Padraig Harrington added weight to his bid to become the first Irish winner of the Volvo Order of Merit at Club de Campo when he tacked a 66 onto his opening 65 for an 11 under par total of 131 and a share of the halfway lead in the Telfonica Open de Madrid.
The 31 year old Dubliner, currently lying third behind South Africans Retief Goosen and Ernie Els in the contest to finish the season as Europe’s Number One, picked up six birdies in his second round to sweep clear of the field before an untidy finish saw him end the fog-delayed day tied with another Springbok, Trevor Immelman.
Immelman birdied four of his last six holes to shoot a round of 65 late in the day to join Harrington at the top of the leaderboard.
Compatriot Des Smyth, still the oldest winner on The European Tour International Schedule, equalled the 11 year old course record of 63 to move into joint third place on 132, ten under par, along with Adam Scott while Miles Tunicliff also shot 63 to accelerate smoothly into a share of sixth place with Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup Captain, Sam Torrance, and Swede Marten Olander on 133.
After going to the turn in 31 Harrington, twice a winner on the course – including his first European Tour title all of six years ago - moved three clear of the field and eight ahead of Goosen.
But the South African, who had commenced his round at the tenth, then played the front nine in 31 for a 69, while Harrington bogeyed two of his last five holes. Goosen, the reigning Volvo Order of Merit winner, goes into the weekend tied for 13th on seven under par.
"The bogey at the last came because I fell asleep," commented Harrington, who aims to emulate the Volvo Order of Merit success of Ronan Rafferty in 1991. "I was thinking about lunch or something. I thought my day's work was over and it wasn't.
"I was not looking at what Retief was doing. It's hard enough to control what I am doing. But overall I'm happy. I'm leading and you are always going to hit some bad shots."
Smyth produced his superb 63 early in a day which started inauspiciously with a 90 minute delay due to fog, while Australian Scott made his score just before darkness fell over Madrid, a round of 65 being completed just before play was suspended for the night.
Smyth and Torrance, team-mates on Europe’s 1981 Ryder Cup side and both one year away from Seniors golf, were delighted to be in contention, the former in his 592nd event on the circuit and the latter in his 677th.
In March last year Smyth became the oldest winner on the Tour when, at the age of 48 years and 34 days, he captured the Madeira Island Open, but he has to go back 12 years to the one and only time he shot better than his 63.
"It's very exciting," he said. "I love just breaking 70 these days - I always think I've had a successful day if I do that."
He birdied seven of his last nine holes to come home in 29 and put it down to the fact that in two weeks time he is playing in the US Seniors Tour qualifying school.
"I've got to go through regional qualifying first and I think there's an edge coming back into my game. There's only eight cards on offer and it's a big challenge. I will have to play my best to get through it all”.
Torrance becomes eligible for the Seniors Tour next August and his target before then is to take over from Smyth as the oldest-ever winner. His own game was put on hold during the three years that he was Europe's Captain, but following the win he says: "I'm certainly relaxed and I think we're all on a high. Hopefully it will last forever.”
Torrance birdied his last three holes to be alongside Olander and Tunnicliff as they all forced Lee Westwood from first to sixth place, the former European Number One being adding a round of 70 to his impressive opening 64.
