Padraig Harrington produced a stunning finish to his third round to roar into contention for a fourth Major at The Masters Tournament.

The Irishman was one over for the tournament after bogeying the first, but five birdies in the last six saw him sign for a 68 and four under total with a round to play.

“I did need it to get into contention but it’s the kind of back nine you dream of having on Sunday at The Masters,” said the former Open and US PGA Champion.

“I knew I had to do something. You can’t leave it all for Sunday, you’ve got to do some of the work today and four under is a nice score as long as the leaders don’t get away. 

“I’ve had a good attitude to my golf during the week and I’ll keep working hard. I’ve had a good attitude to my short game.”

Harrington hopes to put his Major experience to good use on Sunday, as he attempts to track down the likes of Peter Hanson and Phil Mickelson.

“It's been a couple of years, as I said, I've won more Majors than anybody else in the last five years,” he added. “It's been a while, but not really, when it comes to Majors.  If you want to look at any multiple Major winner, look at the time frame over when they won their Majors.

“People have it in their head that they all won one a year or something like that. Some guys, winning them over 20 years, and certainly most guys ten, 12 years. So I have no problem that I have not won a Major in the last couple of years.  I'm quite happy to be sitting on three.

“When you think about it, there's only two guys playing the game who have won more Majors than me [Mickelson and Tiger Woods].  So it's hard to be disappointed that I didn't win after winning three that I haven't won one a year since then. It just doesn't work like that in golf - it's all about cycles.

“Obviously I'm chasing - it's not going to be the end of the world. It's not like I've got a big lead going out there and I have to hold on to it tomorrow. If it goes well, it goes well; if it doesn't, it doesn't. It's not a big deal.”