Harrington had a six-shot lead at one point in the final round before holding on to win by one.
Padraig Harrington started the final round of the 2022 U.S. Senior Open with a five-shot lead. He stretched the lead to six with a birdie on the eighth hole.
But that’s when Steve Stricker, whose U.S. squad demolished Harrington’s team at the 2021 Ryder Cup, got to work.
Stricker, who already has one senior major this season, made birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 12, 14, 17 and 18 to finish at 9 under, one shot off the lead. He was three holes ahead of Harrington, who was sputtering along and had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 but got a much needed birdie on the 15th hole to get to 10 under.
From there, Harrington parred his way home, securing a one-shot win and capturing his first senior major.
Harrington’s last win came five years, eight months and three days ago as he last hoisted a trophy at the 2016 Portugal Masters on the DP World Tour.
He now has four professional majors, adding this U.S. Senior Open to his two Open Championships (2007, 2008) as well as the 2008 PGA Championship.
Harrington is the first international winner of the U.S. Senior Open since Colin Montgomerie did it in 2014.
Stricker shot the best round of the day Sunday with a 6-under 65 and finished solo second. Mark Hensby was solo third at 4 under.
Champions tour rookie Rob Labritz, who probably had the most fun this week, finished at 3 under in a three-way tie for fourth. He was playing just his 12th Champions event and second USGA event. The last USGA event he played coming back in 1988. He was medalist honors at PGA Tour Champions Q-School last December.
The Cinderella story of club pro Rob Labritz keeps getting better and better.
The Cinderella story of Rob Labritz keeps getting better and better.
Labritz, a 51-year-old longtime club pro who qualified for the PGA Tour Champions this season in December, shot his third consecutive 2-under 69 on Saturday at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and trails only leader Padraig Harrington entering the final round of the 42nd U.S. Senior Open.
“I’m in the greatest spot I’ve ever wanted to be in,” he told NBC after the round. “I’m living the dream and there’s marks up and down my leg from pinching myself.”
This is just his second USGA event and first since 1988, and Labritz, who has been a club pro since age 19, wearing an assortment of hats in his day job that left little time to concentrate on his own game, is soaking it all in.
“I’ve got to be honest, the adrenaline rush on the 1st tee and the last putt were nothing like I ever felt before in my life,” said the father of three who brought 17-month-old daughter Logan to his post-round press conference. “I had to back off the putt. I had Baby Shark stuck in my head. There was a lot going on. I just had to get the putt in the hole.”
"I'm in the greatest spot I've ever wanted to be in. I'm living the dream and there's marks up and down my leg from pinching myself."@roblabritzgolf = the people's champion. pic.twitter.com/PqDA75rgRQ
No matter what happens in the final round – he is five strokes behind three-time major winner Harrington and former U.S. Senior Open champion Gene Sauers – Labritz is soaking it all in as few have done before him.
“It’s so cool. I want to make sure I take mental notes, and now that we have iPhones, I can take actually videos,” said Labritz, who broke out his phone and recorded the scene. “The fans saw me take the phone out and they got behind it, which was kind of cool. I wasn’t expecting that, but it was pretty cool.”
At a time when the professional golf world seems to be spinning off its axis and has become more about playing for outrageous sums of money than love of the game, Labritz has been a breath of fresh air.
Labritz, who served as director of golf at GlenArbor in Bedford Hills, New York, prior to medaling at Q-School in December, carded birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 to reach his 6-under total and is the lone player in the field to post a trio of rounds in the 60s.
“I’m not worried about it,” Labritz said of his final-round deficit. “I’m going to go out there and play my game, shoot under par, and wherever the chips fall, they fall. There are guys out here that have been doing this for 30 years. If they play better than me, so be it. I’m learning. I’m getting better. I’m improving. I feel like I’m so close.”
Labritz has recorded one top-five finish and three top-25 finishes in 11 PGA Tour Champions starts, and entered the week No. 48 on the money list with earnings of $168,353.
He will play in the final round alongside four-time major champion Ernie Els. To Labritz, he won’t be the one burdened with pressure as he already has exceeded his expectation for the week, win or lose.
“Man, it just means that all the work that I’ve been doing for the past however many years is paying off. I feel comfortable out there. I know I’m supposed to be here,” he said. “Even when I was at my greatest club job on the planet, Glen Arbor, I still felt like there’s something missing, and I don’t feel that way anymore. So I’m a blessed man.”
