Pádraig Harrington: I’m excited to be back. It’s like I’m playing my first Masters

Pádraig Harrington will roll back up Magnolia Drive next week having admitted it was a shock to have missed last year’s Masters.

The three-time major champion booked his ticket to the opening major of the year with a long-awaited PGA Tour victory at last month’s Honda Classic in Florida. It dragged Harrington out of a slump that saw him drop to 371st in the Official World Golf Rankings and fail to qualify for Augusta National for the first time since his debut there in 2000.

That play-off win over Daniel Berger was the Dubliner’s first on the PGA Tour since he claimed the 2008 PGA Championship, his third and most recent major. What has followed since has been plenty of tinkering with his swing and putting woes that saw him steadily slide down the rankings.