Capping off a great weekend for Irish sport, Padraig Harrington's long wait for a return to winning ways came to an end today in typically dramatic fashion.

The 42-year-old booked his place at this year's Masters with a playoff win at the Honda Classic.

"He's a guy that you can never write off. He digs deep, he's got a lot of courage. It's a fantastic victory for him and puts him back in the big time," said European Ryder Cup vice -captain Des Smyth on Off The Ball tonight.

Golf writer Lawrence Donegan also joined us on the show and said that "people are so happy about this because this is one of golf's really good guys", adding that the Dubliner's honesty about his game and mindset is compelling.

Smyth feels Harrington is seeing a level of belief that helped him to three major titles.

"I felt the way he was talking himself up, if he believed it, I always felt he could do it. I'm not saying I'm not a little bit surprised because I am. When I looked in during the day, he'd gone from 7-under to 3 and lost his lead. But then he had his four birdies in a row. You could see the determination in his face, like the old Padraig. You look into the eyes and he believes he can win. And when he gets a chance, he keeps coming up."

Donegan also believes that Harrington is "not an outlandish candidate for the Masters". 

I wasn't sure I'd be holding this when I hit in the big lake behind in real time. pic.twitter.com/FFtKX2UrD6

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) March 2, 2015