Tinning benefits as Harrington cracks

Denmark's Steen Tinning was the unexpected winner of the Telefonica Madrid Open yesterday as Padraig Harrington blew a great chance to take over at the top of Europe's Order of Merit.

Harrington, a shot ahead with a round to play, fell to joint-seventh place with an error-ridden 72 – and among the players he shared that spot with was Retief Goosen. It means the South African stays £34,000 ahead with two events to come, but Harrington still has an advantage. He plays this week's Italian Open while Goosen is in America at their Tour Championship.

"I had a bad day on the greens," Harrington said. "This was a great chance, it really was. It was there for me to do and for some reason the putts were just not dropping."

Tinning, who has come back from three career-threatening injuries, eventually won after the lead changed 26 times in the last 15 holes. Having fired a third round 62 that equalled the lowest round of his tour career, the 30-year-old from Copenhagen took the £146,507 first prize with a 67 for a 19 under par total of 269.

He finished one ahead of the Londoner Brian Davis, the Scot Andrew Coltart and the Australian Adam Scott. It was Scott who led with two holes to play, but he bunkered his tee shot to the short 17th and then left a four foot downhill putt short after Tinning had holed from 25.

When the Dane hit his approach to under 10 feet on the last Scott knew he had to birdie, but his 20-foot effort rolled just wide.

In 1990 Tinning and his wife Anne were lucky to escape with their lives after a multiple car crash in which his right arm was detached and his left was just dangling by skin and muscle. He was out for 18 months and after returning lost his card in 1996.

After fighting his way back he suffered a broken thumb in 1999 when he was struck by a wayward drive from an amateur while picking up balls on a driving range. Two years ago he won the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, but this time last year Tinning thought he had played his last-ever event because of back trouble.

"I didn't say goodbye to people, but in my mind I was finished," he said. "I birdied the last three holes of the BMW International in Germany and thought that was a proper way to finish.

"My back was giving me so many problems just to get to the first tee. I was in the physio unit two or three times a day and there was no solution. It just kept on hurting."

Tinning, who in nearly 350 tour events has finished in the top three only twice, took four months off exercising and at last felt able to return. But even now he does not play more than three events in a row.

With Harrington three-putting three times in the first eight holes – and that after holing from three and 12 feet for birdies on the first two greens – Tinning moved into a two-stroke lead. But by bogeying the ninth and 10th he allowed not only Harrington, Davis and Scott to share the lead, but also Welshman Bradley Dredge and former Open champion Paul Lawrie.

Coltart also grabbed a share of top spot by sinking birdie putts of 25 and 30 feet on the final two greens for a 64.

The 422-yard 16th was vital in Tinning's win, even though he bogeyed it. From a fairway bunker he caught the lip and flew into the trees. He was back in sand – deliberately – with his third, but made a 10-footer to drop only one stroke. Scott had holed from 15 feet to go in front, but the roles were reversed on the next and that decided the title.

MADRID OPEN (Club de Campo, Madrid, Sp) Leading final scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 265 S Tinning (Den) 68 68 62 67. 266 B Davis 65 72 66 63; A Coltart 66 68 68 64; A Scott (Aus) 67 65 66 68. 267 B Dredge 71 65 67 64. 268 P Lawrie 70 64 69 65. 269 R Goosen (SA) 66 69 67 67; T Immelman (SA) 66 65 68 70; P Harrington 65 66 66 72. 270 S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 68 65. 68; D Smyth 69 63 69 69; F Remesy (Fr) 70 66 65 69. 271 M Lafeber (Neth) 65 65 72 69. 272 A Hansen (Den) 68 67 69 68; S Luña (Sp) 69 67 68 68; N O'Hern (Aus) 66 70 65 71; L Westwood 64 70 66 72. 273 D Howell 72 68 68 65; I Poulter 70 69 67 67; M A Jimenez (Sp) 70 69 67 67; M Brier (Aut) 66 69 69 69; M Olander (Swe) 67 66 70 70; M Tunnicliff 70 63 70 70; P Casey 70 65 67 71.