Harrington Capitalizes on Furyk’s Collapse

Padraig Harrington curled in a big-breaking 65-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Jim Furyk by a stroke in the Barclays Classic on Sunday at sun-baked Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y.

Harrington took advantage of Furyk’s late meltdown in the 90-degree heat for the Irish star’s second PGA Tour victory of the season, overcoming a three-stroke deficit with five holes to play to stun the 2003 U.S. Open champion.

Harrington closed with a one-under 70 for a 10-under 274 total. 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.

“To hole a putt like that on the final hole is very special. Very special,” Harrington said. “I hit that putt pure.

“I was just trying to two-putt. Trying to get it down there close. If you’d offered me three to four feet, I probably would have taken it.”

Harrington, a playoff winner over Vijay Singh in the Honda Classic in early March, walked off with the $1.03-million first-place check after Furyk let it slip away with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17.

“I feel sorry for Jim,” Harrington said.

Furyk missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 372-yard 17th to drop into a tie with Harrington, setting up the dramatic finish on the par-five closing hole.

“I opened the door a little bit with the bogey on 16 and then missing the short one on 17,” Furyk said. “I make that putt 99% of the time.”

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

Furyk, winless in 39 events since the 2003 Buick Open, has three runner-up finishes this year, including a playoff loss to Singh in the Wachovia Championship.

“There’s no consolation,” Furyk said. “Finishing second really stinks.”

A year after returning to competition following surgery on his left wrist, Furyk seemed to be patiently working his way around the tight course in pursuit of his 10th PGA Tour title until unraveling down the stretch.

“I played well -- that’s a positive,” Furyk said. “Right now, I’m obviously disappointed. I wanted to close the door.”

Kenny Perry (71), Brad Faxon (73) and Brian Gay (73) tied for third at five under, Dean Wilson (71) was another stroke back, and Billy Mayfair (66), Singh (73), Justin Leonard (71) and John Senden (73) followed at three under.

Singh, the 1993 and 1995 winner, was five over on the final 24 holes after reaching eight under on No. 12 Saturday.

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Mark McNulty made birdie on the second extra hole in Concord, Mass., to win a three-way playoff in the Bank of America Championship -- the record fourth consecutive Champions Tour event that went to a playoff.

Tom Purtzer slid an eight-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. The course was then cleared because of the threat of thunderstorms, but the rain never came and play resumed about an hour later with the two remaining golfers on the 17th tee.

McNulty put his tee shot on the 166-yard, par-three 17th hole about 15 feet from the hole, and he sank the putt to earn $240,000 and his first victory of the year. For the second consecutive year, Purtzer took the lead into the final day but finished second.

Pooley birdied the final two holes of regulation to finish off a final round of 65 and make up four strokes on the leader.

That left him in the clubhouse as the leader, with about 45 minutes to wait until the others finished.

He figured he was done for the day because the leaders still had a chance to play No. 18 -- a 521-yard par-five that was the easiest hole on the course for the first two rounds. But when Purtzer, at 12 under, hit his tee shot into a trap on No. 17 and made bogey, Pooley headed back to the range to warm up.

On No. 18, Purtzer left a long eagle putt about three feet from the cup and converted the birdie to return to 12 under. McNulty got up and down from the far bunker to reach 12 under and make it a three-way playoff.

The temperature dropped only slightly from Saturday, when the thermometer hit the mid-90s and the tour waived its ban on carts.