
“I look back to the two shots I look back on that with a bit of regret is how I played my second shot safe on 14,” he told reporters after losing in the one hole playoff.
Playing it safe proved not to be the move as he hit his approach into the hole through the green and into the rough.
“That’s the one that I’ll look back on and go, you know, I shouldn’t have bailed out. Maybe I shouldn’t have bailed out there. That’s – but I thought I was fine. I thought I would have had a reasonable eagle chance from there.”
Trailing Stricker by a stroke on the par-3 17th, he squandered another opportunity to force the issue. Luckily for him, both he and Stricker made bogey and made their way to the par-5 18th.
Needing a birdie to tie, Harrington used his PGA Tour Champions-leading length to get on the green in two for a 30-foot eagle putt to win. He’d walk away with a birdie, forcing a playoff with Stricker and another chance to seal a wire-to-wire victory.
First to play, Harrington pulled driver, looking to apply pressure on Stricker but left the drive well out to the right. In the penalty area, Harrington tried to advance the ball but caught it on the hosel, keeping him in the hazard and forcing a drop.
Steve Stricker embraces his caddie/daughter, Izzi Strickerr, after winning the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
What followed was one of the best shots of the week. From 272 yards out, his 5-wood never left the flag and nestled behind the hole to about 10 feet.
“If I hole the putt we could say it was one of the best shots I ever hit. The fact that I didn’t hole the putt we’ll forget about it.”
He laughed. “Golf is cruel.”
Low PGA pro
PGA Professional Mark Brown had one goal in mind coming into Sunday’s final round: earn his wife a new kitchen.
As part of the winnings for low PGA Professionals at the Senior PGA Championship is a kitchen suite courtesy of title sponsor, KitchenAid. Having been co-low pro at the 2019 Senior PGA at Oak Hill, Brown reaped the reward but has since moved, now residing in Florida.
The 56-year-old PGA Teaching Professional at the Yacht & Country Club in Stewart, Florida, had the outright lead by three as he stood on the 17th tee. A quick bogey still gave him a two-shot cushion over Tim Weinhart who finished at 6 over and had already left the property.
Disaster very nearly struck Brown as he crawled away with a double-bogey on the par 5 18th.
Mission failed successfully.
The double kept him from having the solo honor but nonetheless, he’ll keep his wife happy with a new kitchen suite making its way to Hobe Sound, Florida.
As for Weinhart, the 53-year-old PGA Director of Instruction at Heritage Golf Links in Tucker, Georgia, was still shocked that he had played himself back into it. He left the course and was halfway through a double-double at In-N-Out when he heard he tied Brown.
Not in the field to start the week, Weinhart was an alternate and a late addition to the field.
“Monday we played a practice round and we’re like, well I hope we get in,” he told reporters. “I got a known call late Monday night or not late, 6:45. 7 o’clock. I was grateful.”
While the pair did not finish high enough for an exemption into the 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, the duo put a nice bow on a historic two week stretch for PGA Teaching Professionals that began with Michael Block in Oak Hill.
The 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship heads to Michigan in 2024 where Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan, will play host.
Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship.
Padraig Harrington is 18 holes away from his second senior major golf championship. He’s doing his best to not let a prolonged pit stop knock him off track.
A member of the over-50 circuit since last year, Harrington leads the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, 16 under by a shot over Steve Stricker. Rounds of 64-68-68 at the brand new East Course has Harrington in a solid position and he’s happy with how his week is going so far.
“First day I shot 64 easy. Second day I got everything out of it to shoot 68. Today I left a lot out on the golf course and shoot 68,” he said Saturday after his third round. “Golf’s a crazy game.”
Golf can be crazy indeed.
Turns out during the third round Mother Nature came calling for Harrington and let’s just say he’s wasn’t shy about discussing a very personal incident.
“Probably have had the silliest, maybe the most silliest. … I come up with the silliest excuse ever for making. … I’m glad I broke my par streak. It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange, so that’s the first thing I’ll say,” Harrington began to explain, slowly working his way up to the, uh, well, the interesting part of the story.
“Sixteen came out of nowhere, which is, I have a. … so, essentially, I went in the toilet. The door was locked. Took me a minute to realize there wasn’t somebody in there, another few, another while to get the door open.
“As we are on the Champions Tour, I had the longest pee ever.”
You gotta go, the door is locked, you’re not sure someone’s in there, your group is waiting on you. We’ve all been there.
“And then I kind of rushed down the fairway and hit my shot. The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t. … I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”
Harrington ended up with a double bogey on the par-4 16th hole. He carded five birdies on the day before that, and then closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th, keeping his lead intact after 54 holes.
“But, yeah, so when you get over 50 it sometimes takes a long time to have a pee. And that was, yeah, that’s my excuse. That’s got to be original, I would assume.”
