Buzzin Golf

Padraig Harrington led the World Golf Championship by three shots from Tiger Woods going into the final round, but a disastrous 16th hole saw the Irishman’s hopes of another title disappear.

Harrington seemed to suffer more than Woods when a slow play call from referee John Paramor was made against the pair. Harrington’s fourth shot on the 16th ended in the pond guarding the green, effectively handing the win to Woods who finished the round 12 under for his seventh victory in the event.

Both Harrington and Woods felt that Paramor’s call had influenced the outcome of the game, the 33 year old American said;

“I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle because it was such a great battle for 16 holes,We’re going at it head-to-head and unfortunately that happened. I think being on the clock influenced Paddy. I’m sure he would have taken a lot more time on his third shot to try to figure out how to play it, where to place the next one.”

Harrington who finished the tied in second place with Australian Robert Allenby, said;

“When you’re out of position, it’s difficult to be on the clock, I was out of position on the tee shot, second shot and third shot. I was in trouble every time and it just puts a little bit of added doubt into the equation.It certainly knocked me out of my comfort zone, but there are rules. The players make the rules and we’ve got to apply them.”

In a statement European Tour chief referee John Paramor said:

“Padraig and Tiger’s group were 13 minutes over time through 11 holes.We could have put them on the clock at the 13th but we opted to cut them a bit of slack due to problems up at the 16th green at that time. .”