Top 12 finishes for Power and Harrington as Hovland and Pieters triumph

Viktor Hovland of Norway. Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Pádraig Harrington and Seamus Power are feeling upbeat about the week ahead after clinching top 12 finishes on opposite sides of the pond.

As Power finished 11th behind Norway’s Viktor Hovland in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba to move to a career high of 89th in the world, Harrington boosted his chances of qualifying for the DP World Tour Championship for the first time since 2016 by finishing tied 12th behind Thomas Pieters in the Portugal Masters.

“It’s a step up the mountain,” Harrington conceded after a four-under 67 left him nine shots behind Pieters on 10-under in Vilamoura, catapulting him to 58th in the Race to Dubai standings with only the top 50 after this week’s AVIV Dubai Championship making next week’s $9 million Dubai finale.

“It’s obviously not enough, I think I needed a top six to make the top 50, but it leaves me less work to do next week.”

Harrington followed a birdie at the fifth with a double-bogey six at the seventh before racing home in five-under 31 with the highlight an eagle three from 40 feet at the 12th.

Belgian Pieters (29) claimed his fifth European Tour title and his first since 2019 when he fired a three-under 68 to win by two shots from France’s Matthieu Pavon and Danish duo Lucas Bjerregaard (66) and Nicolai Højgaard (64) on 19-under.

Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell shot 68 to finish 26th on seven-under but fell one spot to 98th in the Race to Dubai.

Meanwhile, Waterford star Power (34) made five birdies in a three-under 68 to finish tied 11th on 14-under par, nine strokes behind Norway’s Viktor Hovland at El Camaleon in Mexico.

Hovland (24) successfully defended his title, closing with a four-under 67 to win by four shots from Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz on 23-under with Barbasol Championship winner Power pleased with his ninth top-20 this year.

“Overall, it was a good week,” said Power, who will be joined in this week’s Houston Open by Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell. “I didn’t get the low round that you needed to keep up with some of the low scores, but it’s another good solid week back-to-back, another top 15.”

“I have a couple of things to tidy up next Tuesday and Wednesday to be good to go in Houston, but the game is in a good spot. It’s nice to see two decent finishes in a row, so it’s encouraging.”

Meanwhile, Michael Hoey finished 39th in the final Road to Mallorca rankings to secure Category 21 membership of the European Tour after a closing 73 left him tied 33rd on four-over in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca.

Dane Marcus Helligkilde (25) won the Road to Mallorca Rankings with the top 20 receiving strong European Tour cards.

He shot a one-over 72 to secure his third win of the season by one shot from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, Germany’s Yannick Paul and French duo Frederic Lacroix and Julien Brun on eight-under at T Golf & Country Club.