Padraig Harrington took another important stride towards the Ryder Cup team when he finished sixth behind Sweden's Joakim Haeggman in the Volvo Scandinavian Masters in Malmo yesterday.

Harrington had a final round 68 for an 11-under-par 277, but his delight at over-taking JoseMaria Olazabal in the race for one of the 10 automatic places in the European side at Valderrama was cut short by another Spaniard, the fast-improving Ignacio Garrido.

The 25-year-old son of the former Tour professional, Antonio, was runner-up after a 67 for 274, and leapt six places in the Ryder Cup qualifying table to land in the 10th spot the Irish man thought he had just made his own.

Garrido, winner of the German Open seven weeks ago, collected £83,320, and, with three more European qualifying events to go, is set to make cup history. Only one other father and son combination have appeared in the competition, Britain's Percy and Peter Alliss.

Garrido leads Harrington by 14,531 points, so the stage is set for a thrilling finish to the 12month campaign, which continues with the Czech Open in Prague this week and will increase in intensity at the Smurfit European Open at the K Club, before the final Ryder qualifier, the BMW Open in Munich on August 28th31st. For Europe's leading players there is also the US PGA Championship at Winged Foot.

If Harrington, the three-time Walker Cup player, does make the European team alongside Darren Clarke, he will probably look back on the shot he played at Barseback's 17th yesterday as the one that proved he has the bravery, skill and imagination to succeed at the highest level.

It was the seven-iron he struck from 163 yards through a narrow gap between pine trees and over a bunker to within 25 feet of the flag. He secured his par four, and although Harrington was bitterly disappointed at leaving a 40-foot chance at the last two rolls short of making his seventh birdie, he collected a further £24,375 in finishing alongside Jose Rivero.

"I putted fantastically well," he said. "I shaved the hole on seven of the last nine greens, so I could easily have been a few shots better."

Harrington hopes to hear today that his British Open championship performance, where he was fifth at Troon, has earned him an invitation to the US PGA. But if it is not forthcoming he will head for Prague with a spring in his step.

"I am playing well, I am focussed, and I am making progress," he added.

Haeggman, who was Sweden's first Ryder man at The Belfry in 1993, is also now in the cup equation after rising to 17th by winning £125,000.

Clarke had a moderate 72, for 281, to end in a tie for 20th place, and his prize of £8,100 was not enough to dislodge Ian Woosnam from the top of the Volvo ranking. Clarke stays in second place.

Eamonn Darcy was 29th after a 69 for 282, to win £6,540, with Paul McGinley 34th following his 69 for 283, one better than Des Smyth (71) who took home £4,950 for a share of 38th spot with Olazabal.

Ronan Rafferty, who fell away after a bright start with rounds of 75 and 73 at the weekend, was 55th on 286 to win £2,464, while Raymond Burns scored 69 for 287 for 62nd place, worth £1,815.

(British unless stated, Irish in bold)

270 - J Haeggman (Swe) 67 69 65 69 (£125,000).

274 - I Garrido (Spa) 67 69 71 67 (£83,320).

275 - P Baker 70 66 69 70, M Hallberg (Swe) 72 68 67 68 (£42,220 each).

276 - M Mouland 68 72 67 69 (£31,770).

277 - P Harrington 66 71 72 68, J Rivero (Spa) 66 70 70 71 (£24,375 each).

278 - C Montgomerie 72 71 69 66, R Chapman 72 69 71 66, M Tunnicliff 68 68 74 68.

279 - M-A Jimenez (Spa) 71 71 69 68, D Gilford 70 73 66 70, S Allan (Aus) 72 67 66 74 280 D Chopra (Swe) 71 71 72 66, G J Brand 70 73 70 67, L Westwood 72 69 71 68, S Webster 70 71 70 69, S Field 69 70 70 71, K Vainola (Fin) 73 68 68 71. 281 - A Gillner (Swe) 72 68 73 68, M James 70 69 72 70, D Carter 70 71 70 70, G Turner (Nzl) 71 70 70 70, D Edlund (Swe) 70 70 70 71, G Evans 68 68 73 72, V Phillips 70 67 71 73, D Clarke 69 71 69 72, I Pyman 70 70 68 73. 282 - E Darcy 71 71 71 69, J Remesy (Fra) 69 74 70 69, A Hunter 70 70 71 71, J Parnevik (Swe) 70 68 71 73, A Mednick (Swe) 71 72 66 73. 283 - R Russell 69 73 73 68, P McGinley 71 69 74 69, D Cooper 75 66 72 70, C Suneson (Spa) 68 74 71 70. 284 - (x) H Stensson (Swe) 69 72 73 70, J-M Olazabal (Spa) 69 74 71 70, D Smyth 71 70 72 71, P Price 72 70 71 71, S Grappasonni (Ita) 68 71 73 72, C Rocca (Ita) 65 75 72 72, R Karlsson (Swe) 68 71 71 74, D Hospital (Spa) 68 68 72 76. 285 - P Quirici (Swi) 69 70 78 68, A Cejka (Ger) 73 69 71 72, P-U Johansson (Swe) 69 72 73 71, S Bottomley 68 74 72 71, R Wessels (Rsa) 72 71 71 71, M Roe 67 74 72 72, M Farry (Fra) 72 69 72 72, P Haugsrud (Nor) 73 69 71 72, D Robertson 71 68 73 73, M Jonzon (Swe) 69 67 74 75. 286 - P Hedblom (Swe) 70 72 74 70, J Townsend (USA) 72 71 73 70, S Luna (Spa) 71 72 73 70, P Eales 71 70 74 71, A Oldcorn 73 70 71 72, R Rafferty 70 68 75 73, B Davis 72 69 72 73. 287 - R Burns 72 70 76 69, M Olander (Swe) 70 69 77 71, B May (US) 74 69 73 71, A Binaghi (Ita) 70 73 71 73, N Briggs 74 68 72 73. 288 - J Mellor 69 73 73 73. 289 - S Torrance 72 70 75 72, F Roca (Spa) 71 71 73 74, B Tinning (Den) 73 68 72 76. 292 - J Rask (Swe) 72 70 72 78. 293 - K Eriksson (Swe) 74 67 76 76.