A Whirlwind, birdie-eagle finish in the eye of a thunderstorm kept Ryder Cup hopeful Padraig Harrington at the forefront of the qualifying struggle when the BMW Open began in Munich yesterday.
Harrington sank a 15-yard putt from the fringe at the 18th for a six-under-par 66, one better than Cup rival Jose-Maria Olazabal, but two behind another in-form contender for the match at Valderrama, England's Peter Baker, and three adrift of surprise leader Fabrice Tarnaud of France. His nine-under-par 63 contained an eagle and seven birdies.
Baker (30), who played in the 1993 contest at the Belfry, careered to a 64, which was also matched by South African Wayne Westner, Swedes Patrik Sjoland and Peter Hedblom, and Challenge Tour graduate Carl Watts, who had eight birdies in an inward 29.
European number one Colin Montgomerie was among the group on 65. All day long the scoreboards were ablaze with eagles and birdies as the easiest course on the circuit proved easy meat for the Tour's marksmen.
Munchen Nord Eichenried is where David Feherty set the course record of 62 in winning this title in 1989, and was the scene of the Tour's record low cut of five-under-par when Paul Azinger won with 22 under in 1992. Both marks could conceivably be bettered this week if yesterday morning's hot and still conditions return.
More than 80 players broke par before the storm that Harrington just escaped let loose its full fury and halted play for an hour. Harrington played most of his second nine holes in a rising wind, and when he was only two under on the 14th tee, he considered he was getting the rough end of a poor deal.
But despite needing a good drive and five-iron to get home into the wind at the 437-yard 14th, he holed from 15 feet for a birdie three. He also went in from 10 feet at the 17th, and then made the most of what had become a gale by clouting a three-wood tee shot at the long 18th the best part of 340 yards.
He still had 240 yards left, and thought he had misjudged it when his five-iron finished off the back of the green. But the putting stroke which his coach, Howard Bennett, has been working on since he arrived in Germany was more than equal to the task.
Seconds after the eagle landed, the deluge began. "I was waiting for the storm to break, and anticipating that we would have to leave the course," said Harrington. "But instead the wind just started blowing harder. So it felt brilliant to finish like that. It was getting very difficult to cope with that wind."
The arrival of Baker as a late late contestant for Ryder Cup honours has been astonishing. At the start of August he was 57th in the table, and 134th in the Volvo ranking, fearful that he might lose his Tour card.
But after turning to Yorkshire coach Bill Ferguson, he saw his game begin to turn around at the Dutch Open, and since then Baker has hardly hit a bad shot. He was third in the Scandinavian Masters, runner-up for last week's European Open at the K Club, and if he completes the sequence here, will almost certainly be in the team at Valderrama.
This title, worth £125,000, would give Baker 336,661 points, which would mean Harrington would have to finish in the top three to overtake him, and Olazabal to be no worse than seventh.
Harrington is pinning his faith in perseverance. "All I can do is play the best golf I can, and not worry about what others are doing," he reiterated. "I just have to keep up with the guys at the top, and so far, so good."
Ronan Rafferty threatened to be among the front runners when he went out in 31, but he was among those hit by the storm, and had to settle for a 69. Christy O'Connor Jnr also had 69, after getting out in 33 from the 10th, while Paul McGinley took 70, despite having four birdies.
The Dubliner looked certain to be in the sixties when he was three under with three to play, but he three putted his 17th, and did well to make par at the last after only just clearing a ditch some 30 yards short of the flag with his pitch shot. "I need a low second round to even stay in the tournament," he remarked.
Eamonn Darcy's 71 leaves him also precariously placed, while David Higgins (75) and Raymond Burns (77) are virtually certain to be home for the weekend.
