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Harrington rolls back years for Portugal win

Irish golfer Padraig Harrington drives on tee 1 during the last round of Portugal Masters on October 23, 2016

Padraig Harrington defied defending champion Andy Sullivan to win the Portugal Masters on Sunday for his first European Tour title in eight years. The three-time major winner, 45, refused to cave in under pressure to card a closing bogey-free 65 to get to 23 under and hold off the charging Englishman Sullivan by one shot. The semi-retired Anders Hansen and Finn Mikko Korhonen -- who secured his playing privileges after starting the week 116th on the Race to Dubai -- were tied third in Vilamoura. "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," the veteran Irishman Harrington said. "There's so many Irish people here. It always felt like a home away from home, so it's really nice to win the tournament." Harrington, who was languishing down in 159th in the world rankings coming into the tournament but could now burst back into the top 100, added: "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. No matter where I hit it, I felt like I could get it up and down." The victory takes Harrington's European Tour tally to 15 wins and moves him to tied 15th on the all-time list.