Weekend winners: Harrington ends eight-year wait and Thomas defends

European Tour: Portugal Masters – Padraig Harrington

A first win on the European Tour in eight years for Harrington as he pipped defending champion Andy Sullivan by a shot.

The Dubliner’s last win on Tour came at the PGA Championship – he won the Honda Classic in the States last year – and he did it with a closing 65 to finish at 23 under. His aggregate of 261 was the lowest of the season, beating Francesco Molinari in Italy by one.

Harrington was three shots back at one point on Sunday but holed a bunker shot at the 11^th to start a run of three birdies in four holes, added another at 17 and got up and down at the last to sneak home.

Anders Hansen, now semi retired, was tied for third alongside Finn Mikko Korhonen who needed a top-25 finish to secure his card. Oli Fisher also retained his card, in his ninth start in 11 weeks, after a 64 moved him up to 100^th but Graeme Storm bogeyed the 72^nd hole to miss out by €100.

Padraig Harrington needed just 100 putts this week.

That's 6 fewer than anyone else. pic.twitter.com/F2yukjBQpb

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 23, 2016

What Harrington said: “I haven’t won yet this year, and I knew the year was nearly done, so it’s always important to get a win every year. It’s a big win, the Portugal Masters is a big tournament. I’ve been coming here for 10 years, so I’ve always liked it down here.

“There’s so many Irish people here. It’s always felt like a home away from home, so it’s really nice to win the tournament. I tried to be really aggressive. The 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.”

Padraig Harrington is a winner again!#PortugalMasters https://t.co/CwVFjMWcDn

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 23, 2016

PGA Tour: CIMB Classic – Justin Thomas

The American began the day four shots behind Anirban Lahiri and ended it a three-shot winner to defend his title in Malaysia.

Thomas shot a 64, five birdies on the front nine and three on the back, to get the better of Hideki Matsuyama (66) with Lahiri tied for third with Derek Fathauer.

Thomas’ week was almost faultless – he opened 64-66 but then dropped four shots in three holes and, despite finishing with five straight birdies, he had lost what looked like valuable ground to the Indian.

Lahiri had a very strange final day, running up a nine at the 3^rd after his drive got stuck in a tree, followed that with a birdie and eagle and signed for a 72.

Game … set … #QuickHits https://t.co/n9fZrk2FZh

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 23, 2016

What Thomas said: “I feel like I just need to continue to build on this momentum and try to use this as kind of a springboard to the start of the year. To try to move up in the world rankings and get in that top 10, get in that top five.”

European Senior Tour: Italian Open – Stephen Dodd

A first Welsh 1-2 on the Senior Tour as Dodd beat Phillip Price by a shot after closing with a level-par 71.

Dodd, who only made his Senior debut in July, dropped four shots in his first 10 holes but then got his game together with birdies at 13 and 16 and then rolled in a 15-footer at the last for victory.

Price turned 50 on the first day of the tournament also birdied the last to claim second place on his own.

WINNER: Stephen Dodd is the winner of the 2016 Senior Italian Open Presented by Villaverde Resort with a score of nine under par #ItalianSO pic.twitter.com/Zp5BoyIeMq

— European Senior Tour (@EuroSeniorTour) October 23, 2016

What Dodd said: “It was a bit strange really. I didn’t play too badly on the front nine, I just missed a lot of putts. But I had a decent finish which put me over the line, thankfully.

“I hit a lot of good shots but missed everything I looked at. That was the problem, but then I holed a nice one on the last when it really mattered. One of my goals at the start of the year was win this season and I’ve achieved that.”