A day for movers and shakers. A day for demonstrative, unreserved Swedes and cool, collected Spaniards. PerUlrik Johansson, the Swede, performed a mini-strip and tossed his orange shirt into the crowd to acknowledge his feat in retaining the Smurfit European Open crown at The K Club yesterday.

But, with the Ryder Cup looming, Jose-Maria Olazabal's calm acceptance of a job well done was equally impressive. At the expense of Padraig Harrington, Olazabal, with one more qualifying event left, this week's BMW International in Munich, moved into what is effectively the last automatic place on Europe's team.

Harrington will fly out to Germany tomorrow knowing he is headed for the last-chance saloon in terms of making the team. A disappointing 50th place at The K Club - earning him 3,825 points - meant he slipped to 12th in the Ryder Cup table, some 21,944 points behind Olazabal, who is in 11th position. Yes, on a day of moving and shaking, Harrington was the big loser in a Ryder Cup context.

If Olazabal retains that 11th position, he will have done a mighty favour for Europe's captain, Seve Ballesteros, who is anxious for his compatriot to play his way into automatic selection so that "wild cards" can be handed to US Tour card-holders Nick Faldo and Jesper Parnevik.

Because of a wrist injury which rules out Miguel Angel Martin (who currently holds down 10th place), 11th place would be sufficient - and Olazabal is heading directly to Munich in a bid to finish off the job, using the occasion to re-visit his German doctor to assess his foot problem.

"I won't have a problem playing 36 holes a day in the Ryder Cup, if I am there, but I still have a problem with the third toe on my right foot and I'd like my doctor to have a look. I haven't seen him since after the Italian Open in May," said Olazabal, who had a final round 65 for 14 under par 274, which gave him tied-third place, some seven shots behind runaway winner Johansson.

The task ahead of Harrington is a tough one. Some players, notably Philip Walton and Paul Broadhurst, were critical of Ballesteros's behind-the-scene manoeuvres which had him play with the Dubliner for the opening two rounds. The feeling was it put extra, undeserved pressure on the Dubliner. Still, Harrington, professional as ever, said: "Now that I am the one doing the chasing, perhaps it will help me."

Indeed, Harrington may take some inspiration from the last day shenanigans of the qualifying campaign in 1991, where Eamonn Darcy proved to be the fall guy. Darcy, in seventh place before the last qualifying event, the German Open, stayed at home convinced he had made the team, but was leapfrogged by Paul Broadhurst, David Gilford and Sam Torrance, losing out by 52.26 points. However, Harrington may require a top-five finish in Munich to make the team.

Meanwhile, Johansson wouldn't mind if The K CLub was awarded the Ryder Cup at some future date. The Swede demonstrated his love for the venue by retaining the title he won last year, producing a 69 yesterday, his fourth successive round in the 60s, to romp home.

Indeed, there will be few such brilliant performances as Johansson's (his 21 under par total was the lowest on the European Tour this season) to go as unrecognised, mainly due to the shadow of the Ryder Cup and Olazabal's feat yesterday. Still, Johansson, who also copperfastened his ticket for Valderrama, moving to fifth place in the Ryder Cup list, savoured the moment. "With four holes to go, the thought crossed my mind, `is it possible to lose this tournament?'. Then, I told myself not to be so stupid."

"To perform this way as defending champion was magnificent. To play in front of such a brilliant crowd. I wish every week could be like this."