P\u00e1draig Harrington made his PGA Tour Champions return after a short break and shot a seven-under 65 to take sole possession of third place at the Ally Challenge at Warwick Hills.<\/p>\n
The four-time Senior Major Champion made eight birdies in total, with a dropped shot on 17 the only blemish on his card, and he trails Vaughan Taylor by two and John Rollins by one.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, you know, it\u2019s not that I can\u2019t play well,\u201d Harrington said afterwards, referring to earlier comments that suggested it wasn\u2019t a course he\u2019d had good history with. \u201cI obviously, I played reasonably well and I holed a few putts, so I ran with it. I said I find it hard to hit the fairways.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it\u2019s interesting, it\u2019s firmed up a lot so I can be a bit more conservative off the tee and it\u2019s working nicely. I hit a lot of 3-woods, a few 5-woods off the tee. You hit the fairway, it goes out there forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think I really didn\u2019t get myself in many places like 18, where I think 18 and maybe a little bit on 10 where I\u2019m in the rough and I\u2019m blocked out. That\u2019s the problem here, when you hit it in the rough, it\u2019s generally a tree between you and the green and with things being as firm as they are, it\u2019s difficult to control it. I kept it in play very nicely today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrington wasn\u2019t the only Irishman in the field. Chris Devlin, continuing from his impressive performance at the Senior U.S. Open, shot a three-under 69 to end the day tied for 21st.<\/p>\n