Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

PEERLESS PADRAIG HARRINGTON WINS
£430,000 TOP PRIZE BY FIVE STROKES

Padraig Harrington played a faultless round of golf on the Old Course at St Andrews to win his second Alfred Dunhill Links Championship today.
The Irish Ryder Cup star crafted a superb 68, which featured four birdies and no dropped shots, to secure his first tournament victory of the year.
Harrington, who also won this event in 2002, finished on a 16-under-par total of 271, five shots ahead of Wales’s Bradley Dredge, England’s Anthony Wall and Edward Loar from the United States.
South Africa’s World No. 6 Ernie Els was a further shot behind after driving the 18th green and sinking a 10ft putt for an eagle 2.
There was also a repeat win in the team competition for Harrington and his amateur partner, Irish businessman and horserace owner JP McManus.
Golf fans had turned up in their thousands to watch what was expected to be a shoot-out over the Old Course between Harrington and Bradley Dredge.
Harrington had started the round one shot behind the Welshman, but the championship was effectively decided by the events at the 174yd11th hole.
Dredge hit his tee shot into a deep bunker and had to play backwards to get out, eventually finishing with a double bogey 5, while Harrington sank a 20ft putt for a birdie 2.
The three-shot swing gave Harrington a lead he never lost.
Harrington’s last win on the European Tour was the German Masters in 2004, but he did pick up big wins at the Honda Classic and the Barclays Classic in the United States in 2005.
This was his 10th career win on the European Tour and the first prize of approx £430,000 gives an enormous boost to his chances of winning the European Tour Order of Merit for the first time.
VERY SPECIAL FOR PADRAIG
He said: “This was very, very special. I have a big picture of the 18th hole at St Andrews on one wall at home, and so I look at it every day I’m there. To see that scene before me on the 18th tee this afternoon, and to walk up the fairway knowing that I was going to win the tournament was something to savour. There is no more special place than this.
“I like the format of this event, and I like all three courses we play on because they are all different. Carnoustie is just a serious test, and Kingsbarns is a fun course where you can make a lot of birdies, but you can’t beat St Andrews.
"The format of the event also suits me, because having the team element to it gives you something else to think about on the course. JP may be a man of few words, but they are always wise words and I find it very relaxing to have another outlet.
“The 11th was obviously important. After that Bradley played his way out of it a bit, and I began to concentrate on the guys coming behind me. I felt I needed to push on and get three or four under par and then the rest of the field would be realistically out of it,” added Harrington.
In addition to his problems at the 11th, Dredge also had bogeys at the 13th and the Road Hole to finish with a two over par 74.
ENTERTAINMENT FOR GALLERIES
While he and Harrington were having their own private battle, the St Andrews galleries were being entertained by several strong challenges being mounted to catch the leaders, but no one could quite manage it.
Anthony Wall made the best attempt. He began his round with three straight birdies to be out in 31, but consecutive bogeys at the 13th and 14th cost him dearly and he finished on 67, while American Edward Loar, out in 32, struggled on the back nine with three bogeys and eventually shot 70.
Ernie Els and Vijay Singh were both expected to mount major challenges, but it did not happen. Neither had made much impression on the course when they both ran into trouble on the 465yd 13th with double bogeys.
However while Singh eventually shot 74, Els produced his grandstand finish, driving the green at the 18th and sinking a 10ft putt for his eagle two to turn what looked like an average round into a two under par 70.
Harrington’s exploits were matched by JP McManus, his playing partner in the team competition. Over four rounds McManus improved their team score by 19 shots to put them on 35 under and give them a five-shot winning lead over father and son team Angel & Federico Cabrera.
A further two shots back were Johan Edfors & Mats Andersson and Robert Karlsson & Dermot Desmond.
"WONDERFUL REPEAT RESULT"
JP McManus said: “It’s wonderful for us to repeat the result from 2002 with Padraig winning the individual tournament and us both the team event. But the main difference this time is that we were really able to savour the moment and walk up the 18th knowing that we were both winners.
“To have Padraig as a partner, and Carnoustie amateur Eric Ramsay as my caddie, was just a dream for me. I couldn’t have asked for more. Eric first caddied for me in this event in 2002, when we won, so we have a great record. But he didn’t caddie for me last year because he himself was playing in the tournament.”
Fellow Irishman Dermot Desmond, who with professional Robert Karlsson finished seven shots behind the Harrington & McManus pairing, said: “JP and I have a bit of a friendly rivalry at this event every year. We did have a little wager on the proceedings and sadly for me he's come out on top this time. I wouldn't say things went particularly wrong for me today, although I did three putt the 12th which didn't help. The fact is that both Paddy and JP just played very well. It's been an enjoyable tournament in any case, and I'll be back next year when I'll be looking to take the crown."
Paul Lawrie finished the top Scot in a share of 15th place on 280 for which he earned 49,292 Euros. Scott Drummond was the only other Scot to qualify for the final round over the Old Course.
SCOREBOARD
271 (-16) P Harrington (Ire) 66 69 68 68 (630,566 Euros).
276 B Dredge (Wal) 66 676 71 74, E Loar (US) 70 66 70 70, A Wall(Eng) 70 70 69 67 (282,128 Euros each).
277 E Els (SAfr) 69 67 71 70.
278 P Casey (Eng) 63 74 73 689, P Hanson(Swe) 68 68 75 67.
Scottish scores:
280 (-7) P Lawrie 71 65 72 72 (49,292 Euros) jt 15th.
287 S Drummond 66 69 76 76 (12,863 Euros) jt 55th.
Missed cut
215 S O'Hara 69 71 75, S Torrance 67 72 76.
216 A Forsyth 73 69 74, S Gallagher 72 71 73, M Warren 70 72 74.
217 D McGuigan 72 74 71.
220 C Montgomerie 73 67 80.
221 G Orr 69 73 79.
222 A Oldcorn 72 75 75.
226 S Lyle 72 74 80.
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