Monday 2 March 2015 19:36, UK
Padraig Harrington believes he has regained his mental strength after ending a seven year winless run on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic.
Harrington secured a first success since the 2008 PGA Championship by defeating American rookie Daniel Berger in a second hole play-off, after heavy rain over the weekend forced the tournament into an extra day.
The Irishman had dropped to 297th in the world rankings, but victory on the Florida Swing moves Harrington back in to the top 100 and also secures him a place at next month's Masters.
The 43-year-old has struggled in recent seasons and famously changed his swing shortly after winning three majors in 13 months, but the two-time Open champion believes his recent problems have been mental.
"Hopefully this isn't an isolated win," he told Sky Sports 4. "I really do believe in myself. I think I've found that mental edge that I've been lacking the last number of years.
"Hopefully I'll be able to stick with that going forward and be consistently contending because I know if I am contending I can win.
"When I get in contention I can hit the shots. The problem has been actually when I'm starting the week, middle of the road shots, easy shots, I'm just not hitting them. When I've got tough shots I can hit them."
Near miss
Rookie Daniel Berger came from nine strokes behind to force a play-off, narrowly missing out on a maiden PGA Tour title.
Berger fired a six-under final round 64 but saw his hopes dashed when his tee-shot at the second extra play-off hole find the water, although was still proud of his performance.
"If you told me I was going to finish solo second when the week started, I'd probably have taken it," the 21-year-old said. "Right now, I am not as happy as I wish I was.
"I kind of knew that noone was really going to run away with it just because it's playing so tough, so I tried to give myself as many opportunities for birdie as I could.
"I think this week shows with the depth of the field and how many great players there are, that I can compete with the best in the world. I know this won't be the last chance that I have to win."
Wasted chance
Despite finding the water a remarkable five times during his four-over final round 74, Ian Poulter still only finished one-shot of Harrington and Berger as others also faltered.
Beginning the extra day as joint-leader and reaching the turn two strokes clear, dropped two shots at the 11th before a triple-bogey at the 14th killed off any chances of a first PGA Tour title in three years.
It's back to the drawing board," Poulter said. "If I hit a soft shot, I have a tendency of pushing it. Soft shots have got me into a lot of trouble this week.
"It's just bitterly disappointing (after I) put myself in the position I had. A couple loose shots has cost me this tournament. I've handed one away this week and it's going to hurt."
