Harrington turns attention to Masters qualification
The 2017 Masters at Augusta National are now firmly in Padraig Harrington's sights after returning to winning ways on the European Tour
Padraig Harrington has set his sights on earning his place at the 2017 Masters after ending an eight-year wait for tournament victory on the European Tour at the Portugal Masters.
Not since his co-sanctioned US PGA Championship in 2008 has the Irishman claimed a tournament victory, but a stunning 65 on Sunday changed all that.
Harrington was bogey-free in his fourth round to finish on 23-under for the week, one shot clear of defending champion Andy Sullivan - the pair having battled right to the last hole for the title.
Having holed from the bunker at 11, Harrington hit the front at the 14th and went on to secure his win with a birdie at the penultimate hole before a par at the last.
And with the victory providing valuable ranking points the 45-year-old will now turn his attention to securing a place at Augusta National next year.
"The biggest thing for me now is that I'm not in the Masters and I have to figure out what's my best chance of getting in there, whether it's world ranking points or its order of merit," he told the European Tour website.
"I feel like I'm playing well, I just going to have to re-examine all those things."
Harrington was pleased his aggressive approach in Vilamoura paid off, the three-time major winner revealing he never felt in trouble throughout the four rounds.
He added: "I was very comfortable around the greens this week and that allowed me to be very aggressive to the pins, so pretty much all week I just went after every pin because I just felt great around the greens.
"This type of rough and the texture of the greens, I didn't feel there was anywhere I could be short sighted."