Casey gets victory at Benson and Hedges

SUTTON COLDFIELD, England, May 11 (UPI) -- England's Paul Casey left Irishman Padraig Harrington with the 19th runner-up finish of his career Sunday by winning the last-ever Benson and Hedges International Open.

The 25-year-old from Surrey denied Harrington a glorious return to The Belfry, scene of last September's Ryder Cup victory, with a four-stroke triumph.

Casey, joint leader with Harrington and New Zealander Stephen Scahill overnight, earned first prize of 183,330 Euros thanks to a closing 1-under-par 71 in the blustery conditions for an 11-under total of 277.

Also a winner at the ANZ Championship in Sydney in February, the former English amateur champion stands second on the European Order of Merit behind Ernie Els. If he can stay there for two more weeks, he will make his U.S. Open debut next month.

"I used that as an incentive and for some reason I was not nervous," Casey said. "I've not enjoyed last rounds in the past, but I did today. I made my European Tour debut here two years ago on an invitation and was 12th. That really started things off for me."

The hole Casey will look back most fondly on was the 545-yard 15th. Having just double-bogeyed the short 14th to go from four strokes ahead to only two, he crunched a drive and three-wood into the wind onto the green and two-putted for birdie.

"I just can't hit it any further than that. I defy anybody else to hit two better shots," Casey said.

Harrington still took away 122,220 Euros. He earned 381,333 Euros for finishing second at the Players' Championship in Florida in March and has made close to 2 million Euros from all his near-misses in his career.

But Harrington wanted to win this one because it was the final B&H event before a government ban on tobacco sponsorship comes into force.

There was also the matter of three years ago. He led by five shots with a round to go, but was disqualified without hitting another shot after the chance discovery that he had forgotten to sign his first-round scorecard.

"Everything was going to plan until I got complacent over a short putt at the ninth," Harrington said of his round on Sunday. "I don't know if it upset me, but I had 10 putts after that which I thought were going in and didn't."

Joint third were Scahill, Dutchman Rolf Muntz and former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, who had a hole-in-one with a seven-iron at the seventh and would have been second on his own but for going in the lake at the last hole and double-bogeying.

Lawrie holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the first. But Casey, playing behind him, birdied the fifth and sixth holes to nose in front.

Harrington three-putted the ninth, missing from little more than two feet, but Casey took five strokes there as well after a bad drive and looked likely to be back on level terms when he carved his drive wide of the 11th fairway.

However, Casey finished the hole two strokes ahead. As he made a 20-footer for par, Harrington three-putted again on the next.

The gap was three when Casey converted a 15-foot chance to push his advantage to four when the Irishman bogeyed the short 14th.

The same hole gave Casey his one horrible moment after he fired his tee shot wildly right, but the next put him back in firm control and with Harrington taking six on the long 17th, it was effectively all over.

Earlier Sweden's Richard Johnson broke the course record with a 64. The 26-year-old from Stockholm made the turn in 32, then holed a 30-foot eagle putt on the 10th, added further birdies at the 13th and 14th and finished with a 12-foot par putt.

It broke the previous record of 65 held by Barry Lane, Adam Scott and Scahill. Harrington had a 64 in the third round in 2000, but then had it scrubbed out when he was disqualified the following day for not signing his first-round scorecard.