Harrington Upset at Masters Finish

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Irish Voice Sport

Harrington Upset at Masters Finish

April 16, 2008

By Cathal Dervan

PADRAIG Harrington was his own biggest critic after finishing tied fifth at the Masters last Sunday -– on a day when he felt he should have been closer to a first green jacket at Augusta. The Dubliner finished six shots behind South Africa’s Trevor Immelman and was none too happy with his finish.

“I’m not satisfied with the high finish, no,” Harrington told RTE. “It won’t go down on my CV — we’re all about trying to get out there and win. My short game was poor. I missed some good chances and you can’t give them away on a windy day.

“I felt good about my game. I was well in the zone and that’s what you want when it comes to major championships. You want to be able to get yourself into the right mental state because if you do that you know good things will happen.

“I have to look back and reflect on a couple of places where shots went adrift. What finishing like this says to me is that I’m doing the right things. I feel my preparation was good. I set my stall out that I was building up for The Masters and now it’s the U.S. Open for the next couple of months.

“I didn’t get the right side of the draw at the start of the week and I’m walking away saying that there’s nothing in my golf swing that needs to be worked on. And there’s nothing in my ability to play the game that needs to be worked on. It’s all there — it’s just a question of getting the best out of me in these weeks.”

Leinster Wins

A DETERMINED Leinster edged ever closer to the Magners League title with a hard earned nine point win over rivals Munster in front of a packed RDS Arena on Saturday night.

“We had a lot of belief and it’s clear that our hunger was there,” said coach Michael Cheika after the game. “We showed a lot of passion and a lot of intensity and the crowd were unbelievable. It was the biggest roar I’ve ever heard from our supporters.

“We’ve got a good group of players and there are no big heads here. We’ve got to assess the league now and try to go on to take the tournament. But you can’t take anything for granted in this competition.”

Cheika has confirmed his interest in signing Australian flanker Rocky Elsom.

In other rugby news, Munster are confident that Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer will be fit for the Heineken Cup semi-final against Saracens on Sunday, April 27despite picking up injuries in the Magners League defeat to Leinster at the RDS last Saturday night.

And Ireland and Ulster star Isaac Boss has vowed to fight an allegation of rape which he branded as malicious and unfounded after he was arrested and questioned by police in Belfast last week.

Brian O’Driscoll has been included in the Leinster squad for Friday’s crucial Magners League clash with Edinburgh in Scotland.

Ireland star Jamie Heaslip has been named Bank of Ireland Leinster Player of the Month for March.

Connacht captain Andrew Farley has extended his contract with the province.

Sports Shorts

SWIMMING: The Irish Sports Council have suspended funding to Andrew Bree after he tested positive for a banned substance at the European Short Course swimming championships last December. Bree, the only Irish swimmer to have qualified for the Olympics, has now accepted the results of his positive doping test and will not ask for the B sample to be tested after taking a Vick’s Inhaler bought in America which contained the banned substance Levmetaphetamine . . .

RACING: Dubai Duty Free has agreed a five-year contract to sponsor the prestigious Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecourse from 2008 - 2012.

New GAA Prez

CORK’S Christy Cooney has been elected as the next President of the GAA and will succeed the incumbent Nicky Brennan in 2009 after beating off the challenge of Liam O’Neill and Sean Fogarty at Congress in Sligo last weekend.

“Three years ago I was beaten narrowly by Nickey Brennan and naturally disappointed — but I took a bit of time to consider whether or not I would run again,” said Cooney. “I ran this time around and was opposed by two outstanding people and I was very fortunate to be elected to succeed Nickey in 12 months’ time.”

Congress also voted to accept the Government-funded grants for inter-county players while the Tommy Murphy Cup will cease to exist in 2009 when Division Four sides will return to the All-Ireland qualifier system.

GAA Shorts

WEEKEND results –- NHL Division 1 semis, Cork 0-24 Galway 2-22, Kilkenny 1-10 Tipperary 1-15. Division 2 semis, Westmeath 2-24 Down 2-15; Kerry 3-4 Carlow 1-16. NHL Division 3 final, Donegal 0-11 Louth 1-16. Division 4 final, South Down 3-13 Monaghan 1-19. NFL Division 1, Tyrone 0-15 Mayo 0-13, Donegal 0-10 Derry 0-15, Laois 0-13 Kildare 1-10, Galway 0-10 Kerry 0-15. Division 2, Armagh 3-13 Dublin 1-10. Division 3, Down 4-13 Limerick 1-15. Division 4, Waterford 1-10 Tipperary

2-8, Kilkenny 2-13 London 0-15, Wicklow 1-15

Carlow 1-6, Clare 1-9 Offaly 1-8 . . .

KERRY’S Bryan Sheehan is to miss the NFL final against Derry on Saturday week but will be fit for the championship after a major knee injury scare in the win over Galway last Sunday. Sheehan will only be out for a couple of weeks after undergoing scans on the injury, much to the relief of manager Pat O’Shea . . .

KILDARE and Laois have been relegated from Division 1 of the NFL but Monaghan, Dublin and Westmeath are still in contention for promotion from Division 2. Cavan and Roscommon are relegated to Division 3 for next season and will be replaced by Fermanagh and Down or Wexford. Offaly are promoted from Division 4 and will be joined by Antrim or Tipperary . . .

THE NHL final between Tipperary and Galway will take place in Limerick on Sunday with a 4:15 p.m. throw-in and will be preceded by the Division Two final between Carlow and Westmeath . . .

PORTUMNA’S Ollie Canning is to return to the Galway senior hurling panel after the NHL final against Tipperary on Sunday and will be available to manager Ger Loughnane for the championship . . .

CROKE Park officials have confirmed that non0GAA events, including soccer and rugby internationals and concerts, will bring in an incredible ?10 million in revenue this year . . .

THE Clare County Board are pressing ahead with plans for the sale of Cusack Park in Ennis after applying to have the ground rezoned for development . . .

GALWAY midfielder Joe Bergin is likely to miss most of the championship campaign after surgery on his injured Achilles tendon this week . . .

CIARAN Bonner has quit the Donegal squad with immediate effect and will not be available for the Ulster Championship.

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