DROITWICH golfer John Bickerton earned £8,290 in prize-money after finishing joint 58th at the Dunhill Links Championship.

Bickerton ended with rounds of 71 at Carn-oustie and 72 at St Andrew's for a three-under-par total of 285, 16 shots adrift of winner Padraig Harrington.

Hereford's David Park missed the cut, made after three rounds, after a 72 at St Andrew's left him five over.

For the second successive year the European Order of Merit looks like ending with Retief Goosen and Harrington occupying the top two spots.

But after winning the massive £514,000 top prize at the Dunhill links championship at St Andrews yesterday, Harrington, one of the Ryder Cup heroes a week ago, goes into the last month of the race entertaining real hopes of finishing ahead of Goosen this time.

The Dubliner's victory, at the second hole of a sudden death play-off with Eduardo Romero, did not actually change his position in the money list table.

He still lies third, but now he has £1.4million to his name and is only £4,000 behind Ernie Els and £33,000 behind Goosen.

For a reason that has nothing to do with golf, Els appears out of the running.

The Open champion missed the final round over the Old Course after receiving a call at 6.30am that his wife Liezl had gone into labour.

The couple's second child, a boy this time, arrived four hours later and it was only thanks to the fact that he had a private jet waiting that Els arrived in time for the birth.