Padraig Harrington's dream of a third major victory in a row and even a "Paddy Slam" was shattered Saturday by a quadruple-bogey nine at the second hole in the third round of the Masters.

Harrington recovered for a one-over par 73 finish to stand on one-under 215 after 54 holes at Augusta National Golf Club, looking at a 10-stroke deficit to the leaders as far too much to overcome in Sunday's final round.

"My chances went on the second hole," Harrington said. "It was really easy after that. There wasn't much stress. You're a little more care free and firing at the flags from there on. You are going for it more after that."

Ireland's Harrington had hoped to join Tiger Woods, who won a four-in-a-row "Tiger Slam", and Ben Hogan as the only men to win three majors in a row after winning the British Open and PGA Championship last year.

But as he sat beyond the 18th green, the 37-year-old Dubliner was philosophical rather than broken hearted.

"Everybody else seems more disappointed than I am," Harrington said. "I don't feel like it's an opportunity missed. It's more important the number of majors I win in my career. I will keep going forward and trying to do it.

"You can't beat these guys on demand every week. I just don't have that ability. Very few do. I managed not to get caught up in the hype.

"It just wasn't to be this week. And I'm comfortable with that."

Harrington's heartache began when his tee shot on the dogleg-left second hole found a sunken area deep in the woods left of the fairway, a foot from a tree root at the bottom of a slope.

Nestled among a thick area of pine trees and beautiful red and purple flowers, Harrington blasted his second shot only to hear a thumping "thwack" a moment later as his ball slammed into a tree.

"I backed out of it because of the root and hit it straight into the tree," Harrington said. "It wasn't a big gamble. You live and learn. You would think that I would learn it after 37 years."

The ball found a bush and rather than test his mettle in the petals, Harrington took a penalty stroke only to smash his next attempt into a tree as well, the ricochet leaving him in a forest ditch.

Yet another stroke put the ball in position to escape and Harrington finally fired his way toward the green, where a poor chip and two putts from 20 feet finally ended the nightmare.

"It's more deflating now than after the nine. I had no deflation at all after I took the nine. It was a question of sticking in there and playing after that," he said.

Harrington pulled one back with a birdie at the par-4 fifth and two more to conclude the front nine, but trouble returned at the turn, the Irishman taking bogeys at 10 and 11.

Harrington continued his fightback with birdies at the par-5 13th and par-4 14th and parred his way in from there.

"When you get a nine you get your focus. It can get a lot worse," he said. "Shooting 73 was all right."

Jack Burke rallied from eight strokes out in the final round to win the 1956 Masters in the greatest comeback ever at Augusta National but Harrington wasn't clinging to miracle dreams.

"I'm unlikely to catch the leaders," he said. "They are known for heading from the front and this is one of the toughest courses in the world. I'm not that good."

Only two players in Masters history have fared worse at the par-5 second hole than Harrington's horror show. Sam Byrd in 1948 and David Duval in 2006 both made 10s there.

"It would have been positive without the nine but these things happen in the game," Harrington said.

"I did a lot of things right. It just wasn't to be."

AFP

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