FRISCO, Texas – Padraig Harrington was on cruise control through 45 holes of the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Until suddenly, he wasn’t.
Bogey-free through 51 holes, the golf gods finally got a hold of the Irishman’s game on the par-4 16th.
“The second shot was kind of innocuous because the pin was so tight,” Harrington told reporters following his third-round 68. “I was just playing 15 feet left of it and to be honest, yeah, I just, I wasn’t — I do that sometimes, I just wasn’t focused, I wasn’t into it and I hit a bad shot in the hazard.”
The double bogey, while untimely, was somewhat of a sigh of relief for Harrington.
“I’m glad I broke my par streak,” he said. “It’s not good not to have made a bogey. That’s not a good thing. I know that sounds strange.”
Standing over his tee shot on the par-3 17th, Harrington held the same club that caused his trouble on 16. Opting to be aggressive, Harrington nipped the flag stick resulting in an easy par.
On 18, the three-time major winner leaked his tee shot off to the right, playing it off of the lateral hazard line. Needing a par to remain tied with a surging Steve Stricker, Harrington got up and down out of a greenside bunker to birdie the par-5 last and takes a one-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round. The birdie not only gives him the overnight lead, but gives Harrington a boost of confidence despite slipping down the stretch.
“It’s always nice to hole a putt on the last,” he told Golfweek. “Yeah. So you’re dead right, it creates a bit of momentum, for sure.”
Heading into Saturday’s third round, it seemed like it was Harrington’s tournament to lose. But former Ryder Cup captain and 2023 co-captain, Steve Stricker, took it upon himself to close the gap and apply pressure.
Five shots back to begin the day and six back at one point during Saturday’s round, Stricker stormed out of the gates with a 4-under 32 on the front nine.
“I mean, all you can do is continue to keep trying to make birdies,” he told reporters. “I was in a position to try to be aggressive and try to hit good shots, make putts, try to make birdies. That was the mindset. Also not trying to make a bogey. I figured if I could go bogey-free today I needed a good round to get right back in there. We got one more round and a lot of golf left.”
Doubling down on a solid front nine, Stricker followed his gameplan to a tee, posting a bogey-free 64, tying the course record set by Harrington on Thursday and matching the best third-round score in Senior PGA Championship history.
Joining the pair in Sunday’s final-round pairing is PGA Tour Champions rookie Stewart Cink.
Well off the lead and stalling a bit on the front nine, Cink credits his wife, Lisa, with getting him into the mix.
“She (Lisa) told me at the turn, I kind of had a dry spell there where I bogeyed 8, bad decision on 8, made a bogey there,” Cink told reporters.
“I kind of went one direction and Padraig went the other way. And all of a sudden I was like seven back… So Lisa said, ‘You know, you’re playing fine, but the big thing is that you [are] just seven back of Harrington now. He’s kind of like separated himself.’ She said, ‘Let’s just try to like kind of pick our way back into sort of like shouting distance here’… I wouldn’t really say it actually changed my attitude, but it kind of gave me confidence to just instead of getting it all back at once I could just kind of pick away at it. … So I got to give my illustrious caddie some credit for that one.”
The 2009 Open champion was rewarded for sticking to his revised gameplan with an ace on the par-3 13th, the third ace of the week at Fields Ranch.
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 27, 2023
Quickly cutting into Harrington’s lead, Cink closed out his third round with a 5-under 67, three back of the lead.
When it comes to chasing down his first PGA Tour Champions win, Cink is ready to put up a good fight.
“I’m three back, but it’s probably the two players (Sticker and Harrington) you don’t want to be behind in this tournament, to be honest,” Cink said post round. “The two guys who are going to probably — that fit this course the best and have the best experience and confidence over their last handful of seasons out here. I’m the new guy, so I’m, I’ve got the firepower to play with those guys or take over this thing, but it’s going to be a dog fight tomorrow. … So I look forward to it tomorrow. It will feel like a big tournament for sure tomorrow and it’s not every day you get to do that.”
With low scores certainly doable, the new home of the PGA of America should offer a dramatic finish as star power takes center stage Sunday.
Robert Karlsson, Darren Clarke and Y.E. Yang look to make a push tied at 9 under. Defending Senior PGA champion, Steven Alker, sits in solo seventh (8 under) with Katsumasa Miyamoto, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Asilson da Silva rounding out the top 10 at 7 under.
Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.
FRISCO, Texas — The PGA of America welcomed the golf world into its new home as Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco plays host to the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
While the state-of-the-art office space that serves as the new home of the PGA of America has been occupied since 2022, the Senior PGA serves as the christening of the Fields Ranch East course, a Gil Hanse design that has impressed plenty of pros as they have tried to meander their way through his strategic bunkering and subtle but taxing green complexes.
While Fields Ranch isn’t an easy test, two aces were recorded in the first-ever tournament round at the course.
