Padraig Harrington shot a 67 on Saturday at the PGA Championship, moving back to even par and keeping himself in the tournament after a rocky start to the week. The 54-year-old Irishman teed off at 8:57 a.m. and finished with a three-footer at 18, then doffed his hat to the Philadelphia crowd as he walked off the green.
Harrington had opened with a four-over 74 on Friday, then spent much of his second round trying to stop the slide. He was one over par with a few holes left and five shots off the lead when his playing partner, Maverick McNealy, was still on top of the board near the end of the round. Harrington then three-putted the par-4 6th, his 15th hole of the day, for bogey and missed a four-footer at No. 9 to close at three over and seven back.
Saturday looked far different. Harrington birdied 1, 6 and 7 and turned in one of the steadier rounds of the day as several players made big moves on a course that was giving up chances. Joaquin Niemann and Martin Kaymer each shot 66 and climbed from T54 to near the top 10, while Justin Rose, Chris Kirk and Kristoffer Reitan each fired 65 and jumped nearly 50 spots. Rory McIlroy began the day tied for 30th and at one point played his way into a share of the lead.
That kind of movement is what Harrington was hoping for when he looked ahead to Sunday. He said he wanted to be only half a dozen shots behind going into the final round and made clear he was not treating the day as an exercise in settling for place. Harrington said the course could still reward momentum if the leaders hit a wall, and that someone who holed a few putts could post four or five under par with tough pins on the board.
The opening holes on Sunday could decide whether that hope turns into one last push. Harrington has given himself a chance, and after three rounds at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., he is still close enough to matter.
