Thousand Oaks, Calif. ? Two holes into the final round, Padraig Harrington extended his lead to eight strokes over Tiger Woods and then braced for the worst Sunday in the Target World Challenge.

“I knew Tiger would come at me,” Harrington said. “I heard someone say on No. 13, ‘Oh, Tiger is in his head.’ I’m thinking, ‘He’s been in there all day.”‘

Harrington had no idea the most crucial mistakes would belong to Woods.

In an exciting end to the silly season, Harrington let Woods back into contention with a double bogey on the 14th hole, then watched the world’s No. 1 player fall apart with two bad swings that allowed the Irishman to escape with a two-shot victory.

Harrington closed with a 1-under 71 and won $1 million, the biggest payoff in his career.

“That’s like winning the lottery in Ireland,” Harrington said.

Harrington finished at 268 and won for the third time in the last two months. He also won the Dunhill Links Championship, the richest event on the European tour; and the Asian Open two weeks ago, the first tournament of the 2003 European tour schedule.

This victory doesn’t count in the record books, although it should go a long way in reminding Harrington that he can compete against the best.

“I count it,” Harrington said. “Against Tiger? Yes. Against a world-class field? Yes.”