Padraig Harrington has a death wish at Valderrama.

But relax folks, he's only talking about play-off golf.

The Dubliner wants his Order of Merit showdown with Justin Rose to go right down to a sudden-death play-off on Sunday night.

Paul McGinley could wreck Padraig Harrington's bid to retain the Order of Merit.

Trailing Ernie Els by €217,295, Harrington could have enough to become No 1 again if he shares third place with just one other player.

A three way tie for third would be worth just €206,533 - not be enough to catch Els - and McGinley does not event want to think about the prospect of being the man who costs Harrington his crown.

Red-faced European Tour officials will be praying that Padraig Harrington can win the Order of Merit this week.

There will be blushes all round if Ernie Els hangs on to the No 1 spot as he is not in Valderrama but playing for a fat appearance fee in the clashing $4 million Singapore Open.

Iceman Henrik Stenson wants to "steal" the Order of Merit from Padraig Harrington with a Valderrama victory lap.

Stenson is fourth in the Order of Merit, €510,046 behind absentee leader Ernie Els and just €292,751 behind Harrington.

Padraig Harrington wants to power to Volvo Masters glory - with a set of game improvement irons.

In a shock move, the Dubliner has decided to take the new Wilson Staff Ci7 irons - designed for 10 handicappers - to the toughest course in Europe.

Padraig Harrington will head to Valderrama on a high after holding off Darren Clarke to win the Hassan II Trophy.

The Open champion hit a one over par 74 to finish three clear of Clarke on 12 under par and earn $150,000.

Now Harrington heads to the season-ending Volvo Masters needing to finish third and beat Justin Rose to retain his Order of Merit crown.

Justin Rose insists that the cork oaks of Valderrama will be a bigger rival than Pádraig Harrington when he arrives in Spain for next week’s Volvo Masters and what promises to be a nerve-jangling battle for the European Order of Merit title.

Padraig Harrington and his caddie Ronan Flood are more than just buddies.

They’re like Rodge and Podge, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza or even Dobby the Elf and Harry Potter.

In fact, Harrington made a point of giving Flood a massive share of the credit just minutes after he had lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy as Europe’s No1 for 2006.

Padraig Harrington has a major rival in Graeme McDowell for golf’s top prizes.

That’s the view of Ernie Els’ caddie Ricci Roberts, who carried the bag for the young Ulsterman for three events until Valderrama.

Padraig Harrington could hardly believe he was European No 1.

Striding into the press tent with a smile as broad as the 18th fairway at St Andrews, he grabbed the updated money list and joked: "I need to see the Order of Merit, just to prove it."

Close pal Paul McGinley paid tribute to new European No 1 Padraig Harrington - and his run of good luck.

McGinley said: "Obviously well done and good luck to him. It is obviously well deserved. He got lucky, he knows that but you take your breaks and it is a great achievement and great to win.

Top dog Padraig Harrington racked up the sweetest second place finish of his career in the Volvo Masters to snatch the Order of Merit from Paul Casey.

The Dubliner had suffered the heart-break of the runner’s up spot 29 times in his 11-year professional journey.

But his 30th second place meant more than all the others put together when he stood proudly on the top rung of the European professional golf ladder for the first time.

Super dad Padraig Harrington grabbed the Order of Merit in a heart-stopping finish at Valderrama.

Little son Paddy, 3, watched on TV with Harrington and his mum Caroline in the players’ lounge as Sergio Garcia’s late mistake helped Dad snatch the money title from Paul Casey.

Padraig Harrington admits that he has a mountain to climb if he is to claim the Order of Merit title for the first time at Valderrama today.

Victory in the Volvo Masters would guarantee him a career objective that he rates just below a major title in terms of its importance.

Golf is a numbers game and if Padraig Harrington is to avoid finishing second best in the Order of Merit for the third time in his career he will need to produce some impressive figures of his own at Valderrama today.

Three successive back nine bogeys in a third round 72 saw the Dubliner slither back into a share of 13th place in an event he must win to avoid the need for furious use of the pocket calculator this afternoon.

Prowling Padraig Harrington surged through the field at soggy Valderrama to keep his hopes of winning the Order of Merit very much alive.

The Dubliner carded a brilliant two under par 69 in wet conditions to jump from 30th place overnight into a nine-way tie for ninth place at halfway.

Padraig Harrinton is hoping his Valderrama jinx will not strike again and deny him the Order of Merit title.

Four years ago the Dubliner went into the final event just €23,119 behind Retief Goosen in the race to become European No 1.

At the time, Harrington was the defending champion following his one shto win over Paul McGinley at Montecastillo the previous year.

But it all went wrong at Valderrama where Harrington ran into a bizarre two-shot penalty at the very first hole and ended up carding rounds of 74, 76, 74 and 73 to gift the South African the money title.

Padraig Harrington will be going all out for Order of Merit glory after being squeezed out by just over €25,000 in 2002.

The Dubliner was second in the race in 2001 but only after winning the season-ending Volvo Masters at Montecastillo that year.

But it was even closer in 2002 after a play-off victory in the Dunhill Links Championship put him third in the Order of Merit behind Retief Goosen and Ernie Els.

Strongman Padraig Harrington romped to a five-shot win in the Dunhill Links Championship and blew the Order of Merit race wide open.

The Dubliner cruised to his first win for 15 months by the biggest winning margin of his career to throw down the gauntlet to money leader Paul Casey.