Pádraig heads the stroke average again

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON finished top of the European Tour’s stroke average chart for the second year running when he fin ished joint 36th in the Volvo Masters on Sunday.

Harrington averaged 69.72 shots for each of his 81 rounds in 2002 to finish ahead of South Africa’s British Open champion Ernie Els, who averaged 70.07 from 59 rounds.

The Irishman, winner of the Dunhill Links Championship and second to Retief Goosen on the order of merit, struck a total 5,647 shots in his 22 events on the 2002 European Tour.

South Africa’s Goosen, who had the second best average going into the Volvo Masters, had to settle for third with an average of 70.15, while Fijian Vijay Singh was fourth on 70.27. Last season Harrington finished with an average of 69.23 from 77 rounds.

France’s Thomas Levet topped the greens in regulation (GIR) table, hitting an average 13.7 GIR per round at 75.8 per cent.

Bernhard Langer, who shared the Volvo Masters title with Colin Montgomerie, also finished first in the sand saves.

The German saved his par 13 out of the 16 times he was bunkered in his qualifying rounds.

Australia’s Peter O'Malley had the best driving accuracy figures for the second year running, hitting 11.3 fairways per round at an average of 80.7 per cent.

In the putting statistics, Michael Campbell topped the putts per greens hit in regulation category. The New Zealander averaged 1.704 putts, while Germany’s Marcel Siem had the lowest putts per round average with 27.9.

Finally, Italy’s Emanuele Canonica won his second consecutive longest driving award with an average of 304.9 yards.

The Powerful South African Des Terblanche was second in this category with a 301.7 yards average.