Ohio is the birthplace of golf’s most famous son Jack Nicklaus, so it was a fitting stage for Shane Lowry to “come of age” in winning one of the game’s most prestigious titles, the Bridgestone World Golf Championship on Sunday night. 

It turned out to be a day too far for the Irish at St Andrews yesterday.

It is very hard to accurately describe what we witnessed yesterday from Pádraig Harrington and Paul Dunne in St Andrews.

No doubt Dustin Johnson slept soundly on Thursday night. 

You could hardly blame the morning half of the draw for taking absolute advantage of what was probably the easiest St Andrews test I have witnessed in my lifetime.

Pedigree

Every year around this time our neighbours across the Irish Sea treat the sporting world to a bonanza of world class events like the British Grand Prix, Wimbledon and the Open Championship.

You would be forgiven for not recognising many of the players on top of the leaderboard going into the Irish Open final round yesterday.

When Rory McIlroy pushed his second shot wide on the 15th hole, his reaction said it all.

The buzz around the media centre yesterday left you in no doubt as to the status of the Irish Open, with a who’s who of golf gracing the interview room in quick succession.