Vijay Singh may have a moment of his own today, though it will likely prove just as fleeting. Tiger Woods has such a chokehold on this tournament that the only benefit of getting the chance to play with him in the final group in the third round is getting some good television airtime.
Singh drew the short straw this time because Harrington wilted in the Minnesota heat. By Sunday it will probably be someone different filling out the twosome as Woods takes a leisurely stroll to his 15th major championship.
We’ve been waiting for a true rival to emerge for Woods for the better part of a dozen years now. We’ll be waiting another dozen and it still may never happen.
There are too many pretenders, not nearly enough contenders. Players with different names and different games, but never any Arnie to Tiger’s Jack.
Phil Mickelson had his share of chances but never seized enough of them. Neither did the usual suspects - Singh, David Duval, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia.
For a brief time Friday it seemed as if Harrington was going to take a shot at auditioning for the role. He had the pedigree - three major titles of his own - and he had the opportunity, playing alongside Woods at steamy Hazeltine National.
Even better, he had a share of the lead at one point and a lot of support from the huge crowds that appreciate Irish nice just as much as they do Minnesota nice. Unlike Woods, Harrington doesn’t throw clubs and swear his way around a course, a trait that a lot of Minnesotans seem to appreciate.
They appreciate winners, too. And Woods looks as if he’s going to run away with this one.
If Harrington couldn’t beat him last Sunday while leading by three shots in the final round in Ohio, what chance does he have coming from four behind in 36 holes here? For that matter, what chance does Singh or anyone in the field have of catching golf’s greatest front-runner ever, a player who is a perfect 8-0 when holding the lead midway through major championships?
In a word, none.
“If Tiger plays the golf he’s capable of on the weekend, he’ll be the winner,” Harrington said.
If Woods doesn’t play that kind of golf, it will be a bigger shock than Michael Vick signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s so mentally focused, so driven to succeed that he either intimidates opponents into submission before they reach the first tee or wears them down with relentless play on the course.
That’s why his only real rival is a Florida retiree who spends more time playing tennis than golf. Jack Nicklaus still owns the mythical title of world’s greatest golfer, but even he acknowledges it’s only a matter of time until Woods breaks his record of 18 major championships and is formally given the crown.
The current crop of players, meanwhile, has to be content to winning when Woods is either not around or out of sorts. That worked for Harrington when he won the British Open and the PGA Championship last year and for Lucas Glover and others during the first three majors this year.
But there’s simply no one who is going to beat him at his best - and Woods says he’s playing better than he ever has.
Woods threw a bone to Singh, saying he was very consistent and that he looked forward to playing with him. He was similarly gracious to Harrington, who he actually seems to like. The two chatted several times during their round, laughing together after Harrington hit the shot of the tournament, a 301-yard 3-wood from an uphill lie in a fairway bunker on No. 15 that skipped over a greenside bunker right onto the green.
Woods told Harrington the shot was so good he would have paid to have seen it.
“So I asked him for 50 bucks,” Harrington said, laughing.
A small price to pay for another rival vanquished.
