McIlroy Tweets Congratulations

Rory McIlroy tweeted his congratulations within minutes of Luke Donald's victory at the Transitions Championship in Florida after the English man regained the world number one spot which had fallen to the Holywood golfer after his win at The Honda Classic two weeks ago. 'Well I enjoyed it while it lasted! Congrats @LukeDonald! Impressive performance!'

Donald won the tournament after emerging victorious from a four-way play-off against Jim Furyk, Robert Garrigus and Sang-Moon Bae after the quartet had all finished on 13 under par.

A run of five birdies in the first 11 holes on Sunday moved Donald into contention, before he consolidated with seven successive pars to make sure of a 16th top-10 finish in his last 22 events.

He hit an excellent approach shot on the first hole of the play-off with a seven iron from the rough - and holed the putt to make sure of the victory.

Robert Garrigus had also given himself a birdie opening - but the American's chance had gone when the putt went past the hole.

Donald's victory made it three European victories in a row in America after McIlroy triumphed at the Honda Classic and Justin Rose did likewise at the Cadillac Championship.

Donald admitted the win was a morale booster ahead of the Masters.

He said: 'I feel like I've achieved a lot in my career but this is perfect preparation. I've got two weeks off now and can look forward to Augusta.

'I certainly was a lot more nervous about getting to number one the first time. This time it wasn't my focus - I was focused on winning the tournament and it all worked out.'

Garrigus had given himself a chance of victory with birdies on the last two holes giving him a 13-under round of 64.

Bae, seeking to become only the third South Korean to win a PGA tour event, held the lead yesterday but a final-round 68 was enough to earn him a place in the play-off, while joint overnight leader Furyk managed a 69.

Fellow overnight leader Retief Goosen slipped out of contention, finishing on seven under after a final round 75.

Goosen, twice a winner of the event, made a poor start to his final round, with a double bogey on the first. He dropped another shot at the next hole and failed to recover.

Ernie Els appeared to be in a good position when he held a narrow advantage with two holes to play but a pair of bogeys on the final two holes ended his hopes of victory and saw him finish a shot off the pace alongside Scott Piercy, Jeff Overton and Ken Duke.

Piercy hit the round of the day, a nine-under-par 62 to claim a share of the lead. The 33-year-old birdied seven birdies in his first nine holes today and added two more at the 14th and 16th.

In contrast, Charlie Wi endured another testing day as the South Korean made an octuple-bogey for the second successive week on the PGA Tour, carding a 13 on the par-five fifth hole.

Padraig Harrington, who fired a stunning 61 on the opening day at Palm Harbor, finished in  share of 20th place.

Harrington Fires Innisbrook Record 61

On Thursday, Harrington set a course record with a 10-under 61 at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, where he made 10 birdies, including three in a row to finish his round and take the lead. It was also the lowest score Harrington has ever shot as a professional.

Apparently Harrington’s hole-in-one during the pro-am earlier this week was a sign of things to come.

“It’s been a strange last year, but I’m very comfortable where my game is at,” said Harrington, who is looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since he won the British Open and PGA Championship in 2008.

After those victories is when Harrington underwent massive swing changes. He struggled and got fed up with his play, eventually firing his coach before turning to Pete Cowen last year and more recently adding Dave Alred to help with the mental side of his game.

As frustrated as Harrington got it times the last few years, though, his patience seems to be paying off.

“I’ve been for a long time now, I play better on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday than I do on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” Harrington said. “I’m trying to stay patient. I know my game is good. One of the hardest things is to wait with confidence.”

Harrington has plenty of reason to feel confident these days.

Earlier this year he tied for seventh at Pebble Beach. In Thursday’s opening round outside Tampa, Harrington hit 14 greens and had 14 one-putts, including one from 75 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th hole.

At 7 under through his first 11 holes, Harrington even started thinking about shooting 59. But he missed a 6-footer for birdie on the par-5 12th.

“I’d love to tell you I was so good that bad thoughts didn’t get into my head, but unfortunately they do,” Harrington said. “It cost me there. It certainly went out of my head after that.”

It didn’t slow him down any.

Harrington birdied the final three holes to close in 30.

“I felt I’ve played better than I’ve performed for the last 18 months,” Harrington said. “I have a good understanding of my game at the moment. So I’ve been quite comfortable going into nearly every tournament this year.”

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