Harrington rises in Ryder list

Padraig Harrington’s joint second place in the US Tour’s Booz Allen Classic - completed only after a series of weather delays – has lifted him from 10th to eighth on the Ryder Cup world points list.

He remains in 10th and last place in the overall standings, but it is enough to put him in the 10 automatic qualifying places for the K Club showdown.

This represents a timely return to form for the Dubliner as he gears up for the lucrative French Open which begins on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the chances of Darren Clarke participating in September faded further in the past week as he withdrew from the Paris event.

It was due to be only the fourth appearance by Clarke in Europe this year, but his next scheduled tournament now is the European Open at the K Club near Dublin starting on Thursday week.

That, of course, is where the Ryder Cup is also being played in September, but the Ulsterman is down in 26th place in the points race after missing a number of events because of his wife Heather’s health.

Ireland’s other Ryder Cup contender steadied the ship at the weekend following a poor run of form. He finished tied for 22nd at the Johnnie Walker Championship and moved up one place to sixth on the European points list.

Latest leading places in the European Ryder Cup tables after the Booz Allen Classic (capitals indicate players currently in qualifying positions)

(Five players qualify off world ranking table, next five off European points table. Captain Ian Woosnam then adds two wild cards)

World Points:

1 DAVID HOWELL 205.34

2 COLIN MONTGOMERIE 197.14

3 JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL 193.72

4 HENRIK STENSON 193.00

5 PAUL CASEY 161.05

6 Luke Donald 159.06

7 Sergio Garcia 151.71

8 Padraig Harrington 125.45

9 Carl Pettersson 123.29

10 Paul Broadhurst 115.52

European Points (1pt for every Euro):

1 David Howell 2,246,780

2 Colin Montgomerie 2,307,549

3 Paul Casey 1,669,834

4 Henrik Stenson 1,666,993

5 Jose Maria Olazabal 1,274,341

6 PAUL McGINLEY 1,256,944

7 SERGIO GARCIA 1,255,831

8 PAUL BROADHURST 1,217,117

9 KENNETH FERRIE 996,370

10 PADRAIG HARRINGTON 996,039

Ryder Cup Points US:

1 Tiger Woods 2930.000pts,

2 Phil Mickelson 2,474.375,

3 Jim Furyk 1,526.000

4 Chad Campbell 1129.602,

5 David Toms 1072.250,

6 Zach Johnson 756.477,

7 Brett Wetterich 746.000,

8 Vaughn Taylor 660.833,

9 Lucas Glover 641.376,

10 Davis Love III 631.875,

11 Fred Couples 627.727,

12 Tim Herron 621.667