A BESPECTACLED Padraig Harrington saw his chances of a fourth place on his own in the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Sun City, thwarted by bad light last night and the Stackstown youngster will have to hope one bad decision does not eventually cost him a Ryder Cup place.

That decision, one also faced by the eight-shot winner at the Gary Player course, Zimbabwe's Nick Price, was whether to come in for bad light or play on.

Harrington took the latter course of action - and probably cost himself about 8,000 Ryder Cup points.

With light so bad he had to don his glasses at the 16th to desperately try to read the greens, Harrington bogeyed the last two holes, missing putts of four or five feet each time.

That amounted to a round of three-over-par 75 - also spoiled by a bad start when he dropped two shots in the first four holes - and an aggregate of nine-under-par in comparison to Price's 20-under-par to beat David Frost by eight and Ryder Cup rival Thomas Bjorn by nine strokes.

"With hindsight, I should have picked up and come back tomorrow," admitted Harrington, who started five strokes behind Price as the Zimbabwean former World number one's nearest overnight challenger and final-day playing-partner. But who would have wanted to bring everybody back in the morning for a couple of putts? Certainly not a 25-year-old in a strange country.

"I really feel for Padraig," said Price, pocketing the £63,000 first prize. "We were asked if we wanted to go on at the 16th and we both said we would. I could see fine. I think Padraig was only being polite, though."

Harrington's politeness, it is to be hoped, will not prove a Valderrama forfeit in September. He had looked nervy and confessed to being ill-at-ease with greens which crusted up like marble on a hot and humid day and immediately took himself out of the running for catching Price. Bogeys on the third and fourth dropped him back but then he showed fighting qualities to get himself back into a chance of a good points haul.

His first act in that process was to chip in from the fringe of the long ninth after perishing in the hazard by trying to go for the flag in the most awkward spot. That saved par and when he birdied the 14th he was on for a chance of sharing third place and certainly making fourth on his own. Then the bad light put paid to the shortsighted Harrington's hopes at the death.

Consolation did come, however, in a move of two places up the table to 12th. Paul McGinley, too, made progress to 30th on the table, by picking up 6,263 points for a share of 11th place with a 70 to finish six-under, two better than Des Smyth, whose 72 earned him £4,727.

Eamonn Darcy had the best finish of all the surviving Irishmen, carding 69 for two-under to pick up £3,859.

Price finished with a 69 for 268 in a tournament that he has used to sharpen himself for his US campaign. "My obvious target is to add to my three majors," said Price who overcame a nagging sinus condition.

Price was low-key about the format of this European Tour-sanctioned event which mixes amateurs and professionals for all four days of tournament play. "I can tell you I had to use every bit of patience out there today with the breaks and the pace of play. I was tested to my max by the finish," he said.