Pádraig still ahead on merit

IN SPITE of a 39th place finish in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open at the weekend, Padraig Harrington remains, by quite a distance, the leading Irishman in the European order of merit.

He has picked up €100,658 from two appearances to date to stand in 15th position. Nearest Irishman is Darren Clarke.

He is in 56th place with €27,248, followed by Peter Lawrie, 61st with €23,667 and Paul McGinley, 64th with €21,498.

Current leader of the order of merit is Spaniard Miguel-Angel Jimenez, with €277,902 ahead of Ernie Els (€258,802), Brian Davis (€219,714), Thongchai Jaidee (€207,425) and Thomas Bjorn (€152,627).

Clarke is Ireland’s front runner for a place in the European Ryder Cup team in Detroit in September.

He is fourth in the Ryder Cup world points list with Harrington in seventh.

Harrington is ninth in the European points list.

Placings after the Malaysian Open and the Nissan Classic are: World list, 1 Miguel-Angel Jimenez, 2 Lee Westwood, 3 Fredrik Jacobson, 4 Darren Clarke, 5 Thomas Bjorn; 6 Brian Davis, 7 Padraig Harrington, 8 Raphael Jacquelin, 9 Maarten Lafeber, 10 Ian Poulter.

European list, 1 Westwood, 2 Jimenez, 3 Jacobson, 4 Davis, 5 Jacquelin; 6 Carlos Rodiles, 7 Poulter, 8 Lafeber, 9 Harrington, 10 Paul Casey. The top five on each list on August 23 and 30 respectively go automatically into the European side with captain Bernhard Langer entitled to two ‘wild card’ selections.

Irish order of merit placings: 15 Harrington €100,658; 56 Clarke €27,248; 61 Peter Lawrie €23,667; 64 Paul McGinley 17, €565; 74 Gary Murphy 17, €565; 90 Graeme McDowell €13, 057; 132 Damien McGrane €5, 864.