Italian Pavan denies Harrington to win Czech Masters

26 August 2018: Italy's Andrea Pavan chased down three-time major champion Padraig Harrington in a gripping final-round tussle to win his maiden European Tour title at the Czech Masters on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, ranked 253 in the world, made five birdies on the back nine to card a 67 and reach 22-under par for the tournament, edging out Ireland's Harrington by two shots.

"I can't believe it to be honest," he said. "You know when you go against great players you have to stay aggressive and thats what I did. I want to enjoy this success because it's very difficult to achieve."

Harrington led by two shots after a birdie at the par-three 13th, but a bogey two holes later, just his second of the week, proved costly as Pavan rolled in a string of late birdie putts to stretch clear.

He made a simple par on the final green to secure his maiden top-level victory, after four previous wins on the second-tier Challenge Tour.

The 46-year-old Harrington, who lost his PGA Tour card earlier this month, ran out of steam in the closing holes and has still only claimed one European Tour title since his last major crown at the 2008 PGA Championship.

Malaysian Gavin Green finished five strokes behind Pavan in third as he missed a series of putts and failed to get into contention.

European Ryder Cup hopefuls Thomas Pieters and Eddie Pepperell ended in a nine-way tie for ninth on 12-under.