Harrington goes to world No 3
Padraig Harrington jumped from 14th to third in the latest world rankings and confessed: It feels good up here.
The Dubliner, 36, equalled his career high of sixth last year when he claimed the Claret Jug for the first time.
Now only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are ranked ahead of him and he is feeling more comfortable about his status in the game than ever before.
He said: "I got to sixth in the world before and wasn't comfortable there. Just kind of, ooh, I'm sixth in the world and I'm not good enough.
"I'm more comfortable at third than I was at sixth. So I have improved as a player, and I'm continuing to improve as a player. That's the main thing for me."
Up to fourth in the Order of Merit, just €269,626 behind leader Miguel Angel Jimenez, he will be bidding now to claim the Harry Vardon Trophy for the second time since 2006.
As for the money, his winner's cheque for €938,565 boosted his career earnings in Europe to €18.3 million and his career earnings worldwide beyond €30 million.
WORLD RANKINGS
1 Tiger Woods (USA) 19.50
2 Phil Mickelson (USA) 9.68
3 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Ireland) 6.37
4 Adam Scott (Australia) 5.54
5 Ernie Els (South Africa) 5.53
6 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 5.40
7 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 5.36
8 Stewart Cink (USA) 5.33
9 Steve Stricker (USA) 5.22
10 Jim Furyk (USA) 5.04
ORDER OF MERIT
1 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) €1,707,702
2 GRAEME McDOWELL (Ireland) €1,580,913
3 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) €1,578,492
4 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Irleland) €1,438,076
5 Lee Westwood (England) €1,433,080
6 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) €1,396,279
7 Oliver Wilson (England) €1,139,406
8 Ross Fisher (England) €1,084,203
9 Trevor Immelman (South Africa) €1,050,723
10 Martin Kaymer (Germany) €1,006,880
11 Jeev Milkha Singh (India) €901,413
12 Ian Poulter (England) €829,195
13 Retief Goosen (South Africa) €802,196
14 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) €791,617
15 James Kingston (South Africa) €780,822
16 Vijay Singh (Fiji) €770,194
17 Richard Finch (England) €766,789
18 Søren Hansen (Denmark) €763,907
19 Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) €731,981
20 Scott Strange (Australia) €686,526
CAREER EARNINGS
1 Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) €23,474,257
2 Ernie Els (South Africa) €21,735,031
3 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Ireland) €18,394,520
4 Retief Goosen (South Africa) €18,142,613
5 Darren Clarke (Ireland) €16,102,721
6 Lee Westwood (England) €15,455,331
7 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) €13,790,895
8 Bernhard Langer (Germany) €12,517,913
9 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) €12,504,363
10 Vijay Singh (Fiji) €12,437,031
11 Angel Cabrera (Argentina) €11,539,709
12 José Maria Olazabal (Spain) €11,477,649
13 Sergio Garcia (Spain) €11,072,753
14 Michael Campbell (New Zealand) €10,990,227
15 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) €9,764,699
16 PAUL MCGINLEY (Ireland) €9,762,143
17 David Howell (England) €9,674,770
18 Ian Woosnam (Wales) €9,570,678
19 Ian Poulter (England) €9,494,566
20 Paul Casey (England) €8,839,702
RYDER CUP
(* indicates qualifying positions)
World Points List
1 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Ireland) 238.64*
2 Lee Westwood (England) 229.18*
3 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 200.02*
4 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 194.05*
5 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 192.36*
6 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 189.80
7 Ian Poulter (England) 173.21
8 Justin Rose (England) 170.36
9 GRAEME McDOWELL (Ireland) 166.03
10 Martin Kaymer (Germany 149.95
RYDER CUP - European Points List
1 Lee Westwood (England) 2,141,552.72
2 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 2,087,550.28
3 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 2,005,780.63
4 GRAEME McDOWELL (Ireland) 1,899,335.72*
5 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Ireland) 1,763,740.27
6 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 1,640,824.60
7 Søren Hansen (Denmark) 1,340,921.93*
8 Oliver Wilson (England) 1,326,431.56*
9 Martin Kaymer (Germany 1,316,335.15*
10 Justin Rose (England) 1,272,327.75*