Padraig Harrington overcame a broken driver during warmups and what he called a rough patch mid-round on Friday to post a 6-under-par 65 and take the 36-hole lead by one stroke over 2019 champion Steve Stricker in the 42nd U.S. Senior Open Championship on the Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club.
Harrington, of the Republic of Ireland, turned 50 last August and is competing in his first U.S. Senior Open. The three-time major champion (2007 and 2008 British Opens; 2008 PGA Championship) weathered a rainy Round 1 on Thursday morning, then reeled off six birdies in a bogey-free round on Friday afternoon, with three of the birdies coming in a five-hole stretch late in the round.
“I was happy with the level par [on Thursday], even though it could have been a lot lower,” said Harrington, who competed in six Ryder Cups for Team Europe, winning four, before captaining the losing side in 2021. “I knew with the better weather today, just stay patient. I holed a few putts. They didn’t drop yesterday.”
Harrington noted “a bit of drama” when he broke his driver in the middle of his pre-round warmup. “I had to replace the driver I played with yesterday, and this one flew a little higher, a bit more spin, so it was a little different,” said Harrington.
Though it didn’t cost him any strokes, Harrington felt like he was sidetracked by missing a short birdie try on No. 15.
“I missed a 3- or 4-footer and it kind of set me back,” said Harrington, who has three runner-up finishes in his last five starts but has yet to win on PGA Tour Champions. “I didn’t hit a good tee shot off 16 afterwards. Just felt at that moment I was trying a little bit too hard. … Just a couple of holes where I felt I was trying to do it rather than letting it happen. I definitely got back into it later on in the round.”
Stricker, of Madison, Wis., followed up an opening round of 3-under 68 with a 2-under 69 on Friday that was highlighted by a flurry of three birdies to close his round on Nos. 16-18.
“I had a couple of other opportunities on the back that I didn’t make,” said Stricker, who took a leave of absence from the tour for health reasons after the 2021 Ryder Cup, in which he captained the winning USA side. “But I told my brother-in-law, Mario, who was caddieing for me, let’s try to get one or two coming in the last three holes. I just wanted to get back to even for the day and ended up birdieing the last three. It was a good way to finish the day.”
Stricker, who broke several scoring records in his victory three years ago on The Warren Course at Notre Dame (Ind.), did not compete in the 2021 U.S. Senior Open after it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re halfway home; we have a jammed-up leader board,” said Stricker, who is seeking his fifth senior major title and won the Regions Tradition last month by six strokes over Harrington. “There’s a lot of people up there. It’s going to take some great golf this weekend to come out on top.”
Rob Labritz, of Pound Ridge, N.Y., a former club professional who earned his PGA Tour Champions card in December, is alone in third place after shooting his second consecutive 2-under 69. A group of five players that includes 68-year-old Jay Haas, who bettered his age by one on Thursday; Pennsylvania native and 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate; 2016 U.S. Senior Open champion Gene Sauers; Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who won the Tour event hosted by Stricker in Madison two weeks ago; and red-hot Steven Alker, of New Zealand, who has three victories and no finish lower than T-3 in his last six starts; are tied for fourth at 3-under 139.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, a two-time runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open, shot the low round of the championship thus far on Friday, a 7-under 64, bettering his Thursday effort by 15 strokes to move into a tie for 22nd place.
Defending champion Jim Furyk, a native of West Chester, Pa., who has struggled in 2021, bogeyed his final hole of Round 2 to make the cut on the number at 5-over 147.
What’s Next
Round 3 will begin at 9:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday with the final pairing of Harrington and Stricker starting at 2:55 p.m. Peacock will stream the action live from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. with Golf Channel picking up the coverage from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Notable
This is the first time since 2019, and just the third time in 42 years, that no amateurs made the cut. Todd White, the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion and a 2013 USA Walker Cup competitor, missed by one stroke.
Bernhard Langer saw his perfect mark of making cuts in senior majors (64 for 64) come to an end when he posted 7-over 149 (74-75). The 2010 champion owns 43 PGA Tour Champions victories, second all-time to five-time USGA champion Hale Irwin (45).
Among other notables to miss the cut were past champions Jeff Maggert, Olin Browne and Roger Chapman, along with 2021 runner-up Mike Weir, 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Gene Elliott and 2021 U.S. Senior Open low amateur William Mitchell.
In Thursday’s first round, the par-5 12th hole played the easiest (5.02 strokes). On Friday, the 623-yard hole was the fifth-toughest, playing to an average of 5.35.
Amateur Jack Hall withdrew on Friday morning due to an undisclosed injury.
