Irish Open shakes up hunt for European Ryder Cup berths

THE final leaderboard at the 3 Irish Open had a significant impact on the shape of Europe’s Ryder Cup team with the showdown against the United States at Celtic Manor now just eight weeks away.

Ross Fisher’s €500,000 first prize at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club moved the Englishman into one of the nine automatic qualifying spots for Colin Montgomerie’s team, catapulting him into one of the five berths on offer on the European points list.

Pádraig Harrington’s final round of 64 on the Killeen Course earned the Irishman a €330,000 runners-up cheque to advance to ninth on the same list.