HIT AND MISS

* Hit: Standing 249 yards away on the 17th fairway, leading by two, Padraig Harrington demonstrated a champion’s resolve. “I wanted to take it on,” he said, and so he did, dispensing the shot of the tournament, a five-wood that came out low and true, seemed to ride upon the wind, smacked down on the green, curled around the left of the cup and rested obediently three feet beyond. He then putted for clinching eagle. Said second-place Ian Poulter, “You know, the shot he hit into 17 was quite awesome.”

* Miss: Given the catalog of extravagant misses in the dunes and foliage on the Irish Sea from one of the toughest weeks in golf history, it’s odd to cite a common veer into a greenside bunker. But after Greg Norman’s tee shot on No. 1 landed brilliantly mid-fairway, his second shot amazed him, “as solid as I hit it,” by seeking sand, becoming the proverbial Shot He’d Most Like to Have Back. “Things changed dramatically because of that,” he said, and his three opening bogeys devoured his lead and cost him ground he sorely could’ve used later.

-- Chuck Culpepper