Trevor Immelman took the spoils (Getty Images).
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Trevor Immelman provided the greatest possible advert for the belly putter which fellow South African Ernie Els wants to see banned when he sentenced Padraig Harrington to the 22nd runners-up finish of the Irishman's career.
In a brilliant display on the greens the 24-year-old, playing only his second tournament with his new long putter, had a best-of-the-day 65 to win the
Deutsche Bank-SAP Open by one shot in Heidelberg.
A thrilling duel between the two ended with Immelman making a seven-foot putt on the last for his seventh birdie of the day and defending champion Harrington
then missing from 10 feet and having to settle for a 66.
"I'd rather have shot 72 and won," he said. "Next week or in six months' time nobody will remember I shot 66. It's going to be another second place."
It was not the perfect end, therefore, for Harrington's five-year partnership with caddie Dave McNeilly, the Dubliner having decided to make a change because
he feels they have gone "a little stale".
Harrington looked anything but that as he grabbed seven birdies, but there was
also a bogey on his card and that proved the difference.
"Yes I putted well, but I had 13 other good clubs in the bag too," said
Immelman, rather indignant that Els had chosen the day he took the first-round
lead to make his comments when Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood
have all won with belly putters before.
"I didn't watch the leaderboards at all. I was trying to make as many birdies as possible and when I asked my caddie coming off the 18th what the position was and he said we were tied it was all systems go to try to make another."
Harrington has earned millions with McNeilly in his rise to number eight in the world - they won nine times together around the globe - but in the short term he is taking on assistant bank manager Ronan Flood, who is the boyfriend of
Harrington's wife's sister.
Flood carried Harrington's bag for a short while before McNeilly became his regular and will start working for him again at the US Tour's Memorial
Tournament on Thursday week, the Irishman having decided to rest while the Volvo PGA championship is on at Wentworth.
"Dave and I have been a very good team, but I just feel I need something new, something fresh, something different. We haven't really been working on the same
wavelength for the past couple of months.
"Towards the end of the year I'll possibly look to try out some caddies, but
most of the good ones in my eyes are working at the moment.
"I decided to finish after the Masters and I told Dave a couple of weeks ago.
It came as a shock to him and I was surprised at that. It's tough to part in
circumstances like that, but I feel it's time."
Immelman earned a massive £335,561, which should certainly make him forget the
disappointment of losing a play-off to Ignacio Garrido in the PGA last year.
Three-putting there cost him nearly £140,000, but he had a mere 106 putts all
week at St Leon-Rot to top that category with Swede Joakim Haeggman, who shared
third place with Darren Clarke.
With third-round leader Gregory Havret collapsing to an 82, Els' closing 66
lifted him into a tie for fifth with England's David Howell and Dane Soren
Kjeldsen.
Haeggman played a part in Immelman's victory just as Chris DiMarco did for
Phil Mickelson at the US Masters in April. His putt on the last was on the same
line and made it far easier for Immelman to gauge how much break was involved.
The difference between first and second place this time was almost £112,000
and by finishing with birdie he leaps from 20th to third on the European Order
of Merit.
Ironically, the man at the top is Els, whose objection to long putters is that
by anchoring them on the body a perfect stroke is easier.
The world number three also thinks that more nerve is needed putting
conventionally and the Royal and Ancient Club, golf's ruling body, are known to
be looking at the situation.
It soon developed into a two-man race as Havret slumped from first to joint
23rd and the contest could only have been better had they actually been playing
together.
Harrington levelled no fewer than five times, but when he went in front for
the first time with a 14-footer at the 14th Immelman replied in kind seconds
later on the 15th.
The Ryder Cup star appeared set to lead once more as he teed off at the 17th,
but Immelman saved par with a superb 12-footer and when Harrington then missed
from 15 feet they remained locked together.
It became a simple question of which one would birdie the last. It was
Immelman - with that putter.
Collated final totals in the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe at St
Leon-Rot, Heidelberg (Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):
271 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 65 72 69 65 (£335,561)
272 Padraig Harrington 70 68 68 66 (£223,705)
276 Darren Clarke 70 67 70 69, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 72 66 69 (£168,900
each)
277 David Howell 65 71 75 66, Ernie Els (Rsa) 67 72 72 66, Soren Kjeldsen
(Den) 70 70 71 66 (£107,400 each)
280 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 68 71 72
281 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 72 69 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 69 64 76 72
282 Anders Hansen (Den) 68 70 73 71
283 Nick Price (Zim) 74 66 70 73
284 Richard Green (Aus) 70 73 73 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 68 76 72 68,
David Carter 71 71 71 71, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 68 73 72, Soren Hansen
(Den) 70 71 70 73
285 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73 68 78 66, David Lynn 72 72 75 66, Klas Eriksson
(Swe) 69 69 74 73, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 68 69 74 74, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 68
72 74
286 Barry Lane 67 77 73 69, Andrew Marshall 73 70 73 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe)
69 70 76 71, Phillip Price 68 77 70 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 65 71 68 82
287 Brian Davis 73 72 74 68, Nobuhito Sato (Jpn) 72 70 75 70, Jose Maria
Olazabal (Spa) 66 79 72 70, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 71 74 71, Paul Broadhurst 70
73 72 72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 72 71 73
288 Christopher Hanell (Swe) 70 76 72 70, Santiago Luna (Spn) 74 67 76 71,
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 77 73 71, Alan McLean 66 72 74 76, Marcel Siem
(Ger) 66 72 73 77
289 Johan Edfors (Swe) 73 71 75 70, John Bickerton 71 70 76 72, Eduardo Romero
(Arg) 69 69 74 77
290 Paul Casey 70 76 75 69, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 74 70 74 72, Stephen
Gallacher 70 74 74 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 73 72 72, Ben Curtis (USA) 68 73
75 74
291 Thongchai Jaidee (Thai) 71 73 77 70
292 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 71 71 77 73, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 66 79 73 74,
Robert Rock 70 72 73 77
293 Nick Dougherty 77 67 78 71, Stuart Little 68 75 77 73, Jamie Elson 68 76
76 73, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 71 75 73, Marten Olander (Swe) 69 77 74 73
294 Rob Rashell (USA) 72 70 80 72, Kariem Baraka (Ger) 67 77 76 74, Gary
Murphy 71 73 75 75, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 70 71 76 77
295 Simon Khan 73 69 80 73, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 74 76 74, Peter Fowler
(Aus) 70 73 77 75, Sebastian Fernandez (Arg) 72 72 76 75, Ian Woosnam 72 72 75
76
296 Miles Tunnicliff 70 76 79 71, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 73 73 75 75
297 Lee Westwood 71 75 75 76
298 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 72 81 74
299 Tobias Dier (Ger) 72 72 80 75, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 76 70 77 76
301 Diego Borrego (Spa) 77 67 78 79, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 74 77 80
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