Harrington again left to play the bridesmaid

If Padraig Harrington were an angler, he'd have some tall stories to tell of "the ones that got away." As a golfer, the statistics alone tell the tale. Yesterday's runners-up finish in the Dubai Desert Classic - behind Thomas Bjorn and alongside world number one Tiger Woods - was the Dubliner's 12th second place finish since joining the European Tour five years ago, and his second inside a month.

Yet, as a start to a season goes, the past three weeks have been extremely profitable and bode well for the months ahead.

"They were warm-up weeks and they have far surpassed anything I could have hoped for," remarked Harrington, who has finished second in the Malaysian Open (where he lost a play-off to Vijay Singh), fifth in the Singapore Open, and now second again in Dubai. The three-week haul has given him prizemoney of £279,312, moving him to fifth in the Order of Merit. For good measure, it also virtually guarantees his place on Europe's Ryder Cup team for the match with the United States at the Belfry in September, as he has cemented his third place in the qualifying table.

Yesterday, however, was a mixed day for Harrington. "I was good and bad," he agreed. At one juncture in the final round, he actually moved into the lead on his own: this was at the ninth, when he hit a seven-iron to 30 feet and rolled in the downhill birdie putt to add to those he'd made at the third and fifth.

The homeward run wasn't as fulfilling. In fact, Harrington only hit two fairways on that back nine. Ironically, one of them was at the 12th hole, a tough par four measuring 467 yards uphill and into the wind. There, faced with 201 yards to the pin, he went with a four-iron and was amazed that it went through the green. He failed to get up and down. And that's the moment he later pinpointed when he lost his momentum.

Although he birdied the 13th, there was a further unsettling incident at the 14th tee-box when a spectator behind him raised their hands just as he started his downswing. The result was a savage pull into the arid terrain some 30 yards left of the fairway. He got a free drop, away from a hoarding, onto firmer sand and played a superb wedge shot to 15 feet but narrowly missed the birdie putt.

"I lost my rhythm there," admitted Harrington, "and the next shot (off the 15th tee) I was aiming at the middle of the green to draw it in, and I pulled it at the flag." He missed the green left, and then duffed his attempted chip. The result was a costly bogey, and a subsequent promise to work harder on his chipping.

However, there was still much to play for . . . and, after hitting his tee-shot behind a palm tree, in a similar area to Woods on the 18th hole, Harrington played a great recovery shot with a fiveiron to the front edge of the green and chipped to four feet. Knowing that all he needed was a par to safe-guard third place on his own, Harrington considered nursing it down the slope. His caddie, Dave McNeilly, persuaded him to knock it in.

"You never know what will happen behind us," said McNeilly, with uncanny foresight. That birdie, allied with Woods' double-bogey, meant Harrington shared second place and picked up a cheque for £86,855 sterling.

"I know that I have matched Tiger, but I'm not going to be happy about somebody having a bad last round . . . and, to be honest, I'm more concerned with my own game. I am happy that I tied Tiger, but I am happier that I finished second in the event," said Harrington.

"But I am happy for Thomas. He's played tremendously well. Obviously, the expectations all week were for Tiger to win and how many he's going to win by when he shot two 64s . . . but Thomas stuck in there well. I was doing a little bit of chasing now and again and getting into the lead, but Thomas was there right through. It was more in Thomas' face."

Paul McGinley, meanwhile, rued a double-bogey six at the ninth on his way to a final round 72 for 15-under-par 273, which gave him a share of ninth place and £20,266 sterling. Eamonn Darcy, despite having daily treatment for his tennis elbow complaint, showed consistent form to shoot a final round 69 for 274 and tied-12th place, while Des Smyth failed in his bid to have four rounds in the 60s, crashing to a final round 73 for 279.

Darren Clarke had a final round 73 for 283 for a disappointing seasonal opening on the European Tour.