Padraig Harrington is approaching the new year with renewed optimism that he can regain his place at golf's head table.

Harrington will fly out to South Africa later this week to put the finishing touches to his 2012 preparations ahead of a busy run of four tournaments in five weeks that he hopes will set the tone for his 2012 season.

The Dubliner failed to register a victory last year as he battled to come to terms with changes in his swing and his world ranking suffered as a result, slipping to 84th in the standings.

But Harrington, who will launch his season at the Volvo Champions event next week, revealed that he is pleased with how he has been playing during the winter and is anxious to put his hard work to the test in competitive action.

He told the Irish Times: "I've been hard at work (over the winter) and itching to see if all the work has paid off . . . towards the end of last year, I felt I was regaining my consistency and was feeling more comfortable with my game.

"Hopefully it will all come together at the Volvo as it is a title I would love to add to my CV and it would enable me to get the season off to a good start."

Harrington's early season schedule will see him play the Volvo Champions event at Fancourt before heading on to Abu Dhabi at the end of the month.

The three-time Major winner will then take a week's break before flying out to America to play successive events on the PGA Tour - at Pebble Beach and the Los Angeles Open - in an attempt to move back into the top 64 and claim a place at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Harrington is 66/1 to win the first major of the year, the Masters, while he is 40/1 to win another British Open.

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