Laser sorts Harrington out

Known as quite a talented operator in his Gaelic football youth - and with a father, Paddy, who starred in All-Ireland finals with his native Cork - Padraig Harrington might have felt that injuries sustained on the pitch were a thing of the past.

Yesterday morning, however, just hours before his final tee-time in the Smurfit European Open, Harrington woke with a tendon injury in his wrist. "I played about 45 minutes of football a couple of nights ago. I don't remember getting injured, but that's the only time it could have happened," said the Dubliner.

And, so, an SOS was issued to Eamonn O Muircheartaigh, son of broadcaster Micheal, and phsyio to the Kildare football team. The medic responded to Harrington's plight. He applied friction, used laser treatment and strapped up the wrist. "Eamonn did a fine job," remarked Harrington, who went on to shoot 68, his best round of the tournament, for a seven-under-par 72-holes total of 281.

Why involve himself in football in the midst of a big tournament? "What am I supposed to do, wrap myself up in cotton wool? I don't believe in that," said Harrington. His final round consisted of four birdies and 14 pars - and the purple patch of three successive birdies from the sixth proved to be invaluable.

At the sixth, Harrington hit a four-iron approach to ten feet; at the seventh, he hit a big drive but to the left side of the fairway and, rather than risking an approach of 226 yards to the island green, he opted to lay up with a sand wedge and then put a lob wedge to 20 feet and holed the putt. Then, at the eighth, he hit a wedge approach to 12 feet and sank the putt.

Harrington's remaining birdie arrived at the final hole where he decided to lay up but then hit a sand wedge to 10 feet above the pin and gently rolled in the birdie putt. "I was pretty happy with that round," he admitted. Indeed, his finishing position of tied-18th earned him €22,641 (£16,170) and lifted him to 17th in the latest Ryder Cup listings.

Last night, Harrington flew out to Copenhagen and caught a hovercraft across to Sweden for this week's Scandinavian Masters at Barseback. He intends to play the three remaining counting tournaments in Europe - Scandinavia, next week's West of Ireland Classic in Galway and the BMW in Munich, after which the European team will be decided - and realises that a win is probably required to jump into Mark James's team.

"My position is quite straightforward compared to other guys who are sweating it out," admitted Harrington. "I simply have to win in either Sweden or Germany. To be honest, I would prefer to be in 10th or 11th and scramble my way in. But at least I know what I have to do."

For Des Smyth, the tournament enabled him to seal his card for next season. "Obviously, you would like to secure your card earlier than this - but achieving it in the first couple of days of August is not too bad," said Smyth who finished with a 71 for 285, enough to earn him €10,450 (£7,445) in prizemoney and lift him over the £60,000 threshold in the moneylist.

In fact, his score should have been even better because he incurred five double bogeys in the course of the tournament. And the fifth of those arrived on the 17th yesterday when his tee shot splashed into the River Liffey. It was the fourth time in the week that Smyth found Anna Livia's flowing waters. With his card for next season secure, Smyth intends to play Sweden and Galway before taking a two weeks break.

Meanwhile, Wexford club professional Damien McGrane ended his tournament under par, shooting a 73 for 287, but Philip Walton endured another tough day and closed out with a 78 to lanquish in last position on 297.

Incidentally, attendance figures for this year's European Open showed an increase on last year's corresponding figures (in brackets): Round One: 9,720 (8,512); Round Two: 15,624 (14,763); Round Three: 20,956 (19,742); Round Four: 23,185 (22,987).

Only four Irish players will be in the field for this week's Scandinavian Masters, which starts on Thursday. Harrington and Smyth will be joined by Philip Walton and Paul McGinley, but Eamonn Darcy has withdrawn because of the recurrence of a back injury.