Harrington misses California cut
06 Feb 2010 - 20:40:21
Padraig Harrington was left to rue a bogey on his penultimate hole as he missed the halfway cut by a stroke at the rain-affected Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, California.
His second round got off to an encouraging start on a rainy Friday with two birdies but as the day wore on four bogeys followed. A birdie at the 16th had given Harrington some traction only for play to be brought to a close on Friday night with the Irishman on two over par with two to play.
More bad weather followed overnight with Riviera having to soak up more than three inches of rainfall by Saturday, and the resumption of play was twice delayed further for the 41 players hoping to complete their second rounds. The wait did Harrington no favours and he bogeyed the 17th on the way to a 73 to slip to three over and heading out of the tournament.
The third round was set to get under way with more rain forecast at Riviera but with Justin Rose having got into contention with a four-under-par 67 in the second round, leaving him four shots off the lead held by Steve Stricker and the still-to-finish Dustin Johnson when play was brought to a premature halt.
Johnson returned on Saturday and birdied the final hole to take the outright halfway lead at 11 under, his 67 aided by a hole-in-one at the 199-yard, par-three sixth.
Argentina's Andres Romero was set to start his third round in third place at eight under following a 69, with Rose's 67 putting him in a tie for fourth at six under alongside Kevin Stadler, who shot a level-par 71, Tim Wilkinson (67) and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (68).
Rose's compatriot and Ryder Cup team-mate Luke Donald finished with a one-under 70 in a group at four under that also included American Brandt Snedeker (72), South Africa's Ernie Els (70) and defending champion Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson enjoyed a much a better day in the rain than he had on Thursday when he had shot a one-over 72. The world number two got his bid for a third Northern Trust Open title in a row back on track with a 66 to leap into a tie for 13th.