Yet another PGA Professional made history in Thursday’s opening round as Dave McNabb lays claim to the first hole-in-one at Fields Ranch. Similar to Michael Block’s iconic shot at Oak Hill, McNabb never saw it go in the hole.
“I saw one bounce and I sort of picked my tee up,” McNabb told pool reporters. “My caddie, Donny (Wessner), says, ‘It went in!’ Good stuff.”
While McNabb’s ace on the 165-yard 8th will forever be known as the first in course history, former Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin made an ace of his own on No. 4.
Out of his 15 career aces, the one at Fields Ranch ranks up there with the 1 he had at No. 16 in the 1992 Masters. Coincidentally, Pavin’s playing partner, Kenny Perry, was witness to both.
“Kenny is my good luck charm apparently,” Pavin chuckled.
Aside from the two aces, plenty of red numbers dot the leaderboard.
As a second shot golf course, Fields Ranch plays into the hands of ball strikers. As one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour Champions, Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.
A key part to scoring at Fields Ranch? The wind.
“Because every hole nearly has a hazard down one side of it, the wind direct has a big effect on this course, it really, really does,” Harrington said.
“In some ways the reason it was an easy 64 is because when you’re playing with somebody like Rocco there’s always a bit of chat and there’s always a bit of fun going on, so you’re quite relaxed. And that really does make a difference to how you feel about your shots and things like that. So it’s something as professionals we always need to keep reminding ourselves.”
Rocco Mediate shared the same sentiment.
“Going around here in the pro-am you’re not seeing low, you don’t see ’em because then — but then when the things change, the golf course is perfect. Wind wasn’t that bad today. I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. You give these guys some different irons into some of these greens they’re going to tear the grass off it. That’s how it’s always been.”
With wind typically a factor this time of year in North Texas, Fields Ranch offers a fair test whether the wind is ripping or not. Luckily for the players this week, the winds should stay at or around 10 miles per hour for the rest of the tournament.
With the wind remaining calm, we’ll get a preview of just how low players can go at the home of the PGA of America. With 25 more championships scheduled through 2034, it will be interesting to see the pace set this week.
Fields Ranch has allowed players to take advantage of well executed shots but has also gotten the better of players who weren’t committed to every single shot. PGA Professional, Bob Sowards, was one of a handful of players thrown off of his game plan.
“Oh, it was very frustrating,” Sowards told reporters following his first round 1-under 71.
Three under at the turn, Sowards lost all progress with a double bogey-bogey start on the back nine.
“I got pretty angry out there. I told KB, I got to be the dumbest guy on this whole property. Because if you’re going to make a game plan you might as well follow it. I chose not to and paid the price. So, oh, well. At least I still shot under par and gives me a chance going forward.”
Through round one, over 30 players are in red figures with over a dozen more at even par. Ideal weather and fast and firm playing conditions could result in one of the lowest scoring senior majors in recent history.
Defending champion Steven Alker shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 18th after 18 holes.
The East course at PGA Frisco is scheduled to host 26 championships through 2034.
There are big plans for the PGA of America’s new home in Frisco, Texas, including the playing of multiple major championships.
The first of those is taking place this week at the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
PGA Frisco officially opened on May 2, with the Beau Welling-designed West course the first to open. The East, designed by the team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, is scheduled already for 26 championships through 2034.
The Fields Ranch courses are part of the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. The property also serves as the new headquarters for the PGA of America, which previously had been located in South Florida.
How will the East course play? Ahead of the Senior PGA, several players discussed the layout, as did Hanse, the mastermind behind the venue.
“This is why I play, why I compete and I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow.”
There’s a lot on the line Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.
Patrick Rodgers, who has held a 54-hole lead three times previously in his PGA Tour career, has a one-shot advantage at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course. Not only would a win Sunday for Rodgers be the first of his PGA Tour career, it would also punch his ticket to Augusta National and the Masters.
However, there are plenty of golfers chasing.
Corey Conners, who Monday qualified into the Valero in 2019 and won, is a shot back. Matt Kuchar had the round of the day until a late mishap, but he’s also playing for a ticket to the Masters and is solo third. And the veteran, Padraig Harrington, is lurking.
It’s not just Harry Higgs’ personality that’s entertaining and unpredictable, his golf game has been the same.
SAN ANTONIO — After an unpredictable first day of weather at the Valero Texas Open, the sun emerged just after noon on Friday and the action at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course moved at a standard clip.
After Matt Kuchar and Padraig Harrington set the pace on Thursday, others upped their game on Friday, although the second round of play was not completed. The cut from 144 players will come sometime on Saturday morning.
With just a few days remaining until the eyes of the golf world turn to Magnolia Lane, the final two rounds at the Valero should provide plenty of drama, and, potentially, a dream of a lifetime to someone.
Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s action:
