Harrington's lead vanishes in the sand

B & H International: Bunker trouble at the last leaves Irishman level with Casey and Scahill going into final day

When Padraig Harrington was disqualified on the final morning of the 2000 Benson & Hedges International, after it was discovered he had not signed his first round scorecard, he held a five-stroke lead with a round to play. His hopes of going into today's final round of the final ever B & H with an advantage disappeared on the 18th yesterday when he found a greenside bunker and failed to get up and down.

After a 71 to be 10 under par, the Irishman, who is the highest placed European in the world rankings, ended the third round tied with two other players, while the defending champion, Angel Cabrera, was one further back.

Harrington's co-leaders were Paul Casey and Stephen Scahill, who produced the rounds of the day with a 66 and a 65 respectively. Casey, the 25-year-old Englishman, dropped only one stroke and otherwise eased his way around a difficult course with apparent ease and no little class.

He has length, driving the green at the 10th and just missing the eagle putt, and a fine short game. After birdieing the 15th, 16th and 17th, Casey pushed his second at the last but played a beautiful chip to three feet to save par. "It wasn't a very stressful round," Casey said. "I played the way I had planned and the only really loose shot was the one at the 18th."

Casey, one of the leading college players in America when he was an amateur, was the rookie of the year two years ago, when he won the Scottish PGA at Gleneagles, but was winless last year. In February he won the ANZ Championship in Sydney, while he has reached the level where not winning the Spanish Open in Tenerife two weeks ago seems like a major disappointment.

"I feel I should have won that," he said. "Winning in Scotland was nice, and I count it as a home win, but it would be great to win in England. This is one of the bigger tournaments, with a lot of history, and I feel I am ready to win it, though I would take any win, anywhere. It would be great to keep the trophy as it is the last one." Unfortunately, the sponsors have decided to hang on to it for posterity.

Scahill equalled the course record, set by Barry Lane and Adam Scott last year. He did not drop a shot and after going out in 32 made further birdies at the 11th, the 12th and 16th, where he put his approach to six inches. "It's probably the best round I've played in the circumstances, especially with it being cold and miserable," said the New Zealander, who you would have thought might be used to the conditions.

At three under is Simon Khan, who is one over for 52 holes and four under for his 10th and 12th holes yesterday. With the tee moved up on the 10th to tempt players to go for the green, Khan hit a three-wood to four feet and holed for his eagle.

Two holes later he hit a six-iron from 193 yards into the hole. "It was the perfect yardage for my favourite club," Khan said after winning a £36,000 Toyota Land Cruiser for his second hole-in-one, the first having come in a practice round when he was an amateur. The 29-year-old from Essex is in his second year on the European Tour and is of the generation that was inspired to play by a certain Seve Ballesteros.

Ballesteros did not make the cut but is spending the weekend working for the BBC. It has been a turbulent week for the Spaniard after he was disqualified from the Italian Open after not accepting a penalty stroke for slow play. The reaction from other players here was not favourably disposed towards the former Open and Masters champion and the incident will be discussed a meeting of the Tournament Committee in Germany this week.

"I haven't been able to sleep for three or four days," Ballesteros told the BBC's Steve Rider. "I didn't take the penalty stroke because I thought I was abused by the referee. I knew I was going to be disqualified and I accept. But I didn't feel I broke the rules. I always play by the rules."

Seve added: "I have had a lot of support from a lot of people and I have to say I keep playing golf because I love this game. I know that the last couple of years I've been playing like a ten-handicapper. All I can say is that I try my best and I will continue to play this game that has given me so much. I don't blame anybody for my poor performance."

This week's tournament in Hamburg, the Deutsche Bank SAP Open, will feature Tiger Woods, who has won three times in four appearances in the event, but not Ernie Els. The Open champion, who injured his wrist working out on his punchbag at his Wentworth home earlier in the year, will instead rest prior to the Volvo PGA. Conditions at Gut Kaden may be below par as fungus attacked all 18 greens during the winter and they have had little growth this spring.