Pádraig Harrington saved his best round for last at the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship in North Carolina where Fijian Vijay Singh ended a three-year winless streak on tour.
Harrington, making his first Champions Tour appearance in more than two months, struggled to get things going in rounds one and two and entered the final round tied for 37th at +2, but he made the perfect start to the third and final round by reeling off five consecutive birdies from the off.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep the momentum up and a run of three bogeys in four holes either side of the turn ended his chances of what would’ve been a come-from-behind win of epic proportions.
He regrouped to birdie two of the final four and finished tied for 18th at -2 and he’ll go into the first of three playoff events to round out the season ranked fourth in the Schwab Cup standings.
Chris Devlin needed a high finish to get himself inside the top 72 in the rankings in just his seventh start, but having matched Harrington on days one and two, a two-under 70 in round three saw him finish tied for 28th and in 89th place in the Schwab Cup, meaning he’ll need to hope for sponsor’s invitations and pre-qualifiers if he’s to gain many starts in 2028.
Darren Clarke rounded out the the Irish interest and it was a week to forget for the Dungannon man who didn’t manage to break par in any of the three rounds and closed out with a one-over 73 to finish tied for 47th at +5.
Singh began the day in a three-way tie for the lead with Tim O’Neal and Freddie Jacobsen, but while the other two struggled – O’Neal shot a one-over 73 and Jacobsen took one stroke more – the now six-time Champions Tour winner made four birdies around the turn to take full control and ran out a two-stroke winner over Ernie Els in second place.
Singh’s last victory came at the 2023 Ally Challenge, and at 63, he becomes the seventh oldest player in PGA Tour Champions history to claim victory.
Alex Cejka and Tag Ridings shared third at -6, one behind Els and three behind Singh, while O’Neal was among the five who shared fifth at -5.
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