Harrington self-destructs

GOLF/US Tour: Padraig Harrington had to settle for a share of 13th place yesterday in his final warm-up for the United States Open starting on Thursday. Harrington closed to only one stroke off the lead with four birdies in the first seven holes of the delayed final round.

But then came a bogey at the eighth, a double bogey two holes later and further bogeys at the 12th and 14th.

That ended the Dubliner's title hopes, but the roller-coaster ride continued with a birdie at the 16th and closing bogey for a one over par 72 and six under aggregate of 278.

Victory went South African Rory Sabbatini who shot a three-under-par 68 to finish on 14-under par 270, two shots clear of Duffy Waldorf to earn $810,000.

Sabbatini's only previous win came three years ago in the Air Canada championship.

Waldorf, who shot 67, could yet incur a two-shot penalty following a possible rules violation on the 12th hole when he tapped down an irregularity in the turf on the fairway as he prepared to play his second shot.

If officials determine that the improved ground was within a reasonable area of his line to the hole, Waldorf would receive the penalty.

Joe Durant and Fred Funk shared third place on 272, four shots behind Sabbatini.

Sweden's Niclas Fasth, trailing Sabbatini by a shot when the round began, self-destructed at the end of the front nine when he double-bogeyed the par-four eighth and triple-bogeyed the par-three ninth.

Bernhard Langer finished joint fifth, Fasth seventh and Scotland's Paul Lawrie 42nd following a 77 that contained a quadruple bogey eight at the fourth and, like Harrington, a six at the 10th.

Harrington, however, could not have made a better start to the delayed final round when he closed to within one shot of the lead.

Four behind Sabbatini when he resumed on seven under par, the Irishman birdied four of the first seven holes.

The gap became one when Sabbatini, having grabbed birdies himself at the first and fifth, ran up a six at the long sixth.

However, Harrington then bogeyed the eighth to slip to third place, one behind Ryder Cup team-mate Fasth and two behind Sabbatini.

Harrington's hopes of a first US Tour win - his million-dollar victory over Tiger Woods in the Target World Challenge in California last December was unofficial - nose-dived when he double-bogeyed the 10th just as he did in the second round.

At eight under he was down to joint seventh, four behind Sabbatini, and the best European now was Bernhard Langer, who matched Harrington's outward 33 and then birdied the 12th to go joint third on nine under.

There was to be no coming back from the double bogey. Harrington dropped further strokes on the 12th and 14th and even with a birdie two holes later he was ninth - and at seven under was eight adrift of Sabbatini, who eagled the 13th and birdied the 15th to be two in front of Waldorf.

Harrington's final act was another bogey at the last hole as he slipped to one over par for the round and a total of six-under par 278.

LEADING FINAL SCORES (Irish in bold, US unless stated): 270 - R Sabbatini (Rsa) 68 66 68 68 272 - D Waldorf 71 68 66 67 274 - J Durant 69 70 69 66, F Funk 70 70 66 68 275 - B Langer (Germany) 70 68 69 68, J L Lewis 71 67 68 69 276 - D Love III 70 71 68 67, T Gillis 68 68 70 70, N Fasth (Sweden) 68 68 67 73 277 - S Laycock (Aus) 71 67 70 69, T Fischer 73 68 67 69, C DiMarco 71 68 67 71 278 - C Kresge 70 69 70 69, P Sheehan 68 69 71 70, M Dawson 72 68 67 71, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 70 70 66 72 279 - R Gamez 66 74 75 64, H Sutton 68 69 70 72, R Beem 67 70 69 73 280 - D Forsman 72 72 67 69, B Quigley 74 67 70 69. Other selected scores: 282 - G Hnatiuk (Can) 68 70 70 74 285 HTanaka (Jap) 69 70 70 76 286 - R Johnson (Swe) 70 72 72 72, P Lawrie (Brit) 68 71 70 77 287 - C Parry (Aus) 70 71 71 75, S Appleby (Aus) 74 70 78 65 288 - R Allenby (Aus) 71 73 72 72, J Senden (Aus) 74 70 72 72 289 - A Cejka (Ger) 69 74 66 80, JM Olazabal (Spa) 73 70 73 73, PU Johansson (Swe) 73 70 73 73.

WORLD RANKINGS - Top 10: 1 (1) Tiger Woods 15.92 points average; 2 (2) Ernie Els (South Africa) 9.00; 3 (3) Davis Love III 7.79; 4 (4) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 7.53; 5 (5) Mike Weir (Canada) 7.20; 6 (6) Phil Mickelson 6.72; 7 (7) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 6.27; 8 (8) David Toms 6.22; 9 (9) Retief Goosen (South Africa) 5.78; 10 (10) Jim Furyk 5.31.