Harrington moves into Ryder contention

Ireland's Pádraig Harrington has crept into the automatic qualifying positions for the Europe team to take on USA in the Ryder Cup at the K Club in September.

The Dubliner was bitterly disappointed to miss out on a first Major win at the US Open at the weekend.

Three pars on the final three holes would have secured a glorious victory for the former European number one, but he bogeyed all three.

However, he finished fifth and this timely return to form sees him 10th on the World Points List and ninth on the European Points List, which sees him in the automatic qualifying places for the European team.

Paul McGinley is also in the automatic qualifying positions, but he will need to regain some of last year's form to hold on to a place.

Darren Clarke, meanwhile, failed to make an impression at Winged Foot at the weekend, finishing tied for 56th on 18 over par. However, he still has time to earn himself a place on the team.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie now looks a cert after finishing tied for second at the weekend, while Paul Casey and Luke Donald are also in strong positions.

World points

1 DAVID HOWELL 205.34

2 JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL 193.72

3 HENRIK STENSON 193.00

4 COLIN MONTGOMERIE 190.66

5 LUKE DONALD 160.06

6 Sergio Garcia 151.70

7 Paul Casey 137.29

8 Carl Pettersson 123.29

9 Paul Broadhurst 115.52

10 Padraig Harrington 113.12

European points

1 David Howell 2,246,780

2 Colin Montgomerie 2,212,838

3 Henrik Stenson 1,666,993

4 PAUL CASEY 1,328,167

5 Jose Maria Olazabal 1,274,341

6 SERGIO GARCIA 1,255,831

7 PAUL McGINLEY 1,235,316

8 PAUL BROADHURST 1,217,117

9 PADRAIG HARRINGTON 996,039

10 Miguel Angel Jimenez 985,678