Harrington Helped by Mickelson

Padraig Harrington will need to climb to 65th in the world rather than 64th to earn a place in next month's Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

Phil Mickelson has said he will miss the event - the first World Golf Championship of the season - to take a family holiday, freeing up an extra space on the entry list.

Harrington's 10th-placed finish at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa has lifted him only one spot from 89th to 88th in the new rankings.

The Dubliner is part of the star-studded field this week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the tournament where he started with a 65 last year but then was disqualified over a ball-moving incident picked up by an eagle-eyed television viewer.

The sport's ruling bodies saw the unfairness of the disqualification and if the same was to happen this week it would be only a two-stroke penalty.

Volvo World Champions for Grace

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain José María Olazábal failed to end his seven-year wait for a trophy as home favourite Branden Grace claimed the Volvo World Champions title at the Fancourt Links in the Western Cape in South Africa.

Olazábal, 45, was the lowest-ranked player in the select 35-man field at No 596 but went into the final round just two behind the leaders.

The US Masters champion in 1994 and 1999 has struggled with rheumatism and his last professional golf title was the Majorca Classic in 2005, so it would have been a hugely emotional triumph.

He started well, with two birdies taking him into a share of the lead, but then slipped back to finish sixth. Two other former major champions, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, tied for 10th.

It was a special victory for Grace, who was following up his maiden tour win last week and became just the sixth golfer to win his first two European Tour events in back-to-back tournaments.

He needed a play-off to do it, however, beating compatriots Ernie Els and Retief Goosen after all three finished on 12-under-par. Grace birdied the 18th hole in the sudden-death play-off.

The South African, 23, should have wrapped up the win in regulation play as he stood over a four-foot putt for a birdie on the 18th, but he ­shovelled it wide to send the three back down the hole once again.

Els’s tee shot on the sudden-death hole was down the left and ran through the fairway into the rough, putting him under immediate pressure. The three-times major champion hacked out and then hit a superb long-iron that ended 15 feet from the hole, but sent his putt for birdie just wide.

Goosen hit his drive down the middle of a fairway and his second on to a bank just right of the green, but his hopes were ended by an awful chip that finished 25 feet short of the flag.

Grace hit a three-wood from the fairway on to the green and an excellent first putt ensured that he had another little four-footer for the win. This time he made no mistake and proved that last week’s Johannesburg Open success was no flash in the pan.

Grace Sets Volvo Champions Pace

The lead is still four after two rounds of the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt in South Africa - but now it is local man Branden Grace rather than Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts out in front.

Grace, last man into The European Tour's winners-only event thanks to his victory at the Joburg Open last Sunday, shot 66 to reach 12 under par.

Colsaerts, on the other hand, had a 76 - 12 more than his course record first round - to drop to joint fifth place.

While that was the joint worst score of the day the best was a 65 from England's Lee Slattery. 

And it not only lifted the 33 year old from 22nd to joint second with Thomas Aiken, another of the home contingent, but also earned him a new car.

Playing partner Retief Goosen (68) received the same prize as they combined with English amateur Mark Vandenberghe to win the one round team event.

José María Olazábal almost joined them in winning a car, lipping out for a hole-in-one at the short 17th, but Europe's Ryder Cup Captain - at 596th in the Official World Golf Ranking the lowest-ranked player in the 35-strong field - was happy enough with a 68 to be in fourth spot on his own.

For the second day running, though, Padraig Harrington finished with a double bogey seven and, having also dropped shots on the previous two holes, the Irishman's 73 left him with eight shots to make up like Open Champion Darren Clarke (68) and Masters Tournament winner Charl Schwartzel (67).

Only last month 23 year old Grace was at The European Tour Qualifying School in Spain, but he came through that six-day ordeal in joint tenth place and has been flying ever since.

"I'm just really enjoying it out there," he said after grabbing eight birdies. 

"It's probably my favourite course in the world and coming back here is a fabulous feeling - especially playing well."

Slattery feared he would be at Qualifying School as well - in his case for the ninth time - until he won the Bankia Madrid Masters in October.

