Harrington back from 42-day wilderness

PADRAIG HARRINGTON was pleased with his first round five-under 66 in the Malaysian Open yesterday after a nine-week winter break when he went an unprecedented 42 days without even touching a golf club.

“I’m delighted,” said the Dubliner, who won his final two tournaments of last year, the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan and the Target World Challenge, beating tournament host Tiger Woods by two shots in the latter.

Harrington finished the day at the Mines Resort in Kuala Lumpur four shots behind leaders Arjun Atwal of India and Swede Fredrik Andersson.