Quotable
“It's a much stronger test than I expected. This is way, way tougher than our regular Champions Tour events. I knew this was a big advantage to me starting the week, both lengthwise and being able to play from the rough if I am in the rough. This is a big golf course, well set up. I know it's gotten a little soft, so the scoring is better because of that.” – 36-hole leader Padraig Harrington on the setup for the U.S. Senior Open
“I just hate missing cuts, I guess, but for some reason or another, I've played well in Senior Opens. Somebody said to me on Wednesday that I'd never missed a cut, and I wished I hadn't have heard that because that was kind of all I was thinking about.” – Jay Haas after making it 17 for 17 in made cuts in this championship
“Yesterday, it's not me. It's a different guy (laughing).” – Miguel Angel Jimenez when asked about his 15-stroke difference between Rounds 1 and 2
“I don't know how I did that actually. I wasn't happy. My caddie (Sam Workman) just said, ‘OK, let's go. We got a new nine.’ It's probably a good thing it was a new nine. I just steadied the ship and made some nice shots [coming home].” – Steven Alker (3-under 139) on recovering from a double-bogey 6 on No. 18, his ninth hole of the day
“It's good to feel uncomfortably comfortable. It's what you want to feel. Regardless of what happens, the feeling on the first tee tomorrow, whatever time I tee off, will be cool… and I haven't felt it in a while.” – Rocco Mediate on heading to the weekend three strokes off the lead
“Nothing really changed except for the speed of the greens. I mean, they were soft, but they were fast. I mean, it felt like 2, 3 feet faster. Obviously, we played later yesterday and it was wet, but, I was shocked how fast they were. I just never got my speed today.” – Mark Hensby, the 18-hole, co-leader on Friday’s course conditions
“I just hit a lot of drivers, and they eventually crack. I don't even use my tournament driver now when I'm at home practicing. But I do a lot of driver work, a lot of speed work. I think I'm the only one who's ever cracked one of those drivers, and I've done it three times now.” – Padraig Harrington, on cracking his driver during his pre-round warmup
Results from Friday's second round of the 2022 U.S. Senior Open Championship, played at 6,963-yard, par-71 Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course).
POS,NAME,SCORES-TOTAL,STATUS
1,Padraig Harrington,71-65-136,-6
2,Steve Stricker,68-69-137,-5
3,Rob Labritz,69-69-138,-4
T4,Rocco Mediate,68-71-139,-3
T4,Thongchai Jaidee,70-69-139,-3
T4,Jay Haas,67-72-139,-3
T4,Steven Alker,72-67-139,-3
T4,Gene Sauers,72-67-139,-3
T9,Mark Hensby,67-73-140,-2
T9,Alex Cejka,71-69-140,-2
T9,Doug Barron,72-68-140,-2
12,Tracy Phillips,72-69-141,-1
T13,John Huston,72-70-142,E
T13,Steve Flesch,73-69-142,E
T13,Paul Broadhurst,68-74-142,E
T13,Markus Brier,71-71-142,E
T13,Ernie Els,72-70-142,E
T13,Richard Green,71-71-142,E
T13,David Toms,72-70-142,E
T13,Retief Goosen,71-71-142,E
T13,Jeff Brehaut,75-67-142,E
T22,Tim Petrovic,68-75-143,+1
T22,Rod Pampling,73-70-143,+1
T22,Ken Tanigawa,75-68-143,+1
T22,Miguel Angel Jimenez,79-64-143,+1
T22,Wesley Short Jr.,70-73-143,+1
T22,Jerry Kelly,72-71-143,+1
T22,Clark Dennis,73-70-143,+1
T29,Michael Muehr,71-73-144,+2
T29,Charlie Wi,75-69-144,+2
T29,Omar Uresti,75-69-144,+2
T29,Kevin Sutherland,72-72-144,+2
