Access Baltray hole-by-hole guide
Italian Francesco Molinari broke the course record on a day of spectacular scoring in The 3 Irish Open at Baltray today - but Padraig Harrington failed once again to ignite his season.
While the Open and US PGA champion, without a top 10 finish since January, managed only a one over par 73 after losing a ball on the final hole Molinari grabbed an eagle and eight birdies in a nine under par 63.
Brilliant though that was - it matched the lowest round of the 26-year-old's European Tour career - it was good enough for only a one-stroke lead.
Only 40 minutes earlier Swede Johan Edfors had equalled the old record for Baltray after collecting no fewer than 10 birdies.
‘I enjoy links golf and I enjoyed it a lot today,’ smiled Molinari, whose older brother Edoardo was US Amateur champion in 2005.
It helps, of course, when you make a make a 20-footer for birdie on the first and then a 30-footer for eagle at the third, but nobody could accuse the Turin golfer of not capitalising on those early bonuses.
‘I played a lot of links golf as an amateur and it's just a matter of getting used to it again,’ he added.
Not that the course played hard and fast. Rain softened it up and everybody was able to attack the flags more as a result - some more successfully than others inevitably.
Harrington's closing bogey six was not his only one of the day. He also had one on the 531-yard sixth.
But the Dubliner, commuting from home by helicopter, did his best to look on the bright side.
‘I felt good about a lot of things strangely enough,’ he commented. ‘I will focus on that and in three months I could be on top of the world.
‘I was always hanging on in there, but that's how the game is. Some days it just does not go for you and some days everything goes for you. I've just got to stay patient.’
