Padraig Harrington's chances of finishing atop this season's European golf rankings took a severe hit Thursday when he shot a 7-over 77 in the first round of the Mallorca Open.
The Irishman was 11 shots behind early leaders Niclas Fasth of Sweden, Andrew McLardy of South Africa and Ireland's Gary Murphy, who had 4-under 66s.
Phillip Archer of England and Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina were two shots off the lead after rounds of 68.
Harrington, who trails England's Paul Casey in the race for the Order of Merit title, endured a miserable round that included a triple-bogey on the par-4 seventh. He shot 41 on the front nine.
``I didn't play very well at all and a change of wind direction from what I had practised in put some doubt in my mind,'' Harrington said. ``I made a few bad swings and it knocked me off my stride. I'll go out and try tomorrow but I can't say I'm full of confidence.''
Harrington trails Casey by US$274,591, with only the Mallorca Open and next week's season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama left to play.
Victory here would take Harrington to the top of the list, but he's now in danger of missing the cut. He would need to finish in the top three at Valderrama to have a chance of overtaking Casey.
Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal also had a bad day, shooting 78 to stand 12 shots off the early leaders. The Spaniard took a 9 on the 17th after hitting two balls out of bounds.
``I hit the ball awfully so there can be no excuses,'' the Spaniard said.
The top 60 on the money list after the Mallorca Classic qualify to play at the Volvo Masters, while the top 118 retain their playing cards for next year.
