A little sooner than he would probably have preferred after his British Open meltdown, Adam Scott renews rivalry with Ernie Els in this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

With the top two spots on the leaderboard held by a South African and an Australian, the British Open provided considerable food for thought for the rival Ryder Cup captains Davis Love III and Jose-Maria Olazabal.

Zach Johnson won a play-off for the John Deere Classic on the US PGA Tour on Sunday when he drilled a six-iron from a fairway bunker to within 12 inches of the cup.

Irish golf fans are keeping a close eye on our links courses this week to see if any of the game’s finest pay a visit ahead of next week’s British Open.

Despite his many fine performances in recent weeks, including top 10 finishes in the Masters along with the US and Irish Opens, Pádraig Harrington is still a long way off clinching one of the automatic 10 places in Europe’s Ryder Cup team to face the United States at Medinah in October.

Disappointment has been expressed at the announcement that the 2016 British Open is going to Troon, passing over the claims of Royal Portrush.

Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell both needed a birdie at the 18th at Olympic on Sunday to force a US Open play-off.

Not surprisingly, given the victory in the Memorial tournament, the bookmakers have installed Tiger Woods a 7/1 favourite for this week’s US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Tiger Woods, fist pump and all, is back with a vengeance after his thrilling fifth victory in the Jack Nicklaus Memorial tournament in Ohio.

The big guns of Irish golf will contest this week’s BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship tournament, at Wentworth.