Harrington toughs it out in classic style

Golf: Who can question his character? When the going got tough in the Buick Classic at Westchester in yesterday's final round, Padraig Harrington found the inspiration - and, using a sand-wedge as he would a putter, the 32-year-old Dubliner rolled the 272nd shot of his tournament into the hole to force his way into a three-way play-off with Sergio Garcia and South African Rory Sabbatini.

In shooting his fourth consecutive round of 68, for a 12-under-par total of 272, Harrington - competing in his 40th US Tour event and looking for his first official win (his success in the Target world challenge when he held off Tiger Woods two years ago was an unofficial victory) - never flinched from the task.

Starting out three behind 54-holes leader Loren Roberts, who fell away completely following his third round 64 with a 78 as the final round developed into a logjam at the top, Harrington furthered his cause with a front nine highlighted by an eagle on the fifth, which was sandwiched in the middle of a rollercoaster ride that saw him birdie the third, bogey the fourth, eagle the fifth, bogey the sixth and birdie the seventh.

Yet, as Harrington struggled to find birdies on the homeward run, Garcia's charge gathered momentum. The 24-year-old Spaniard had put together a sequence of four successive birdies from the seventh to ignite his run, then birdied the 13th, 16th and the 18th to set the clubhouse target of 12-under. Amazingly, the longest putt holed by the Spaniard in that birdie blitz was a 12 footer, as he played one close approach shot after another.

Garcia then watched as Harrington and Sabbatini in the following two matches each birdied the 18th hole - in quite different ways - to force a play-off.

Standing on the par five 18th tee, Harrington - a shot behind Garcia - knew what was at stake. After his drive found the right of the fairway, his three-wood approach found the left greenside bunker, some 20 yards from the flag, and his third shot skidded through the green into the rough, 20 feet from the hole.

Intent on making the necessary birdie, Harrington purposely "bladed" a sand-wedge - the ball dropped perfectly into the hole.