Harrington has high hopes

Pádraig Harrington hopes a share of fifth at his season-opening Volvo Champions in Durban is a sign of things to come in 2014.

Harrington seized an eighth-hole eagle and five birdies in a final round 67 to finish three strokes behind successful defending champion Louis Oosthuizen.

Oosthuizen eagled the eighth hole and then birdied the closing two to win by a shot with a 12-under par tally and deny fellow South African Branden Grace (68) the title.

Dutchman Joost Luiten (71) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (72) shared third on 10 under par with Harrington in a three-way tie on nine under par alongside the French duo of Victor Dubuisson (72) and Raphael Jacquelin (69).

The effort is Harrington’s best finish since he was fourth in the same event a year ago.

“There was a lot of misses out there this week and I missed a lot of short putts through the week,” he said. “But in saying that it was a nice feeling to be pushing there on Sunday, and there’s a lot of good signs at the end.”

Harrington headed to Durban knowing he is not into the first two Majors or WGCs of the year and needing to make the most of competing in ‘regular’ Tour events up to and including the British Open at Hoylake if he is to have any chance of qualifying automatically for the European Ryder Cup team.

“I’m in a tough position to make this team and well behind the eight ball when it comes to the Ryder Cup,” he said.

“I’ve no points up, I’m not in any of the big events. I probably have more chance of winning a Major than making the Ryder Cup team this year. But if I did win a Major, that puts me right into the position.

“That’s the nature of the game. I’m trying hard. I’m going to play Wentworth, the Irish Open and certainly make the effort to go to the French Open and the Scottish Open and making an effort to get myself noticed.”

Fellow British Open winner Darren Clarke slumped under the weight of a 77 for a one-over-par tally while Michael Hoey battled a respiratory infection in shooting a 74 for a four-over-par total. He also lost caddy Gerry Byrne after 10 holes due to the same stomach complaint that accounted for Harrington’s caddy Ronan Flood on Friday.

Simon Thornton birdied his closing two holes in a round of 71 for five-over-par total playing alongside double Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal, who struggled all four days to finish last at 12 over par.

“It was great to play with Jose Maria again as he is an absolute legend and you learn so much watching him as you’re picking up things all the time,” said Thornton.

“But it’s just been great to start my new year in such a prestigious event as this. Overall the game was a little sloppy with two bad shots on Saturday, a double and a triple, costing me badly.”