Harrington all but locked up the 42nd U.S. Senior Open title with a 5-under par 66 Saturday, good for a five-shot lead.
Sure, it was cool to see Padraig Harrington run away from the field and all but lock up the 42nd U.S. Senior Open title with a 5-under par 66 Saturday (good for a five-shot lead with 18 holes to go) here at Saucon Valley Country Club.
But there was plenty more going on before the television cameras rolled that registered on the cool meter.
Such as:
Really? Just like that?
Watching Miguel Angel Jimenez, who drew a nice crowd despite not being in contention, chip in for birdie on the par 5, 6th hole made us duffers understand even more why we’re duffers.
The cooler part was how nonchalantly he did it. He wasn’t smoking his usual cigar at that point (the stogie would come later in his round), but he simply strolled up to the flag to get a look, walked back to his ball (which was about 10 yards off the green, and knocked it in.
A tip of the cap and a bow followed, then a smile, and off to the next tee.
Not so fast
Golfers like it quiet and when the door to a portable toilet slammed as Jerry Kelly was in his backswing on the fifth tee, the always affable Kelly didn’t flinch. Or grumble. Or yell, like so many others do.
He just stepped back, regrouped, and proceeded to crush one down the right side of the fairway.
“Carte” blanche
Over two decades ago, Casey Martin caused an uproar in the golf world when he used a cart.
Here, a handful of players, including Scott Verplank, are using carts and nobody seems to care.
Players on the Senior Tour are “encouraged” to walk the course, but carts are permitted.
Thanks, mate
Australian Stuart Appleby did one young fan a favor by reaching into the cooler provided to the players on each tee and grabbing a couple bottles of water and handing them over.
With temperatures in the 90s, it was a really nice gesture.
Early birds
It’s easy to show up later in the day to watch the final groups (the last pairing didn’t go off until 2:55 p.m.), but kudos to those who made it for the morning play.
A 3-over par 74 left Rocco Mediate in a tie for 15th Saturday heading into the final round of the 42nd U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club.
Players like Jim Furyk, Mark O’Meara, Colin Montgomerie and Vijay Singh were in the morning wave and the fans showed up to see some of their favorites.
Big Easy turns back the clock
Hearing a dad tell his sons to watch “that guy” and see how easy he makes it look was cool and funny at the same time.
Who knows if the guy knew that Ernie Els’ nickname is the “Big Easy”? It didn’t really matter.
What mattered was how the 67 Els carded (tied for the second-lowest round of the day) moved him from a tie for 13th into sole possession of fourth at 4-under par heading into Sunday’s final round.
And speaking of rolling it
Ken Tanigawa’s sixvstraight birdies (on holes seven through 12) not only rocketed him up the leaderboard but also set a U.S. Senior Open record for consecutive birdies.
He finished the day with a 2-under par 69 and heads into Sunday in a tie for 13th.
Rob Labritz fist bumps his caddie on the 15th hole during the 2022 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course) in Bethlehem, Pa. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
Puttin’ on the Labritz
Rob Labritz continues to be the feel-good story of this tournament. (In full disclosure, I’d never heard of him, either).
The 51-year-old Champions Tour rookie, who had to go through qualifying to even get into this field, shot his third-straight 2-under par 69 Saturday and finds himself tied for second place with Gene Sauers at 6-under par.
Not bad for a guy who never played on the PGA Tour (although he did play in eight PGA Championships, twice finishing as low club professional) and is making just his 12th Champions Tour start.
Do it again Sunday
The USGA moved the tee on the 10th hole up, shortening the par 4 to just 284 yards, and enticing every player to try and drive the green.
Some did, some didn’t, but the crowd loved it nonetheless. Let’s hope there’s another drivable par 4 in the mix for Sunday’s final round.
Truer words were …
Saucon Valley’s perfect fairways, glass-like greens and overall pristine conditioning led one fan to sum things up perfectly.
“This place looks nothing like the course I play Sunday mornings.”
Here are all the events and corresponding venues the USGA will put on in 2022.
In 2022, the USGA is holding championships at some of the most historic venues in the world, highlighted by the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The U.S. Mid-Amateur is headed to the Midwest, where Erin Hills will pose an enormous challenge for the men who qualify.
On the women’s side, the USGA will welcome players to Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, for the U.S. Women’s Open. And for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, qualifiers will head to Chambers Bay, University Place, Washington, home of Jordan Spieth’s 2015 U.S. Open victory.
Listed below are all the events the USGA will put on in 2022, accompanied by the corresponding venue.
