Lots for the road, Padraig

Dunhill Championship: St Andrews' famous 17th claims another scalp as Harrington blows his lead

It remains a reassuring tenet of golfing lore that the 17th hole on the Old Course will have its wicked way with someone at some point of any tournament staged at the home of golf. Even one only partly staged here. While the conclusion of the Dunhill Links Championship will unfold over the Old today, for the first three days the players play one round at each of Carnoustie and Kingsbarns as well as St Andrews.

Padraig Harrington had rounds of 66 at the first two and appeared to be heading for a third such score on the Old when he came to the 17th. The Road Hole Bunker is one of the most fearsome hazards on any course and the Irishman proved you do not even have to go in it to feel its effect.

With 132 yards, downwind to the hole for his second shot, Harrington, then leading the tournament by one stroke, came up short of the green with a sand wedge. He was disturbed at the top of his backswing by the shout of "fore", which is something of an occupational hazard when playing in a pro-am.

His shot finished just to the right of the bunker in front of the green and he was then even more fortunate that when he duffed his chip it stayed up on the bank above the bunker rather than toppling back in. From there it was a routine three-putt, although he felt he had hit a good second putt, from six feet for bogey, which just missed.

"It was a careless double bogey," said the Ryder Cup star. He also went into the bushes on the ninth for a bogey on a hole that should be a birdie. "That was another two shots gone," he added. "I set out today hoping for six under again, or something better, so I could put distance between myself and the vast majority of the field. I did the minimum, but it was important to birdie the last."

That closing three gave Harrington a 68 but also brought him back level, at 16 under par, with Eduardo Romero, who swapped the lead with the Irishman over the first two days. Vijay Singh chipped in at the last, through the Valley of Sin, for an eagle and a 64 to lie one behind.

Although only Pierre Fulke of the nine Ryder Cup men missed the cut – Paul McGinley, the man who holed the winning putt at The Belfry, had to make a six-footer at the last to qualify – Harrington has been carving a lone furrow at the top of the leaderboard. Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjorn were the next best at eight under.

Perhaps it was Harrington's (relatively) teetotal celebration on Sunday. More likely is that Harrington has acquired the Bernhard Langer knack of just getting on with it. After all, only this workaholic Irishman could describe this week, containing six-hour rounds, as more relaxing than his usual regime of hours and hours on the range.

"I am tired and have been taking it easier than at any tournament I have played," he said. "These are long days on demanding courses but I am probably fresher this week than I normally would be. There is probably a lesson there but I'll never learn it.

"I was looking forward to a fun week and then went and played well on the first day so it all got serious. But my partner and I are taking the attitude that the more we enjoy it, the better we'll play. At the 17th, it helped having a partner because helping to read his line took my mind off my own troubles. He had a par for a net birdie so I still walked off the green with a smile."

The huge prize fund of £3.2m is incongruous given the pro-am format, but it should ensure that the laid-back atmosphere, which may have been a relief to the players after last week but hardly thrilled the small galleries, becomes a little more serious today. Harrington could do with the first prize of £514,000 to close the gap on Retief Goosen and Ernie Els at the top of the Order of Merit.

Nick Faldo, who decided to postpone "indefinitely" the launch of the Nick Faldo Golf Company which was due later this month, had a 66 at Kingsbarns and reiterated his desire to play his way in to the next Ryder Cup team even though Sam Torrance has stood down as skipper. "I feel the next two years are really important to me as a player," he said. "I am going to have an easy year next year but then plan a schedule that will hopefully get me in to the team. I can think about being a businessman after that."

Miguel Angel Martin and his partner Nigel Mansell were both disqualified in separate incidents. Martin did not complete the 16th hole, their seventh, but was allowed to play on in the team competition. However, Mansell was later penalised for signing for a wrong score. Cue Murray Walker: "Out goes Martin... Out goes Mansell..."