Crane victorious as G-Mac and Harrington left trailing

Neither Graeme McDowell nor Pádraig Harrington, the two Irish players to survive the cut in the $5.8 million St Jude’s Classic in Memphis, managed to maintain their challenge and were well off the pace as the weather-marred tournament reached its climax last night.

Victory on ten under par went to Ben Crane, who led from the outset and finished a shot in front of fellow American Troy Merritt in spite of not having a single birdie in a final round of 73.

McDowell was reasonably happy after rounds of 68, 69, 70, 70 saw him close on three under par and tied for 24th place.

It has been a quiet season so far for the Ulsterman who, however, seems inspired by the American classic, an event he won at Pebble Beach in 2000 before finishing 2nd two years later. Once G-Mac, along with Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Shane Lowry have finished at Pinehurst, they will make their way straight to Cork for the Irish Open at Fota Island on Thursday week.

Not for the first time this year, Pádraig Harrington endured considerable disappointment over the week-end, having played himself into the ideal position to challenge the leaders. However he followed up with a disappointing third round of 79 and closed with a 72.