T29,Glen Day,70-74-144,+2
T29,Cameron Beckman,73-71-144,+2
T29,Davis Love III,76-68-144,+2
T36,Robert Karlsson,71-74-145,+3
T36,Jeffrey Schmid,75-70-145,+3
T36,Craig Thomas,74-71-145,+3
T36,John Senden,73-72-145,+3
T36,Thomas Gillis,74-71-145,+3
T36,Paul Goydos,69-76-145,+3
T36,Stuart Appleby,76-69-145,+3
T36,Vijay Singh,75-70-145,+3
T36,Brian Gay,72-73-145,+3
T36,Ken Duke,73-72-145,+3
T46,Alan McLean,73-73-146,+4
T46,Bob May,76-70-146,+4
T46,Scott Verplank,74-72-146,+4
T46,Y.E. Yang,74-72-146,+4
T46,Andrew Johnson,76-70-146,+4
T46,Willie Wood,74-72-146,+4
T46,Colin Montgomerie,75-71-146,+4
T46,Lee Janzen,74-72-146,+4
T54,Jeff Gove,71-76-147,+5
T54,Jeff Sluman,72-75-147,+5
T54,Mark O'Meara,75-72-147,+5
T54,Scott Parel,72-75-147,+5
T54,Peter Baker,74-73-147,+5
T54,James Kingston,71-76-147,+5
T54,Bob Estes,76-71-147,+5
T54,Phillip Price,74-73-147,+5
T54,Scott McCarron,75-72-147,+5
T54,Jim Furyk,71-76-147,+5
T54,Gavin Coles,74-73-147,+5
(Failed to Qualify)
Todd White (a),73-75-148
Harrison Frazar,75-73-148
Britt Pavelonis,75-73-148
Matt Gogel,75-73-148
Duffy Waldorf,77-71-148
K.J. Choi,77-71-148
Richard Gilkey,74-75-149
Don Carpenter,74-75-149
Joakim Haeggman,74-75-149
Shane Bertsch,72-77-149
David Duval,78-71-149
Brett Quigley,73-76-149
Bernhard Langer,74-75-149
Jonathan Kaye,78-71-149
Tom Byrum,75-74-149
Dave Bahr,77-73-150
Jeff Maggert,74-76-150
Tim Weinhart,75-75-150
Tony Soerries (a),74-76-150
Robert Allenby,75-75-150
Joe Durant,78-72-150
Stephen Dodd,75-75-150
Stephen Ames,75-75-150
Andrew Sapp,76-75-151
Chris DiMarco,76-75-151
Harry Rudolph III,81-70-151
David Noll (a),79-72-151
Brian Mogg,75-76-151
Naoyuki Tamura,80-71-151
Mauricio Molina,74-77-151
Fred Funk,75-76-151
Jack Larkin Sr. (a),77-74-151
Mike Weir,80-72-152
Woody Austin,74-78-152
William Mitchell (a),82-70-152
Darren Clarke,74-78-152
Kevin Kraft,80-72-152
Charlie Bolling,79-74-153
Yoshinobu Tsukada,76-77-153
Thomas Pernice Jr.,78-75-153
Michael Campbell,79-74-153
Brian Wilson,72-81-153
Dave McNabb,75-78-153
Thomas Levet,79-74-153
Miles McConnell (a),79-75-154
Olin Browne,78-76-154
Dicky Pride,79-75-154
Tim Cantwell,76-78-154
Kelly Mitchum,81-74-155
David Berganio Jr.,78-77-155
John Bickerton,77-78-155
Bryan Hoops (a),78-77-155
Ed Kirby,78-78-156
Mark Calcavecchia,76-80-156
Mike Meehan,82-74-156
Matt Sughrue (a),83-74-157
David Hronek,78-79-157
G. Davis Boland (a),78-80-158
Yong Lee,85-73-158
Gustav Ulrich,82-76-158
Dolph Roder,83-75-158
Judd Gibb,80-78-158
Roger Chapman,80-78-158
Rafael Gomez,84-74-158
Tim Parun,82-77-159
Michael Molino,84-75-159
Kirk Triplett,76-83-159
Jerry Gunthorpe (a),83-76-159
Jay Williamson,74-85-159
Pat O'Donnell (a),85-75-160
Ned Zachar (a),77-83-160
Brian Spitz,79-81-160
Mark Sanchez (a),82-78-160
Jim Roy,86-74-160
Micah Rudosky,86-74-160
Eddie Hargett (a),81-80-161
Jon Veneziano (a),85-77-162
Joel B. Johnson (a),84-78-162
Kevin Baker,80-82-162
Robert Funk (a),78-85-163
Robert Niger,83-80-163
Bill Harvey,80-84-164
William Ayres (a),82-82-164
Bill Van Orman,79-85-164
Anthony Aguilar,83-81-164
Tim Hogarth (a),82-82-164
Mike Karney (a),87-79-166
James Barnes (a),82-85-167
James Chung,85-88-173
Gene Elliott (a),89-85-174
Jack Hall (a),85-WD
Brandt Jobe,WD
Pairings and tee times for Saturday’s third round of the 2022 U.S. Senior Open Championship, played at 6,963-yard, par-71 Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course).
