Harrington to part with caddie

Padraig Harrington, reported to be replacing caddie Dave McNeilly after the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Heidelberg today, drew level with leader Gregory Havret when the final round began.

While defending champion Harrington birdied after a pitch to seven feet Havret took a bogey six, going from left rough to right rough and then missing a four-foot putt.

The Dubliner has won millions with McNeilly over the past seven years, but the Sunday Independent claimed today the world number eight was taking on friend Ronan Flood, an assistant bank manager, as the replacement for McNeilly, who previous worked with Nick Faldo and Nick Price.

“We haven’t really been working on the same wavelength for the past couple of months and things have just gone a little stale,” Harrington commented. “So I think the time is right to make a break.

“Who knows what might happen over the next few months? But it would be unfair to expect a man of Dave’s calibre to sit idle for that length of time, so he is free to look for another bag and I understand he is doing so.”

Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie have all made caddie changes recently – and so has Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer, who ended a 20-year partnership with Pete Coleman last summer. Coleman went to work first for Westwood and is now with Clarke.

Havret’s opening bogey also gave South African Trevor Immelman a share of the lead on 11 under.

They were two clear of Clarke and another South African, Louis Oosthuizen.