Ireland's Padraig Harrington claimed the 10th European Tour title of his career to charge into contention for the Order of Merit title.

Harrington carded a final-round 68 at St Andrews for a five-shot victory over Anthony Wall, American Edward Loar and overnight leader Bradley Dredge in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Ernie Els eagled the 18th after driving the green to claim fifth place on 10 under.

The first prize of £427,441 lifted Harrington into second on the money list, £147,900 behind Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey who closed with a 68 for a share of sixth place.

"It's big, it's a huge deal," admitted Harrington, who finished second on the Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002 and third the following two years.

"It's got to be something you want to put on to your CV; the Order of Merit is directly behind the majors.

"This time of year everything is about the Order of Merit, it gets you going again. I've been using it as motivation after the Ryder Cup to get out on the golf course and push on.

"If I'd been further back I would have found it harder to come out and play such good golf."

Only two events remain to decide who will succeed Colin Montgomerie as European number one, the Mallorca Classic from October 19-22 and the Volvo Masters the following week at Valderrama.

Harrington had not planned to play in Mallorca but added: "Valderrama has not been the happiest hunting ground for me so anything I can get in Mallorca could push me up a bit. I have to give myself the best possible chance."

The 35-year-old, who has had 29 second-place finishes, began the final round a shot behind Dredge but immediately wiped out that deficit with a birdie on the first.

Dredge went back in front with a birdie on the fifth after a superb long bunker shot from an awkward stance, but Harrington pegged him back again on the ninth.

The key hole was the 11th however, which saw a three-shot swing in the Irishman's favour.

Dredge found Strath bunker off the tee and was forced to play out backwards on his way to a double-bogey five, while Harrington holed from 10 feet for a birdie two.

That allowed Harrington to cruise to his second victory in the event in four years, and he also helped partner JP McManus to win the team competition for the second time as well.

"I hadn't won in Europe for two years, although I won twice in America last year, but it's great to come back and win," he added.

"You never want to go a year without a win. It's very special to win and I'm really happy the way I did it.

"I played great yesterday (a 68 at windswept Carnoustie) and backed it up again today."

Casey, who overtook Ryder Cup team-mate David Howell on the money list by winning the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth last month, led by one shot after an opening 63 at Kingsbarns but struggled to rounds of 74 and 73 at St Andrews and Carnoustie.

"After a tough Friday and Saturday to post a top-six finish is a good result," said the 29-year-old. "I felt I ground it out well.

"The HSBC was a tough week but the Ryder Cup is, without a doubt, the toughest week I've ever experienced in golf, physically and mentally.

"That was very much apparent the week after the K Club and this week was tough as well with the weather."

Dredge, who won the Omega European Masters on his previous appearance, was disappointed to finish with a round of 74 but at least birdied the last to claim a share of second instead of a share of fourth - a putt worth £73,000.

"It was worth a few bob and I was quite aware of that," admitted Dredge. "I didn't have a very good day so it was nice to finish with a plus.

"I thought my tee shot on the 11th was perfect and it was straight down the flag only to see it disappear in the bunker. From there I didn't have a shot."

Sheffield's Mark Roe confirmed his intention to retire from the game and went out in style with a closing 67 over the Old Course.

The 43-year-old, memorably disqualified from the Open championship in 2003 when in contention for victory after a scorecard mix-up, was greeted on the final green by his wife Julie and twin daughters Alexandra and Emily.

"It doesn't get better than that, I wanted them to be here and for me it's the perfect ending to 21 years on tour," said Roe, who has played more than 500 European Tour events.

"Everyone has a choice to make at some point about when is the right time to retire. It just feels like the right time for me.

"I have two beautiful girls I want to see more of rather than being away 25 weeks of the year.

"I have fallen out of love with the travelling, I've never fallen out of love with the game of golf."

Collated scores and totals in final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews, Scotland

(Gbr & Irl unless stated):

(x) denotes amateurs

271 Padraig Harrington 66 69 68 68 (£427,441)

276 Anthony Wall 70 70 69 67, Edward Loar (USA) 70 66 70 70, Bradley Dredge 64 67 71 74 (£191,246 each)

277 Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 67 71 70 (£108,741)

278 Peter Hanson (Swe) 68 68 75 67, Paul Casey 63 74 73 68 (£83,356 each)

279 Paul Broadhurst 70 69 72 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 65 74 69, Johan Edfors (Swe) 64 70 76 69, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 68 73 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 70 71 70, Simon Dyson 66 68 75 70, Lee Westwood 68 75 71 65

280 Mark Roe 67 70 76 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 68 71 74 67, Damien McGrane 70 67 74 69, Simon Khan 68 70 71 71, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 71 70 67 72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 68 69 71 72, Paul Lawrie 71 65 72 72

281 Phillip Archer 72 69 72 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 70 74 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 67 77 70, Ian Poulter 75 65 74 67, Vijay Singh (Fij) 65 70 72 74

282 Gary Evans 65 71 76 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 71 71 70, David Park 68 71 72 71, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 69 69 71 73, Nick Dougherty 66 72 71 73

283 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 73 67 72 71, Oliver Wilson 72 72 69 70, Graeme Storm 72 69 72 70, Peter Baker 70 71 70 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 70 76 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 75 70 69

284 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 69 75 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 72 68 73 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 70 72 71, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 73 71 71, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 69 75 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 69 69 76 70

285 Phillip Price 71 71 70 73, Barry Lane 68 71 73 73, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 71 71 72, Anders Hansen (Den) 65 72 74 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 66 69 76 74, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 68 75 72, Robert Coles 71 67 76 71

286 David Carter 71 70 72 73, Jonathan Lomas 69 76 68 73, David Lynn 67 71 76 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 69 73 72

287 Scott Drummond 66 69 76 76, Marcus Both (Aus) 73 70 71 73

288 Anton Haig (Rsa) 71 70 73 74, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 70 70 74 74

289 Tjaart Van der Walt (Rsa) 70 69 72 78, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 72 71 75