Pádraig Harrington recovered from Saturday’s disappointment to card a two-under final round of 70 at the PGA Tour Champions’ SAS Championship and claw his way back into the top 10 as German Alex Cejka proved too good at Prestonwood Country Club.
The North Carolina conditions were far from typical as cold weather and rain featured strongly over the weekend, but once Cejka – who won the 2023 Senior Open Championship in the worst of conditions at Royal Porthcawl – hit the front on Saturday, he never looked back.
Birdies on six, seven and 11 gave Harrington a sniff of getting back into the Championship, but a double bogey on 13 ended all hopes of a late smash and grab from the double-major winner in 2025.
He finished with a birdie on 17 to claw his way back to -2 for the Championship and into a share of seventh, with Darren Clarke matching his two-under round of 70 to finish a shot further back on -1 and sharing 13th.
Cejka, playing alongside one of his golfing heroes in Bernhard Langer, only needed to be consistent and with a closing 71 to go with his previous rounds of 70 and 66, he cruised to a three-stroke win at -9 over Ernie Els in second and Steven Alker in solo third at -4.
“I was really a little bit emotional,” he admitted afterwards. “It’s the first three-round tournament I won. Especially playing alongside my idol, Bernhard Langer, who I admired for the last, I don’t
know, 34 years.
“Being with him in the final round and in tough conditions on a tough golf course, and I held my stuff together. I’m really, really proud. I cannot even put it in words what it means to me.”
Charles Schwab Rankings leader, Miguel Angel Jiménez, finished alongside Harrington at -2 and extended his advantage over number-two-ranked Stewart Cink.
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