Harrington captures Order of Merit title after second-place finish

GolfWeb Wire Services
 

SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Padraig Harrington won the European Order of Merit title Sunday after finishing in a three-way tie for second place at the Volvo Masters.

Jeev Milkha Singh shot a 1-over 72 to win the tournament at 2-under 284, one stroke better than Harrington (69), Sergio Garcia (72) and Luke Donald (69).

Harrington is the fifth player since 1993 to capture Europe's money title.

After a 1-over on the front nine, Harrington sank a 35-foot putt for birdie on the 16th to move to 1-under and into a tie for third. With Casey tied for 21st, Harrington could finish no worse than second.

Harrington put his second shot at the par-5 17th into the water before saving par. he saved again on the 18th to finish at 1-under.

Singh made bogeys at Nos. 12 and 13 to fall to 2-under, while Garcia sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th to tie him with Singh.

Harrington watched from the player's lounge as Garcia missed a 15-foot par putt on the 18th to drop the Spaniard to 1 under, handing Harrington the Harry Vardon trophy.

Harrington topped the European money list with €2,489,337 (US$3,167,559), beating Casey by €35,252 (US$44,856).

Casey, who came into the season-ending Volvo Masters with a €218,185 (US$274,080) lead over Harrington in the race for the season money title, finished with a 4-over 288.

"I played as good as I could today and I'm happy about that," Casey said. "Two-under is one of the best rounds of golf I've actually shot at Valderrama."

Casey's opening round of 5-over forced the Englishman to play catch-up all weekend, and he finished his final three rounds at 1-under.

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