Padraig Harrington back in golf's top 100 after Portugal Masters victory
Padraig Harrington's win at the Portugal Masters has lifted him back inside the top 100 in the world.
The 45-year-old won on the European tour for the first time in eight years at the weekend and it's moved from 159th to 97th in the rankings.
Padraig Harrington is a winner again!#PortugalMasters https://t.co/CwVFjMWcDn
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 23, 2016
The victory has sealed his place at the European tour final series including the Turkish Airlines Open, the Nedbank Challenge and the DP World tour championship in Dubai.
The Irishman produced a closing bogey-free 65 to win. He came into the final day in Vilamoura trailing overnight leaders Anders Hansen and Mikko Korhonen by a shot but it was defending champion Andy Sullivan who emerged as his nearest challenger.
Sullivan won the event by nine shots last season and made a big charge once again, picking up birdies on four of his first five holes on his way to a 22 under par total.
Harrington found himself three shots off the lead at one point but after turning in 33, a holed bunker shot on the 11th sparked a run of three birdies in four holes to move him ahead.
Sullivan joined him at the summit with a birdie on the 17th but Harrington repeated the feat on the par five and held his nerve down the last after getting a fortunate bounce off a spectator gallery.
The win is Harrington's 15th on the European Tour and his first since he won his third major at the US PGA Championship in 2008. His last win on the PGA Tour came at the Honda Classic in March last year.
"I haven't won yet this year, so I know the year is nearly done, it's always important to get a win every year, a winning year," he told www.europeantour.com.
"It's a big win. Portugal Masters is a big tournament. I've been coming here for 10 years so I've always liked it down here. I've always liked coming down to Portugal.
"I tried to be really aggressive. The golf course suited me and I just tried to go after every pin I could and make birdies. I have a pretty good short game that was on form this week."
Semi-retired Dane Anders Hansen and Finn Mikko Korhonen were tied for third at 21 under, with English duo Robert Rock and Chris Paisley, and Scot Paul Lawrie in the group a further shot back.
This was the final week for players to get into the top 111 in the Race to Dubai and keep their cards for next season, with Korhonen, England's Oliver Fisher and Australian Jason Scrivener knocking England's Eddie Pepperell, Scot Craig Lee and South African Zander Lombard out of a spot.