"Winning certainly gives you belief," said the 33 year old Englishman after picking up an amazing ten birdies just as Colsaerts had done in the opening round.

"That's probably my best round out there, one I'm going to remember for the rest of my life.

"Because of the team prize I was willing Retief's putts in as well. God knows what the amateur felt like, but he handled it well.

"I've had about 12 holes-in-one, but have never won a car before."

Olazábal was pleased to show signs of the form that brought him two Green Jackets before a series of injury problems, as the Spaniard targets his first victory for seven years on Sunday.

“I think the last couple of years I've played pretty poorly, so improving that, it was not all that difficult,” said the 45 year old.

Aiken has an added reason for wanting to come out on top - he is on a campaign to help save the rhino and the more publicity (and money) he can get the better.

"I've started my own charity," he said. "It's disgusting what's happening. We've got a war going on.

"Rhino horns are being valued at a million dollars. We've got tractors on the grounds, roadblocks and help from the Air Force because they are shooting them from helicopters now.

"We've got about six years left until they are extinct and if we hang around too long we are going to be too late."

Pádraig Harrington again faltered in sight of the clubhouse at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa as back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th and another double-bogey on the last saw him drop back down the leaderboard at Fancourt.

A double-bogey on the 18th had undone his opening round after he had carded six birdies, but after dropping a shot on the sixth this morning, he put together five birdies in eight holes from the eighth to move to eight under and a share of third place.

His round unravelled after that, with bogeys on the par-five 16th and the short 17th before closing for the second day with a seven on the final hole as he took three putts to navigate the treacherous green. That all added up to a level-par 73 and he remains on four under for the tournament.

British Open champion Darren Clarke carded seven birdies and two bogeys in a five-under-par 68 that moved him to four under for the tournament.

Michael Hoey improved on his opening 78 when carding a one-under 72 to lie on four over for the tournament.

Delaney Misses Q School Cut

Tara Delaney saw her strong momentum in the early rounds undone at La Manga, after a fourth round of 79 saw her miss the cut into the final rounds - and a total of five shots off the mark as a result. 

England’s Jodi Ewart continued to lead after the fourth round of the Ladies European Tour’s Final Qualifying School at La Manga Club in Spain on Wednesday as 52 players made the cut, securing their places in the fifth and final round.

Wednesday’s penultimate round represented a chance for the 99 competitors in the field to make a break towards the top 50 and ties and the magic number fell at nine over par.

On Thursday, the remaining 52 competitors will ultimately be targeting the crucial top 30 places and membership of the LET in category 8a.

After the final round, those who finish in positions 31 to 52 will be eligible for Membership in Category 9b, but with fewer chances to play.

As always at Qualifying School, there was drama at the top and bottom of the leader board as the players jostled for position.

At the top of the leader board, Ewart’s overnight lead was cut from seven to four shots, after Swiss amateur Anais Maggetti fired a six under 67 on the South Course to end the day at seven under par.

Maggetti, 21, from Losone, showed what was possible as she reeled off seven birdies and one bogey in the bright and sunny, calm conditions.

She said: “I am very happy and I holed two long putts of 20 metres. Tomorrow I want to play the same as today.”

If Maggetti finishes inside the top 30 places, she will turn professional, but if not will consider her options.

Ewart turned professional in June 2010 and has been honing her game on the US Futures Tour since graduating from New Mexico University, but she said that she endured a frustrating day on the greens.

A fourth round of two over 73 on the North Course gave the 24-year-old from North Yorkshire an 11 under par aggregate total.

Ewart said: “I didn’t get very many chances today. They just weren’t falling at all. I had one bad hole which set me back a couple of shots but nothing really went in.

“I am feeling calm but I got a little frustrated today because I had a couple of unlucky finishes, behind trees and stuff. I got a little bit unlucky and had one bogey and one double. I hit it in a fairway bunker and just got a little bit greedy with my lay-up shot, which was 115. I caught the lip of the bunker and came back in and three putted on top of that. I just had one birdie on the fifth.