All Times EDT
9:45 a.m. -- Gavin Coles, Australia, 74-73 147, +5; Jim Furyk, Jacksonville, Fla., 71-76 147, +5
9:55 a.m. -- Scott McCarron, Mooresville, N.C., 75-72 147, +5; Phillip Price, Wales, 74-73 147, +5
10:05 a.m. -- Bob Estes, Austin, Texas, 76-71 147, +5; James Kingston, South Africa, 71-76 147, +5
10:15 a.m. -- Peter Baker, England, 74-73 147, +5; Scott Parel, Augusta, Ga., 72-75 147, +5
10:25 a.m. -- Mark O'Meara, Cleveland, Ohio, 75-72 147, +5; Jeff Sluman, Hinsdale, Ill., 72-75 147, +5
10:35 a.m. -- Jeff Gove, Sandpoint, Idaho, 71-76 147, +5; Lee Janzen, Orlando, Fla., 74-72 146, +4
10:45 a.m. -- Colin Montgomerie, Scotland, 75-71 146, +4; Willie Wood, Edmond, Okla., 74-72 146, +4
10:55 a.m. -- Andrew Johnson, Maitland, Fla., 76-70 146, +4; Y.E. Yang, Republic of Korea, 74-72 146, +4
11:05 a.m. -- Scott Verplank, Edmond, Okla., 74-72 146, +4; Bob May, Las Vegas, Nev., 76-70 146, +4
11:15 a.m. -- Alan McLean, Canada, 73-73 146, +4; Ken Duke, Stuart, Fla., 73-72 145, +3
11:25 a.m. -- Brian Gay, Windermere, Fla., 72-73 145, +3; Vijay Singh, Fiji, 75-70 145, +3
11:35 a.m. -- Stuart Appleby, Australia, 76-69 145, +3; Paul Goydos, Coto de Caza, Calif., 69-76 145, +3
11:45 a.m. -- Thomas Gillis, Jupiter, Fla., 74-71 145, +3; John Senden, Australia, 73-72 145, +3
11:55 a.m. -- Craig Thomas, White Plains, N.Y., 74-71 145, +3; Jeffrey Schmid, Iowa City, Iowa, 75-70 145, +3
12:05 p.m. -- Robert Karlsson, Sweden, 71-74 145, +3; Davis Love III, Sea Island, Ga., 76-68 144, +2
12:15 p.m. -- Cameron Beckman, San Antonio, Texas, 73-71 144, +2; Glen Day, Little Rock, Ark., 70-74 144, +2
12:25 p.m. -- Kevin Sutherland, Sacramento, Calif., 72-72 144, +2; Omar Uresti, Austin, Texas, 75-69 144, +2
12:35 p.m. -- Charlie Wi, Republic of Korea, 75-69 144, +2; Michael Muehr, Bethesda, Va., 71-73 144, +2
12:45 p.m. -- Clark Dennis, Fort Worth, Texas, 73-70 143, +1; Jerry Kelly, Paradise Valley, Ariz., 72-71 143, +1
12:55 p.m. -- Wesley Short Jr., Austin, Texas, 70-73 143, +1; Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain, 79-64 143, +1
1:05 p.m. -- Ken Tanigawa, Scottsdale, Ariz., 75-68 143, +1; Rod Pampling, Australia, 73-70 143, +1
1:15 p.m. -- Tim Petrovic, Austin, Texas, 68-75 143, +1; Jeff Brehaut, Park City, Utah, 75-67 142, E
1:25 p.m. -- Retief Goosen, South Africa, 71-71 142, E; David Toms, Shreveport, La., 72-70 142, E
1:35 p.m. -- Richard Green, Australia, 71-71 142, E; Ernie Els, South Africa, 72-70 142, E
1:45 p.m. -- Markus Brier, Austria, 71-71 142, E; Paul Broadhurst, England, 68-74 142, E
1:55 p.m. -- Steve Flesch, Union, Ky., 73-69 142, E; John Huston, Tarpon Springs, Fla., 72-70 142, E
2:05 p.m. -- Tracy Phillips, Tulsa, Okla., 72-69 141, -1; Doug Barron, Germantown, Tenn., 72-68 140, -2
2:15 p.m. -- Alex Cejka, Germany, 71-69 140, -2; Mark Hensby, Australia, 67-73 140, -2
2:25 p.m. -- Gene Sauers, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 72-67 139, -3; Steven Alker, New Zealand, 72-67 139, -3
2:35 p.m. -- Jay Haas, Reston, Va., 67-72 139, -3; Thongchai Jaidee, Thailand, 70-69 139, -3
2:45 p.m. -- Rocco Mediate, Greensburg, Pa., 68-71 139, -3; Rob Labritz, Pound Ridge, N.Y., 69-69 138, -4
2:55 p.m. -- Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis., 68-69 137, -5; Padraig Harrington, Republic of Ireland, 71-65 136, -6
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