Harrington made to work for PGA win

Padraig Harrington was made to work all the way but the world number 10 will head to next week's Open at Carnoustie after successfully coming through a play-off with Brendan McGovern to secure the PGA Irish Championship for the fourth time at the European Club.

There was no doubting who the star of the show was at the Wicklow venue this week but credit must go to Harrington's closest challenger in McGovern for he asked the question right to the end.

On reflection, the closing stages of the weather-delayed championship were played out in something of a matchplay format because the two main protagonists were that far ahead of the field it soon became a head-to-head encounter.

With over seven hours lost to the elements yesterday practically all of the third plus final rounds were played today. In the morning McGovern was in sparkling form and his five-under 66 moved the Headfort pro two clear of Harrington (70) on eight under.

In this afternoon's the final round the pair were once again pitted against each other in the final group. Conditions remained testing throughout and the lead was traded on numerous occasions before the drama really unfolded over the closing stretch.

Firstly McGovern sprayed his tee shot at the 16th and was forced to take a penalty drop. The 40-year-old still kept his head as he pitched out, found the green then holed a great 10 footer for a damage limitation bogey. Harrington made par and moved into a two shot lead on eight-under after crucial birdie putts at 14 and 15 had ensured the Dubliner's advantage.

Then it was Harrington's turn to lose focus as he pulled his tee shot at 17. From there he tried to take too much off his approach with a seven-iron and tugged his effort into the bushes. He too needed a penalty drop before eventually finding the front edge of the putting surface in four.

With McGovern safely in for par, Harrington compounded his error by three-putting for a triple bogey seven and trail by one shot playing the final hole.

Both hit solid tee shots before McGovern found the putting surface with a six-iron. Harrington followed and landed 15 feet from the cup. With McGovern's birdie effort coming up short Harrington held his nerve to drain the 15-footer for a closing 71 and five-under 279 aggregate. McGovern also kept calm to hole a tricky four-footer for a 74 to match Harrington.

In an afternoon full of drama the sudden-death finale petered-out rather tamely as McGovern was left to rue another errant tee shot left, which would necessitate another penalty drop. All the while Harrington found the 18th green in regulation and a tap-in for par would be enough for him to crowned Irish champion for the fourth time.

"Full credit to Brendan, he played great and hardly missed a shot all day," said Harrington, heaping praise on his nearest challenger. "He recovered really well at 16 and then I got complacent at 17 to turn things around again."

"I guess I got a bit lucky to win today but I holed some great putts at 14, 15 and 18 which was pleasing. It seems I putted better when I had to with my back against the wall," added Harrington who first won this title back in 1998 and again in 2004 and 2005.

"My game's in good shape but there are some little things which could be improved," noted Harrington as he looks towards next week's Open. "The 17th was a big mistake, that showed me I need to be tighter with my focus."

As Harrington and McGovern were the only players to finish under par Philip Walton played himself into third with a great closing 70 for a two-over 286 aggregate.

Moments after the presentation Harrington was whisked-off by helicopter to attend the wedding of JP McManus's daughter in Limerick.

All in a day's work for one of the game's elite players who dropped in to support the national PGA championship then left in some style as the worthy winner.