Hansen overcomes pressure

GOLF/Irish Open: If the day started with dark clouds that dispensed rain like tears as if to lament Murphy's terminating a near-decade long involvement with the Irish Open, the end seemed as if it would never come.

When it did, after a four-man play-off that extended to four play-off holes, Soren Hansen, a 28-year-old Dane, showed tremendous fortitude under the most severe pressure to emerge as the victor and take his first title on the PGA European Tour.

All day, with the rain eventually dispersing to leave dry but windy conditions, the concertina logjam which had developed since the final ball of the first round had dropped remained at the top end of the leaderboard. With no one managing to escape, a play-off was inevitable; it was only the personnel involved that brought any degree of surprise.

Thomas Bjorn had threatened to take a hold, but couldn't find the putts to go with some exquisite play elsewhere, eventually finishing in fifth, while Padraig Harrington, who had made a late charge, fizzled out over the closing holes. And, yet, the eventual winner only gate-crashed his way in to the play-off by recording an eagle three on his final hole to finish with Darren Fichardt, Richard Bland and Niclas Fasth on 14-under-par 270.

Ever since his compatriot Anders Hansen - no relation - won the Volvo PGA earlier this season, Soren Hansen had been inundated with congratulatory calls. So, he felt, it was time he went out and won for himself. His form coming into the Irish Open, top-10 finishes in the British Masters and English Open, had indicated something was in the offing. "I'd been working with my coach, Pete Cowan, and knew I was playing well," he said.

However, Hansen had to produce a magnificent shot on his 72nd hole to ensure his title hopes would stay alive. Harrington called the drive on the 18th hole at Fota Island "one of the most intimidating on the European Tour," but Hansen's split the fairway. He had 160 yards to the flag, but he was so pumped up that he hit a wedge to six feet and sank the putt.

There was a certain irony to the fact that his first tournament win should come in a play-off. Last year, in Japan, Hansen partnered Thomas Bjorn in the World Cup where they were beaten in a four-way play-off at the second extra hole by Ernie Eles and Retief Goosen. But the 18th here and the 18th at Taiheiyo are similar, and it crossed Hansen's mind too. "I knew I could play that tee-shot, because it was exactly the same approach as in the World Cup," he later remarked.

On the first occasion that the quartet played the hole, though, Hansen's bid for glory seemed to have expired before it had really started. His drive plunged into the trees on the right, and his punched six-iron was too strong and found the water on the left. For a man with H2O on his clothing, it seemed an appropriate watery grave.

He went through the seeming formalities of taking a penalty drop, and pitching to five feet for his par. It didn't look as if it would be enough. Bland and Fichardt had short birdie putts, but both, incredibly, missed, and Fasth, who had also thought he was out of the play, rolled in his tiny par putt to stay in the hunt.

Down the 18th again, and only one player - Bland - failed to get a birdie. Moving over to the first hole, Fichardt made a magnificent sand save from a plugged lie, holing a 15-footer, and Fasth, who had pulled his approach iron to the left of the green, made a good two-putt. With a 12-foot birdie putt to win, Hansen's putt was weak and never threatened the hole.

And on they went, to the 17th, a par 3 of 222 yards. Hansen hit a magnificent four-iron to 10 feet; Fasth again pulled his iron, hitting a spectator who picked up and hurriedly dropped the ball; and Fichardt's approach went 12 feet behind the flag.

Although Fasth chipped to six feet, it came down to the two putts. Fichardt missed, and Hansen holed his to take the title and the top prize of €266,660. He became the 11th first-time winner on the European Tour of the season, moved from 23rd to 11th in the Order of Merit, and earned a two-year exemption on tour.

How did the win feel? "I didn't really understand it. But my brother's here, he's been living in Australia and I hadn't seen him in two years and I saw him standing by the green and I just burst out into tears. It has taken a lot of hard work to get here and suddenly it pays off in one of the great traditional tournaments on the European Tour."

Two men from different generations shared the distinction of finishing as leading Irish players, in tied-sixth. Harrington, who turns 31 on the last day of next month, and Eamonn Darcy, who celebrates his 50th birthday some 24 days earlier, both finished on 10-under-par 274. "Ah, it would have been nice to finish leading Irishman on my own," said Darcy, providing evidence of his competitive streak.

However, it was Harrington, out in the worst of the weather, but insisting on playing without raingear so that his swing would not be impeded, who had the chance to cause some consternation among the later starters. Walking off the 11th green, after his fifth birdie of the round, which moved him to 10-under, he had it in his mind that the figure he needed to get to was 14-under.

It was a number that was to prove beyond him, as the birdies dried up and Harrington had five successive pars until his only dropped shot of the round came at the 17th where he tried to chip in but hit it five feet past and missed the putt. The birdie on the last came too late in terms of championship aspirations, though, and another year of an Irish Open without an Irish winner slipped by.

"I think it is very hard to predict a tournament you are going to win. You have to be an incredibly good player to be able to say you are going to turn up and win a particular event. Most players, even coming into form, don't know. They might know if they are going to finish top-10, and that is about the level I have got to. To beat 155 players takes something special and I don't have that unless something goes right for me," claimed Harrington.