Harrington rallied from six shots behind last year to beat Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie. This time, he spotted the Spaniard three shots when they made the turn and made four birdies over the back nine.

“I have no regrets of anything I did out there,” Garcia said.

He might reconsider when he sees highlights of the 16th, where Garcia was in the middle of the fairway with a one-shot lead and hit his approach into the water to make bogey.

Trying to play it safe after Garcia went into the water on the 16th, Harrington pulled his approach into the bunker and blasted out some 12 feet beyond the cup, leaving himself a putt with about 2 feet of break. He made it for par, then hit 5-iron to 8 feet on the 17th for one of only four birdies there in the final round.

As well as Harrington played, however, Garcia had a hand in his victory.

He chunked a chip short of the par-5 12th green that made him settle for par. His 6-iron to the 15th flew into the cup on the fly and bounced out, leaving him a 10-foot birdie putt that never had a chance. And after answering Harrington with a tee shot to 4 feet on the 17th, he couldn’t match his birdie. Garcia’s putt was left all the way, catching the lip and spinning away.

The other member of the threesome was Charlie Wi, playing in his first major.

“I turned to my caddie on 16 and said, ’God, this is a lot of fun just to watch,”’ said Wi, who shot 74 and tied for ninth.

J.B. Holmes, who had a one-shot lead when he arrived Sunday morning to play the final 36 holes, was one shot behind going into the final round and collapsed in a hurry with an opening triple bogey. He shot 81.

Boo Weekley closed with a 66 to finish at No. 8 in the standings and earn his first trip to the Ryder Cup.

Curtis shot 68 in the morning to finish his third round at 2-under 208 for his first 54-hole lead in a major. He was the only player to reach 4 under on the weekend with a two-putt birdie on No. 6, where the tees were moved up to make the hole play 294 yards. He had three solid par saves on the front, but none on the back when it mattered.

He was tied for lead after a 10-foot birdie on the 14th, but pulled his drive on the 15th and made bogey, then watched his tee shot on the 17th land too hard and roll into a clump of rough behind the green, leading to another bogey.

MORE FROM GOLF

Golf Section Front

Tiger surges into Aussie Masters lead   Kim wins Kiwi Challenge in playoff Opinion: Lefty, rivals might regret tugging Tiger's tail Tiger's aura strong, at least outside the ropes Tour cards at stake in PGA finale at Disney Ochoa's player-of-year status on the line McIlroy joining the US PGA Tour next year Ballesteros receives honorary membership at R&A Faldo receives knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II Latest golf videos Golf Section Front   Add Golf headlines to your news reader: