Harrington hoping for automatic Ryder Cup redemption

DESPITE a missed cut at the 92nd PGA Championship, Pádraig Harrington was last night presented with a chance of automatic qualification for Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

A victory or runner-up finish for Germany’s Martin Kaymer at Whistling Straits would have propelled the 25-year-old who started his final round at nine under par, four strokes behind 54-hole leader Nick Watney, into the fourth and final qualifying spot on the World Points list for the European team at the expense of England’s Luke Donald.

Kaymer’s position in the European Points which will provide the final five automatic spots on captain Colin Montgomerie’s 12-man team, would then become irrelevant, leaving Harrington ninth on the list, the fifth leading player not otherwise qualified.