Harrington struggling over Kingsbarn links

Padraig Harrington’s hopes of a third Dunhill Links Championship victory, which would almost certainly secure the Order of Merit too, suffered an early blow today.

Harrington has complained of fatigue since the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, where he surprisingly gained just half a point for the second contest in succession.

And he looked to be still some way off the form which brought him the last two major championships as he failed to make the most of relatively benign conditions at Kingsbarns, one of the three courses, along with St Andrews and Carnoustie, used for the lucrative pro-am event.

Starting from the 10th, Harrington birdied the 12th and 13th but then dropped shots at the 16th and 17th to lie level par after 12 holes, good enough only for a share of 90th place.

That was seven shots off the lead held by England’s Ross Fisher, who was seven under par with one hole remaining at Kingsbarns, one ahead of a group of players including former Ryder Cup duo Jarmo Sandelin and Thomas Levet.

Sandelin has won five European Tour titles, including two in 1999 which secured his place on the European team at Brookline where he played only in the final-day singles.

The 41-year-old has struggled to reproduce such form in recent years however, losing his card in 2005 before regaining it at the qualifying school, and taking the 117th and final card in 2007 by just £61(€77).

With just four events remaining this season, including this week, Sandelin is currently 125th on the Order of Merit with just the top 115 guaranteed to retain their playing rights for next year.

But the extrovert Swede could end any money worries with a good finish in Scotland – first prize is £430,000 (€548,102) and even 20th place worth more than £30,000 (€38,241) - and he led for a long time before being overtaken by Fisher.

Sandelin picked up three birdies and an eagle in his first six holes to be out in 31 and added another birdie on the 12th, although the funereal pace of play meant he had yet to finish his round after more than five hours and 20 minutes.

Meanwhile Harrington was not alone among Europe’s Ryder Cup stars in struggling to make an impression – only Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter are not playing here - with Justin Rose, second here last year, also level par along with Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson.

Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Dane Soren Hansen were faring the best, both at four under par at Kingsbarns after 12 and 15 holes respectively.