Five Irish golfers, Waterville’s David Higgins, Ulstermen Chris Devlin and Gareth Shaw, Dubliner Niall Kearney and Yorkshire-born Simon Thornton, will be among a group of 150 hopefuls seeking 25 places on the 2013 European Tour when the final Tour School takes place over six days at the Catalunya complex near Barcelona beginning next Saturday.

Several Irish golfers, including Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington, Shane Lowry and Peter Lawrie, have a great deal to play for in the three season-ending tournaments on the European Tour — this week’s Barclays Singapore Open followed by the Hong Kong Open and the Dubai World Championship.

Life gets better and better for Shane Lowry.

There was a time when professional golf went into hibernation for a good six months with the arrival of October.

With Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke now neck and neck favourites to captain the European Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles in 2014, and Shane Lowry winning his first tournament as a professional in Portugal, the game in Ireland has certainly been in the news over the last week or so.

Europe’s sensational victory in the Ryder Cup was seen as a massive boost for the under pressure European Tour.

It was a comeback that has already established itself among the most astonishing in the annals of sport and must have come as a relief to victorious European captain Jose-Maria Olazabal, who would have serious questions to address had his side have been wiped.

American hopes of regaining the Ryder Cup at Medinah received a major boost with Brandt Snedeker’s victory in the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship while European pair Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood faded.

By Sunday night, Rory McIlroy may well be one of the wealthiest people in world golf.

All 12 of the US Ryder Cup team have qualified for next week’s Tour Championship, the final tournament on the PGA Tour’s lucrative FedEx Cup play-off series, but it’s a safe bet Europe’s Jose-Maria Olazabal was the slightly the happier of the two captains after events in Indiana and the Netherlands over the weekend.