Harrington saves the day

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON punched the air in relief, Michael Smurfit looked to the heavens with an expression of the deepest gratitude and the crowd roared their approval.

Just before 6pm yesterday, it looked as if the people's champion was on his way out of the Smurfit European Open. Needing a birdie four at the long 18th to make the cut, Harrington leaked his tee shot into a bunker, came out well but was still a few inches off the putting surface in three and a good 25 feet away. Somehow, he summoned up all his reserves of skill and courage, went boldly for the back of the hole and the ball duly dropped in.

Harrington would have been bitterly disappointed to have missed the cut, especially on home territory, and while he accepts he now has no chance of winning, is still looking forward to a couple of relaxing but competitive rounds over the weekend. He needs them, because he's not playing in next week's Scottish Open and otherwise would have been idle between now and the Open Championship starting at Royal St Georges on Thursday week.

Smurfit knows that Harrington's involvement in the championship ensures that many who might otherwise have stayed away will now make their way down to Co Kildare. Moreover, the early arrivals have an unexpected treat in store.

"Had I missed out, I would have had to look at it realistically, get a bit detached from it, and not get cut up about it," Harrington said. "I didn't want to miss the cut but the fact is that I don't get a choice, whether I'm at home or not, as to what weeks I play well. If could manage that, I'd be on a different level. It's a level I can get to but it's a different level altogether.

"You hole a few putts early on and your eye is in for the whole week. If you look at it, I comfortably left four shots on the greens over the two days, short putts-wise, that's eight shots, six under par, and right in the tournament. I just haven't had a good week so far. Dave [McNeilly, his caddy] said to me as we walked down the 18th that two over would make the cut. At that point, I was three over and that's why the putt went in firmer than any other throughout the day. It had 18 inches of a break and was flying, if it hit the sides, it was gone miles, it did well to get in the middle of the hole, it kind of jumped into it. It is a lottery holing a putt like that."

There are times when Harrington comes out with statements which seem to bely the evidence of the round he has just completed. Here's an example from yesterday: "I'm very happy with the way I'm playing. There is nothing wrong with my putting stroke, it is just a lack of trust. I am swinging the club well but I am not performing well. I hit a perfect sand wedge in at the last and put it 25 feet past. That's rubbish, shots like that. It is a lack of sharpness. Today I played much better than my score as every time I missed the fairway, I seemed to get stuck up a bunker face or behind a tree. Other days you get away with that. But I also made five birdies and that's a reasonable return."

The disappointment of having Harrington out of the running is also assuaged for the fans by the presence at the top of the leaderboard of Darren Clarke, who has recovered in remarkable fashion from his dismal performance in the recent US Open to shoot rounds of 67 and 68 for nine under par, a mark he shares with fellow Ryder Cupper Phillip Price.

Late in the day, though, their thunder and just about everybody else's as well was stolen by the South African Charl Schwartzel, who won't celebrate his 19th birthday until August 31. He shot a remarkable eight under par 64 to join Scotsman Alastair Forsyth on eight under par, one off the lead.

After Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Gary Murphy are the leading Irishmen although neither can be satisfied with yesterday's performance. McDowell, who opened brightly on Thursday with a 69, slipped to a 73 for two under, seven off the pace. His confidence, however, hasn't taken a hammering and he declared: "I can still win. Two 65s would do the trick."

Murphy, however, was downcast at the end of a day that promised so much after Thursday's 67. He battled gamely and looked set to post a total in close contact with the leaders until running up a seven at the 18th without ever visiting the lake. "My mother would have played the hole better", was his description of the entire unhappy episode.

Clarke, Murphy and McDowell along with Paul McGinley and Damien McGrane, both one over, and Harrington, two over, are the surviving Irish.