Major boost to Harrington's Ryder Cup bid

Padraig Harrington's hopes of making Europe's team for the Ryder Cup at Valderrama next month have been lifted considerably with the PGA of America's decision to issue him an invitation to play in next week's US PGA Championship at Winged Foot.

The 25-year-old Dubliner travelled from Malmo to London on Sunday night, awaiting news from the US before heading on for the £800,000 Czech Open. "This is terrific news," he said on hearing of his acceptance into the field last evening. "After finishing fifth in the British Open, I can't wait to play in another major."

Harrington, who is currently 11th in the Ryder Cup qualifying table, one place outside automatic qualification, risked losing ground to the other contenders if denied a place in the PGA, a $2.8 million event which counts towards European selection, as there is no tournament on the European Tour next week.

A decision on Harrington was only taken yesterday, but PGA of America official Bob Denney commented: "We're delighted to have Padraig in the field. He is one of the top young players in the world and is in contention for a place in the Ryder Cup."

For the first time in the event's history, two Irishmen - Harrington and Darren Clarke - will compete in the PGA Championship, traditionally the final major of the season. Harrington intends to go all out in a bid to join Clarke on the European team. This week, he plays in the Czech Open before flying out to New York for the PGA. Then, he will return to Ireland to play in the Smurfit European Open, where he made his professional debut just two years ago, and will finish the quest by playing in the BMW International in Munich.

The other Irish challengers heading for the Czech Open at Prague Karlstein this week are Ronan Rafferty, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Raymond Burns and David Higgins. It will be O'Connor's first tournament appearance since an attempt at qualifying for the British Open was aborted because of food poisoning.

This is the last chance for Walton to close the gap on McGinley in the hunt for the third place, along with Clarke and Harrington, in Ireland's team for the Alfred Dunhill Cup. Going into the event, McGinley is almost £30,000 ahead, which means that Walton will need a top-five finish to have any chance of overhauling him.

Meanwhile, Jose-Maria Olazabal expressed concern yesterday over his current form in the wake of a 38th-place finish in Malmo. "I've not been hitting my irons close enough in the past few weeks to give myself sufficient birdie chances," he said.

The Spaniard went on: I don't think my takeaway has been right and I'm taking this week off to clear a few negative thoughts out of my head. I haven't had that special feeling in my game since before my comeback - the feeling when you're in control of the situation and you think you can hit any shot you want."

Having slipped from 10th to 12th in the Ryder Cup table, Olazabal clearly needs to regain that "special feeling" if he is to be an automatic choice on the team for Valderrama. Otherwise, skipper Seve Ballesteros would have to pick him as a wild card along with Nick Faldo, which would leave Jesper Parnevik out in the cold.

Ironically, with five runner-up placings, including the British Open, the American-based Swede has performed so well this year that he would be currently in fifth position in the US Ryder Cup table, were he available for selection. From a competitive standpoint, however, Ballesteros would be drawn towards winners rather than so-called money machines.

As it happens, the American Ryder Cup candidates seem to be capable of doing both, as Phil Mickelson proved by winning the top prize of $306,000 in the Sprint International at Castle Pines last Sunday. Mickelson previously won this title in 1993 and through his latest success, has broken just about every record connected with the event, quite apart from securing his ticket for Valderrama.

It will be recalled that the stylish left-hander made an impressive Ryder Cup debut at Oak Hill in 1995. Playing in the anchor position, he came from three down against Per-Ulrik Johansson to beat the Swede by 2 and 1, so increasing the pressure on Walton in the decisive match.

His latest victory emphasises the current strength of the young guns on the US Tour. Of the 32 events on their schedule so far this year - including the British Open - 13 tournaments have been won by players in their 20s. And no fewer than eight have been captured by three players - Tiger Woods (4), Mickelson (2) and Justin Leonard (2).

All three are certain to be members of the American Ryder Cup team, as is Jim Furyk who is another twenty-something. Granted, Furyk has yet to win a tournament this season but his colleagues are more than making up for him.

There could be five players under 30 in the European side however - Clarke, Harrington, Lee Westwood, Thomas Bjorn and Ignatio Garrido. Of these, Garrido is the only tournament winner this year, having captured the German Open in Stuttgart in June.

The top-10 in the US money list are (US unless stated): 1 Tiger Woods $1,778,395; 2 Steve Elkington (Australia) $1,213,781; 3 Justin Leonard $1,090,275; 4 Brad Faxon $1,077,130; 5 Ernie Els (South Africa) $1,052,753; 6 Jim Furyk $1,052,681; 7 Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) $1,051,312; 8 Mark O'Meara $974,260; 9 Stuart Appleby (Australia) $908,547; 10 Nick Price (Zimbabwe) $892,945. Other placings - 66 Darren Clarke $261,816; 132 Padraig Harrington $104,719.

The top-15 in the US Ryder Cup standings are: 1 Tiger Woods; 2 Tom Lehman; 3 Justin Leonard; 4 Jim Furyk; 5 Phil Mickelson; 6 Mark O'Meara; 7 Brad Faxon; 8 Scott Hoch; 9 Tommy Tolles; 10 Davis Love III; 11 Jeff Maggert; 12 Steve Jones; 13 Mark Brooks; 14 Paul Stankowski; 15 David Duval.