GOLF: The irony that the 30th runner-up finish of his professional career should deliver the biggest milestone of over a decade on tour wasn't lost on Padraig Harrington, as he inveigled a way - through critical par-saving deeds on the final two holes and a little unsolicited help from Sergio Garcia - to bank sufficient money in the Volvo Masters at Valderrama yesterday to become just the third Irish player to win the PGA European Tour's Order of Merit title.
In claiming second place in the tournament to India's Jeev Milkha Singh, Harrington took, for him, the even bigger prize of the season-long money title to be Europe's number one golfer and added his name to the illustrious list of champions engraved on the Harry Vardon Trophy. Christy O'Connor Snr, in 1961 and 1962, and Ronan Rafferty, in 1989, were the only Irishmen to have previously won the prestige accolade.
Yesterday Harrington's refusal to accept the seeming inevitable typified his never-say-die attitude. Having started his final round with two bogeys - at which stage he slipped to six strokes behind the leader - Harrington subsequently claimed four birdies and succeeded in keeping any further dropped shots off his card and, in the crucial final stretch, having put his approach into the lake by the 17th green and into the trees off the 18th tee, salvaged pars that were to prove crucial in achieving his goal of topping the money list.
"As I've always said, sometimes it is very good to finish second. When I had my 29th second-place finish at the BMW International (in September), I was kind of thinking, 'what am I going to say at my 30th? It's going to be a milestone'. Well, this is one nice way to get over a 30th second place (on tour)."
Harrington, who had started the tournament €218,185 behind money leader Paul Casey, required either a win or a runner-up finish here to overtake the Englishman.
As it happened, Harrington returned a final round 69 for 283, one under par, which gave him a share of second place behind Singh alongside Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia. The cheque for €298,280 enabled Harrington to move ahead of Casey, who finished the tournament in tied-21st, in the final Order of Merit.
The gap? €35,252! Ultimately, it was Garcia's failure to par the 18th hole that benefited Harrington. From the middle of the fairway, Garcia's approach to the final hole was blocked into a greenside bunker, from where he failed to get up and down. Garcia joked afterwards with Harrington that he owed him one, only for the Dubliner to remind him of the Barclays Classic on the US Tour in 2004 when Harrington's birdie putt in the play-off horse-shoed out to give the Spaniard victory. As far as fate was concerned, they were quits.
"Obviously, I feel for Paul Casey. A lot of things conspired against him this week, his illness and then for the exact number to come up for me at the end of the day. I should have been playing the Euro Millions lottery this week," said Harrington.
He added: "Winning the Order of Merit was a big goal of mine over the years. I've come a long way as a player. When I started out years ago, I would have been happy to be a journeyman pro. I remember saying that if I'd finished 75th every year, I would have been successful. And most other people would have said that too . . . so, to be leading the European Tour Order of Merit after 10 years and to have won it, shows how far I've come.
"It's a very proud moment for me and I will move on from here and keep going forward and hopefully, I will carry the flag of European number one for a year and, who knows, come back next year better and stronger and win it again?"
If the golfing gods smiled on Harrington, he did himself a number of favours with play that emphasised his mental strength. He single-putted the last eight greens in his final round, and sank long birdie putts on the 14th - from 25 feet - and the 16th - from 30 feet - in getting into position. On the 17th, however, his four-iron approach found the water. At that moment, Harrington's odds with online bookmakers slipped out to 100 to 1. But, showing typical patience, he moved on to the drop zone, took his punishment, and got up and down for a par.
On the 18th, a hole that has constantly troubled him down the years, Harrington pulled his drive left into the trees. With no chance of reaching the green, he finished 62 yards from the flag in two with a lie in wet rough. It was the perfect distance for what he called his "half-lob wedge," and he left the approach four feet from the hole. He sank the par putt and, that, combined with Garcia's slip-up on the same hole an hour later, contrived to win Harrington sufficient money to become Europe's number one for 2006.
Having started out with those two bogeys, Harrington gave credit to his caddie, Ronan Flood, for the way that he kept his mind focused on the task at hand.
"I've always wanted a caddie to chat to on the golf course and keep things light. One of the big things we changed during the year, it was actually after the US Open (in June), was not to just talk and keep things light, but for him to remind me to do the things I've been told to do by Bob Rotella and, through my own experience over the years, what I want to do. It can be very mundane at times, but his job is to keep reminding me to do my job."
