As the sun went down Sunday evening, Pádraig Harrington, was still on the 18th green, signing autographs, taking pictures and generally celebrating the win at the Simmons Bank Championship presented by Stephens at Pleasant Valley Country Club in west Little Rock.
Harrington shot an 67 on Sunday for a three-day total of 199, with a 67 and 65 on the first two days of action.
A native of Ireland, Harrington was making his first visit to Arkansas for the championship.
“Didn't know what to expect, but it's been a fabulous week,” Harrington said in a post-match press conference for local media. “Pleasant Valley has been in great condition, really exciting course. I don't think I could ask for anymore, to be honest. Played nicely, got a few breaks along the way and closed it out. Very pleased, indeed.”
Harrington was one of four World Golf Hall of Fame members in the field as he was joined by Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Wijay Singh.
Els, who shot a 65 on Sunday, came into the event as the Charles Schwab Cup leader as the 54 year-old South African is still No. 1 while Harrington is No. 4.
Both Els and Harrington had large followings as the crowd walked the course with them, cheering along the way.
The Charles Cup Schwab Championship is in two weeks, starting on Nov.7, in Phoenix.
“I like the golf course,” Harrington said of Phoenix. “So really I have a few days off beforehand, basically just don’t try and do anything different, just do the same stuff over.”
The win netted Harrington a $365,000 payday but more exciting to him was a near miss hole-in-one on No. 2, played at 158 yards.
“We have a pool on the Tour for hole-in-ones, so at that moment I was nearly more excited about the pool than I was about my tournament,” Harrington said. “IIt was an important birdie, for sure, when it came to the last couple holes. It was nice to have that one in the bank.”
But it was that final drive on the last hole that really stood out as Harrington added, "18 was a great way to finish with all the people up on the hill looking down from the clubhouse. So a nice way for me to finish off a championship when there's that many people there, makes it all the more exciting."
The Simmons Bank Championship was the first PGA tour sanctioned event held in Arkansas since 2010’s Fort Smith Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. The Fort Smith Classic started in 1998 at Hardscrabble Country Club before coming to an end in 2010.
The Korn Ferry Tour also came to the state for the NIKE Texarkana Open from 1990 to 1995, while the First Tee Arkansas Classic was held from 2001 to 2004. The PGA Tour also had the Hot Springs Open Invitational from 1960 to 1963 while the Maumelle Open Invitational was held in 1971 and 1972 at Maumelle Country Club.
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Harrington win inaugural Simmons Bank Championship
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As the sun went down Sunday evening, Pádraig Harrington, was still on the 18th green, signing autographs, taking pictures and generally celebrating the win at the Simmons Bank Championship presented by Stephens at Pleasant Valley Country Club in west Little Rock.
Harrington shot an 67 on Sunday for a three-day total of 199, with a 67 and 65 on the first two days of action.
A native of Ireland, Harrington was making his first visit to Arkansas for the championship.
“Didn't know what to expect, but it's been a fabulous week,” Harrington said in a post-match press conference for local media. “Pleasant Valley has been in great condition, really exciting course. I don't think I could ask for anymore, to be honest. Played nicely, got a few breaks along the way and closed it out. Very pleased, indeed.”
Harrington was one of four World Golf Hall of Fame members in the field as he was joined by Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Wijay Singh.
Els, who shot a 65 on Sunday, came into the event as the Charles Schwab Cup leader as the 54 year-old South African is still No. 1 while Harrington is No. 4.
Both Els and Harrington had large followings as the crowd walked the course with them, cheering along the way.
The Charles Cup Schwab Championship is in two weeks, starting on Nov.7, in Phoenix.
“I like the golf course,” Harrington said of Phoenix. “So really I have a few days off beforehand, basically just don’t try and do anything different, just do the same stuff over.”
The win netted Harrington a $365,000 payday but more exciting to him was a near miss hole-in-one on No. 2, played at 158 yards.
“We have a pool on the Tour for hole-in-ones, so at that moment I was nearly more excited about the pool than I was about my tournament,” Harrington said. “IIt was an important birdie, for sure, when it came to the last couple holes. It was nice to have that one in the bank.”
But it was that final drive on the last hole that really stood out as Harrington added, "18 was a great way to finish with all the people up on the hill looking down from the clubhouse. So a nice way for me to finish off a championship when there's that many people there, makes it all the more exciting."
The Simmons Bank Championship was the first PGA tour sanctioned event held in Arkansas since 2010’s Fort Smith Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. The Fort Smith Classic started in 1998 at Hardscrabble Country Club before coming to an end in 2010.
The Korn Ferry Tour also came to the state for the NIKE Texarkana Open from 1990 to 1995, while the First Tee Arkansas Classic was held from 2001 to 2004. The PGA Tour also had the Hot Springs Open Invitational from 1960 to 1963 while the Maumelle Open Invitational was held in 1971 and 1972 at Maumelle Country Club.
Leaderboard
1 Pádraig Harrington -17 67-65-67 – 199 4th 730,000 2,046,543
2 Y.E. Yang -15 66-70-65 – 201 5th 420,000 1,960,619
T3 Jason Caron -14 65-69-68 – 202 35th 339,000 804,866
T3 Hiroyuki Fujita -14 67-67-68 – 202 32nd 339,000 817,000
T5 Stewart Cink -13 68-67-68 – 203 12th 208,500 1,307,306
T5 Cameron Percy -13 69-66-68 – 203 36th 208,500 804,439
T7 Ricardo Gonzalez -12 68 70 66 204 134,360.0 $67,180.00
Thomas Bjørn -12 65 70 69 204 134,360.0 $67,180.00
Vijay Singh -12 64 70 70 204 134,360.0 $67,180.00
Retief Goosen -12 65 69 70 204 134,360.0 $67,180.00
Miguel Angel Jiménez -12 66 68 70 204 134,360.0 $67,180.00
T12 Ernie Els -11 69 71 65 205 90,850.00 $45,425.00
Steve Allan -11 69 70 66 205 90,850.00 $45,425.00
Steven Alker -11 62 70 73 205 90,850.00 $45,425.00
Rod Pampling -11 70 64 71 205 90,850.00 $45,425.00