A "knackered" Retief Goosen wrapped up the European No 1 prize for the second straight year today despite playing his worst golf of the year.
The South African was assured of retaining the Order of Merit title when the only man who could overtake him, Dubliner Padraig Harrington, failed to raise his game sufficently on the final day of the Volvo Masters.
Harrington, bidding to become the first golfer from the Republic of Ireland to lift the trophy in 40 years, needed to finish ahead of Goosen and place high enough to erase the €23,119 that separated the two.
But after three poor opening rounds had left him languishing well down the 65-strong field at 11 over par, Harrington was left needing a miracle score in the last round in order to move up some 25 places.
It soon became clear he would not do so as he parred the first two holes and bogeyed the third.
With Goosen starting the day at 12 over par and moving to 15 over after eight holes, Harrington was assured of finishing ahead of the South African, but he found birdies hard to come by on the punishing Valderrama course.
By the time he came off the 18th, with a 73, he had drifted out to 13 over for the tournament one more than Goosen.
The win was bitter-sweet for Goosen who amassed most of his earnings in the early part of the year with his sole tournament win coming in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth in January followed by a runner-up spot in the Masters in April.
His golf here, last round apart, has been abject and only the fact that Harrington was not much better enabled him to retain his title.
He becomes the first golfer since Sandy Lyle in 1980 to top the Order of Merit having won just one tournament all year.
With the Order of Merit title taken care of, attention switched to the other end of the leaderboard where 29-year-old Welshman Bradley Dredge was leading by one stroke and in pole position for his first tour victory.
But he would have the intimidating presence at his side of former European kingpin Colin Montgomerie in the final pairing.
Montgomerie, seeking his first win since the Scandinavian Masters 15 months ago, was at two under par alongside Argentina's Angel Cabrera, one stroke behind Dredge.
AFP