The luck of the Irish

Padraig Harrington shot a 9-under 63 to erase a seven-shot deficit in the final round, then won the Honda Classic Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., when Vijay Singh missed a 2 1/2 -foot putt to bogey the second playoff hole Sunday.

After Harrington made a 4-foot putt to par the second extra hole, Singh pushed his par try right and the ball rimmed out. Singh missed a 15-foot birdie try on the first playoff hole that would have given him the win.

Joe Ogilvie also made the playoff but was eliminated when he bogeyed the first extra hole, missing the fairway and needing four shots to reach the green.

Ranked eighth in the world, Harrington is believed to be the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win a PGA Tour event.

Harrington, who earned $990,000, birdied 10 of the first 13 holes in the final round and was in a four-way tie for the lead when he finished nearly 90 minutes ahead of the last group at 14-under 274. Singh had a 64, and Ogilvie had a 68.

Pat Perez (70) finished a stroke out of the playoff.

Champions Tour

Ireland’s Des Smyth won his first Champions Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory over D.A. Weibring and Mark McNulty in the SBC Classic in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Smyth finished with a 5-under 211 total on the Valencia Country Club course. McNulty shot a 74, and Weibring had a 72.

“I thought Mark was going to make that putt,” said Smyth, who earned $232,500. “But I’m certainly happy I didn’t have to go into a playoff with him.”

Smyth broke free on the back nine on a day that saw five players – Smyth, McNulty, Weibring, Keith Fergus and Craig Stadler – hold a share of the lead.

Stadler, the Champions Tour player of the year last season, shot a 69 to tie for fourth with Gary McCord (73) at 3 under. Second-round leader Keith Fergus struggled to a 77 to match Mike Reid (73) at 2 under.

PGA European Tour

Ernie Els won his second straight tournament in the Middle East, rallying to take the Qatar Masters in Doha, Qatar, by one shot after carding a 7-under 65 in the final round.

The third-ranked South African, who finished with a 12-under 276, fired seven birdies to come back from a five-stroke deficit and edge Henrik Stenson of Sweden at the Doha Golf Course. Stenson shot a 71 on Sunday.

Richard Green of Australia and Pierre Fulke of Sweden tied for third at 9 under.

Els also won the Dubai Desert Classic last week, where he eagled the last hole for the victory.

He became the first player on the PGA European Tour to win in consecutive weeks since Vijay Singh took the Malaysian Open and Singapore Masters in 2001.