Tiger Woods wins Bridgestone but blasts PGA official for putting Harrington + him on clock on 16th hole
After Tiger Woods posted a 5-under 30 front nine, erasing a 3 shot lead of Padraig Harrington, Harrington rebounded to take 1 shot lead standing on the 16th hole.
But then something pivotal happened. A PGA official John Paramor warned the final group that they were being put on the clock, apparently for falling too far behind the group in front of them. Exactly how far behind is still not clear.
Tiger Woods, however, was irate after the round. And he blamed Paddy Harrington’s triple bogey to being rushed. “Like I was telling him out there, I’m sorry that [rules official] John [Paramor] got in the way of a great battle because it was such a great battle for 16 holes, and we’re going at it head-to-head and unfortunately that happened,” Woods said. “I don’t know why we were put on the clock.”
Harrington made no excuses. But it does appear that both he and Tiger were rushed. In fact, CBS reported that Tiger played his spectacular 8-iron out of turn — meaning before Harrington — even though Harrington was away. That alone — playing out of turn and having to see Tiger stuff his shot to 6 inches — could have been enough to change the entire complexion of 16.
We sincerely hope John Paramor of the PGA did not put the final group on the clock in order to get the broadcast for CBS to finish before 6 p.m. The group did finish perfectly at 6 p.m. Coincidence?
What say you, dear Readers? Did john Paramor PGA do the right thing by putting the final group on the clock on the 16th hole, or did he unnecessarily disrupt the flow of the final round showdown between Tiger and Paddy?
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