“Nothing was dropping. I had so many pars and everything was green in regulation and two putts. It was a pretty boring round and the opposite of yesterday.”

At the other end of the leader board, Russian Maria Verchenova was one of the players who climbed up into the top 52 places moving from tied 55th into a share of 43rd with a one under par 72 on the South Course, but Scotland’s Lynn Kenny went the other way, slipping from tied 49th into joint 76th with a 78 on the North.

While there was misery for some, there was joy for Norwegian Caroline Martens, sitting in a share of 30th position on six over par in total, after she had a hole in one at the second on the North Course. She also had a hole in one on a different hole on the same course the previous year. 

With one day to go, the golfers are facing the last 18 holes of this year’s test, but who will be able to withstand the pressure and produce the goods when it is needed the most?

Ultimately, the higher up the leader board the players finish, the more competitive chances will be available to them during the 2012 season.

If necessary, a play-off will take place to establish first position, to determine who will follow in the footsteps of Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall as recent LET Q-School winners, while if necessary, there will also be a play-off to establish 30th place.

The final round will be played over the South Course starting from two tees at 9.30am on Thursday, with the leading trio of Ewart, Maggetti and Stephanie Kirchmayr, who shares joint third spot with Carlota Ciganda at four under, teeing off the first at 10.50am.

Harrington Still Expects

Although Padraig Harrington is currently 99th in the world, he expects to win more majors in his career. 

“That’s a big, strong word, but I do, yeah,” said the Dubliner at Fancourt in South Africa, where his season starts with the Volvo Golf Champions.

“I didn’t have a great year last year, but it doesn’t worry me in the greater scheme of things because I know you just can’t win them every year. You have to sit there and be patient and wait for your turn – and, like 2007 and 2008, they all come at once.”

Three years ago Harrington became the first European since 1906 to make a successful defence of the Open, then a month later became the first European to win the USPGA Championship since 1930.

Last season, though, the best he did in the majors was 45th at the US Open and missed cuts at the Masters and British Open accelerated his slump down the rankings.

“When you look at Nick Faldo it took him 20-25 years (as a professional) to win six – the most by any European (of modern times).

“I’m not foolish to believe that because I won one in 2007 and two in 2008 I should win three in 2009, or even another one.

“They don’t come around that easy. Even in my era the greatest player since I’ve been a pro – Tiger Woods – has not won one a year. There have been plenty of years he has not won any.

“People have this idea that just because you play well and you win one you should be doing that every year. That’s the hardest thing. It definitely puts a big burden on anybody who wins a major . . . .”

Now 15 months on from his last tournament victory, Harrington still took positives out of last season. “I sorted out a neck injury that plagued me for 10 years, then found something in my mental game and got to the bottom of something in my swing which had been annoying me for five years.

“But the reality is that we are judged by our results – I certainly do when I watch people playing sports – and I have to accept that results last year were poor.”

What he must have found particularly disappointing was that on the PGA Tour in America he went backwards in every final round, whereas in 2008 he had gone forward every time.

With the world’s top four of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer all deciding not to play – they along with Woods start in Abu Dhabi next week – this week is a golden opportunity for him to stop the slide and start climbing again.

A field restricted to European Tour winners since the start of last season and those with 10 or more titles on the circuit is only 35 strong.

With the Ryder Cup in mind as much as anything else, Harrington desperately wants to be back in the world’s top 64 for next month’s Accenture world matchplay and the top 50 for the Cadillac world championship in Miami two weeks later. A win on Sunday will achieve the first of those, although the cut-off point for Tucson is not for another three weeks.

Defending champion Paul Casey is another absentee, having dislocated his shoulder snowboarding. Harrington does not criticise the world number 20 for taking to the slopes in Colorado.

“Any accident is unfortunate and some people may think ‘why take the risk?’, but if you sat in a hotel room or at home looking at four walls you wouldn’t be a very good golfer. You have to live your life.”

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel is the only player in the game’s top 25 taking part, but also present is British Open champion Darren Clarke, three-major-winner Ernie Els and past and present Ryder Cup captains Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.

The other Irish interest is Michael Hoey.