International Open: It's unlikely Padraig Harrington will commission any painting of the 18th hole here at the Eichenried course north of Munich, where yesterday the Dubliner suffered yet another runner-up finish - the 29th of his career - in the BMW International Open.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson claimed the title with an eagle at the first hole of a three-way play-off that featured Harrington and South Africa's Retief Goosen.

Golf is surely a fickle mistress, as emphasised by the manner of Stenson's eventual victory, when his slightly pulled approach to the first tie hole seemed destined to miss the green.

All champions, though, need a touch of luck, and rather than nestle in the greenside rough, Stenson's ball jumped out of the grass and onto the green, where it trundled to within four feet of the hole.

When the Swede sank the eagle putt, that was that; and he had grabbed his second win of the season.

Stenson shot a final round 68 for 273, 15 under par, to join Goosen - who had eagled his 72nd hole, hitting a superb iron approach to 15 feet - on that mark, while Harrington, in the final pairing alongside overnight leader David Howell, finished with a 69.

Howell missed out on a place in the play-off when, ironically, given his reputation as probably the best putter on the European Tour, he missed a two-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

Harrington, though, had a great chance to win the title in regulation. All day, he had holed important putts, some for birdies, others for par.

His only bogey had come on the 10th where he pulled his drive into the drain that runs down the left of the fairway.

But he responded with birdies on the 11th and 15th, and then made a fine par save on the 17th from 10 feet to ensure he held the initiative on the 18th tee.

At that stage, Harrington was on 15 under par, the same mark as Stenson and Goosen who had reached the safety of the clubhouse. Harrington, who last won on tour in the Barclays Classic 15 months ago, knew a birdie on the last, a relatively short, dogleg par five of 568 yards, would secure him the title, an overdue success.

What happened on the 72nd hole, however, would test the patience of a saint.

"I hit three perfect golf shots and none of them came off," he was later to reflect.

What happened was this: his drive, seemingly perfect in flight, finished an inch off the fairway, behind a tuft of rough. It was a five-iron distance but, because of the lie, Harrington went with his rescue club. Again, in flight, it looked perfect, only to kick into a greenside bunker on the right.

"A foot left, a foot short or a foot bigger and it is up the back of the green and it is an easy pitch and putt (for birdie)," he remarked.

Instead, Harrington was left with a 40-yard bunker shot, one of the toughest shots in the game. Again, he seemed to hit the perfect shot, only for the ball to release forward and run 12 feet by the hole.

Still, with a birdie putt to win, destiny was very much in his own hands.

But he missed the putt, and so found himself in the play-off with Stenson and Goosen.

Back to the 18th tee, and Harrington was the only one not to find the fairway, pulling it left. Goosen found the green in two, but Stenson, next to play, got that massive break when his approach jumped out of the rough to four feet from the cup.

"When you're winning, you can have that little bit of luck," said Stenson.

Harrington's approach from the rough finished in a bunker short and left of the green, from where he played a fine shot to two feet. But when Goosen missed his long eagle putt and Stenson rolled in his, victory was the Swede's.

"It is very disappointing," said Harrington, who had jumped into contention with a third-round 64 on Saturday.

"I wasn't even close to swinging the club well and I could have done a lot of things better. But look, I tied the lead and wasn't anywhere near as good as I could be, so that's a positive."