Harrington looking ahead with confidence

Purple reign - Padraig Harrington ended a two-year wait for tour success in MalaysiaPadraig Harrington shook a monkey off his back with his first win for two years and immediately set his sights on a season-ending lucky streak

The Dubliner, 39, confessed he had “the luck of the Irish” as he hit a 69 to cruise to a three-shot victory in the $1.25m Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia for his first tour triumph since the US PGA nearly 800 days ago.

Now he’s hoping his luck has changed after a horror run and he’s gunning to turn a disappointing season into a bumper year by chasing victory in Shanghai, Singapore and Dubai next month.

A clear winner on 20-under par at Horizon Hills, Harrington beamed: “Two years is a long time especially when you’re reminded every week you play. It’s nice and very important for me to go and win.

“It’s somewhat a monkey off your back. Winning is a habit so it’s another good reason to keep winning and get back on track.

“Every time you win is important but when you haven’t won for a while it does add a bit more to it, add a bit more emphasis to it. It makes it all the more memorable.

“It was a good result. I got a lot of breaks. Things went my way all four days. There’s no doubt that it was my week to win.

“If you had followed me for the four days, I don’t think anyone would have questioned that my name was written on the trophy before the tournament started.

“I got the breaks all the way through. Good things happened to me at the right time.

“Luck of the Irish? I’ll accept that. I hit some good shots and at times, the right thing happened at the right time. That’s important when you’re trying to win.”

Harrington will take the next two weeks off but he’s hoping he can kick on when he returns for the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai from November 4 before rounding off his year with the Singapore Open and the Dubai World Championship.

Hoping his fortunes have finally changed after two years of struggles, Harrington added: “It’ll be interesting to see if this gives me a boost for the rest of the season.

“Winning can be a good habit. Maybe I can get another win or two and turn this into a very good year.”

Harrington battled neck problems on Saturday but resisted the temptation to pull out and fired a 68 to surge into a five-shot lead with a round to go.

He then birdied the second, third and fourth to remain well clear and while he bogeyed the fifth, he birdied the 11th, 13th and 14th to kill off his rivals.

South Korean teen sensation Noh Seung-Yul, 19, finished second on 17 under after birdies at the last three holes gave him a brilliant 65.

Harrington bogeyed the 16th and 18th, “showing off” but still won his 26th professional title with ease and a cheque for nearly $200,000 (€141,000).

Harrington said: “It was a pity to bogey two of the last three but it was worth being aggressive, trying to show off a little bit. It didn’t come off but it’s still nice to have that cushion to win the tournament by three shots.”