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Harrington's 65-foot eagle putt golden at Barclays Classic

Clearwater's Greg Kraft moved to No. 11 in season earnings with his first Nationwide Tour career win at Moosic, Pa.

By wire services
Published June 27, 2005

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N.Y. - Padraig Harrington was just trying to get it close.

Instead, the Irish star ended up closing out Jim Furyk in dramatic fashion Sunday, holing a big-breaking 65-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat the 2003 U.S. Open champion by a stroke in the Barclays Classic.

"I was just trying to two-putt. Trying to get it down there close," Harrington said. "I'm a total realist in those situations. ... If you'd offered me 3 or 4 feet, I probably would have said, "All right, I'll take that."

Harrington took advantage of Furyk's late meltdown in the 90-degree heat at sun-baked Westchester Country Club for his second PGA Tour victory of the season, overcoming a three-stroke deficit with five holes to play.

Harrington closed with 1-under 70 for 10-under 274. The nine-time European tour winner won the tournament a year after losing a playoff to Sergio Garcia in his first appearance in the event.

Harrington won after Furyk let it slip away with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17. Furyk missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 372-yard 17th to drop into a tie with Harrington, setting up the dramatic finish on the par-5 closing hole.

After Harrington holed the 65-footer - his second eagle putt of the day - to clinch the victory, Furyk made a 10-foot birdie putt for 71.

Kenny Perry (71), Brad Faxon (73) and Brian Gay (73) tied for third at 5 under, Dean Wilson (71) was another stroke back and Billy Mayfair (66), Vijay Singh (73), Justin Leonard (71) and John Senden (73) followed at 3 under. Singh, the 1993 and 1995 winner, was 5 over on his final 24 holes.

Clearwater man wins first Nationwide Tour event

It turned out Clearwater's Greg Kraft needed almost all of the seven-stroke advantage he had built up over the first 54 holes of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic at Moosic.

Kraft's 1-under 70 in the final round was good enough to hold his challengers at bay and record his first career win on the tour. The 41-year-old finished at 17-under 267 and won by two shots over Tim O'Neal (65-269) and by three over lefty Bubba Watson (66-270).

Kraft's last victory was on the PGA Tour at the 1993 Deposit Guaranty Classic.

Kraft opened with birdies at Nos. 1 and 5 to get to 18-under, but just ahead of him, O'Neal was running off five birdies in the first six holes and closed the gap to four. O'Neal's sixth birdie of the day at the par-3, ninth pushed him to 15 under, and Kraft bogeyed the same hole to cut the lead to two strokes. A birdie by Kraft at the par-5, 10th increased his lead to three.

A failed up-and-down on the 16th resulted in Kraft's second bogey of the day and the lead was back to two. He parred the final two holes to seal the win and $81,000 payday.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Mark McNulty made birdie on the second extra hole to win a three-way playoff in the Bank of America Championship - the record fourth consecutive tour event that went to a playoff.

Tom Purtzer slid an 8-foot putt by the lip of the hole to finish in a second-place tie with Don Pooley, who was knocked out with a bogey on the first playoff hole.

McNulty (68-204) put his tee shot on the 166-yard, par-3 17th hole about 15 feet from the hole and he sank the putt to earn $240,000 and his first victory of the year at Concord, Mass.

For the second consecutive year, Purtzer took the lead into the final day but finished second.

EUROPEAN PGA:

Jean-Fran-Ecois Remesy won his second straight French Open title, beating Jean Van de Velde in a playoff at Versailles. Van de Velde led by a shot with one hole remaining in regulation, but he hooked his drive into the water and eventually bogeyed the hole to finish tied with Remesy at 11-under 273. Both players shot 2-under 69s in the final round.

[Last modified June 27, 2005, 15:04:43]