Padraig Harrington, three behind Adam Scott with four holes to play, produced a superb finish as the young Australian stumbled at the finish to keep important twin targets within his sights at Club de Campo in Madid.
The 31 year old Dubliner could move to the top of the Volvo Order of Merit by winning the Telefonica Open de Madrid, and with one round to go Harrington leads the field by one shot after a third round of 66 for a 16 under par total of 197.
Harrington, joint leader overnight with South African Trevor Immelman, teed off in the third round one shot in arrears after Maarten Lafeber from The Netherlands returned from Friday night’s suspension due to darkness to birdie two of the last three holes.
However Harrington started with a flourish, picking up an eagle at the fourth and birdieing the sixth, seventh and tenth to force his way to the head of the pack. At that stage Denmark’s Steen Tinning made his mark in the tournament with a round of 62, nine under par, to move to 198, 15 under par.
Tinning, the 2000 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open champion, made nine birdies, including two at the final two holes, to challenge for his second European Tour International Schedule title.
Having set the clubhouse, Tinning sat back and waited to see who could catch him. It seemed that Scott, who claimed the Diageo Scottish PGA Championship in August, would do just that after going out in 32 and picking up shots at the 14th, 15th and 16th to get to 17 under.
Harrington, meanwhile, missed the green badly at the 14th and hit a tree with his chip and ended up taking a double bogey six. Suddenly the Irishman was on 14 under par and three behind the Australian.
However the last few holes saw the picture change dramatically. Scott missed the green at the par three 17th and failed to get up and down. Then at the last his drive found sand and his approach spun off the front of the green, from where he again made a bogey.
With a round of 66, Scott finished level with Tinning on 198, while Harrington birdied the 16th and 17th to repair the damage caused by his double bogey. Now Harrington has the opportunity to win his first title in as many months and move ahead of Retief Goosen at the top of the Volvo Order of Merit.
Harrington is currently five strokes in front of Goosen, the reigning Volvo Order of Merit champion.
Lee Westwood’s season showed further evidence of an upsurge when he fired a round of 66 to finish the day at 13 under par, assisted by an eagle at the fourth and birdies at the 15th and 18th.
