THERE may be green, white and gold at the top of the Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland leaderboard heading into today’s second round but it belongs to an Indian, not any one of the four Irish Major champions who drew in the big crowds in Killarney yesterday.

NIALL TURNER, the former Muskerry golfer was last night left to rue four bogeys he simply couldn’t afford to concede if he was to come through yesterday’s final qualifying rounds for the British Open Championship.

Graeme McDowell is relishing defending his US Open title next week – despite finishing off the pace at a wet and windy Celtic Manor.

Less than two weeks away from his defence of the US Open title Graeme McDowell suffered the potentially devastating shock of an 81 – the joint worst round of his entire European Tour career – at Celtic Manor today.

WITH new US Open champion Graeme McDowell riding high on a wave of acclaim, he’s been offered some very timely advice from those who have also tasted Majors success.

An Irishwoman, an Englishman and a Welshman are among this year’s Eurovision Song Contest contenders.

A 30-yard chip-in for eagle helped to make former Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley one of the early pacesetters at the Madrid Masters today.

Kim Clijsters admitted winning the US Open a month after coming out of retirement had never been in the script when she decided to return to tennis.

OPEN champion Stewart Cink well remembers the moment Sergio Garcia made his first impression at a major championship, 10 years ago in the PGA Championship at Medinah.

Kim Clijsters made a winning return to the professional circuit today with a 6-4 6-3 success against Marion Bartoli of France at the Women's Open in Cincinnati.

HAVING acquired the services of a new caddie, Dermot Byrne, and with two months on theprofessional circuit behind him, the serious business begins for 3 Irish Open champion Shane Lowry over the coming weeks.

Shane Lowry’s eagerly-awaited professional debut fell miles short of what he was hoping for in the European Open at the London Club today.

The first three hours of the European Open at the London Club had just about everything today – from a hole-in-one to a quadruple bogey nine.

Sergio Garcia and Michael Campbell were wishing they could start all over again within an hour of the European Open getting under way at the London Club today.

There was no doubt who England’s David Horsey thought of first after taking a share of the first-round lead in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth today.

LESS than two months ago Michael Campbell stood 417th in the world and it looked as if we might be witnessing the decline and fall of a once great player.

Colin Montgomerie is not the only star hoping to use this week’s BMW International in Munich as a means of forgetting last week’s US Open.

Newly-crowned Open champion Padraig Harrington will seek the advice of other first-time major winners as he adjusts to a life of intense media scrutiny.

It hurt Paul McGinley so much not to be in the Masters or US Open this year that he could not bring himself to sit in front of a television.

EUROPEAN Tour golf of the highest standard has been a constant in Ireland since 1975 when the Irish Open was revived after a 23 year gap.

Darren Clarke and Jean Van de Velde will be playing partners for the 36-hole US Open qualifying event at Walton Heath in Surrey on Monday.

Paul Lawrie today returned to the scene of his last victory and hauled himself out of a slump before rain suspended play in Wales.

IT meant that Harrington’s three under par total was essentially an unreachable target for the first round leaders; today he goes out in the last match for the first time in eleven Irish Open appearances enjoying a one stroke advantage and with the whole country willing him to complete the operation through the weekend.

Englishman Nick Dougherty’s hopes of consolidating his overnight lead on the third day of the New Zealand Open suffered an early blow.

Australian Scott Strange leads the field in the New Zealand Open in Auckland, battling high winds and heavy rain.

New Zealand golfer Craig Perks will hope for a fresh start on home soil this week after a finishing a disappointing season on the PGA Tour.

An eagle on the 14th hole enables England’s Justin Rose to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the MasterCard Australian Masters at Huntingdale.

Justin Rose recovered in style from a poor finish to his first round to take hold of second place at the halfway point of the MasterCard Australian Masters at Huntingdale.

An absence from golf seems to have done Michael Campbell no harm as he took an early lead at the HSBC Champions after carding a six-under-par 66 on the opening day in Shanghai.

TOMMY HAAS gained revenge for his five-set defeat to Robby Ginepri in the third round of the 2005 US Open by beating the American in another marathon encounter at the same stage 12 months on.

World number nine Sergio Garcia has confirmed he will play at the £2.5m Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship in Germany later this month.

New Zealander Michael Campbell benefited from some fancy footwork from a spectator at the French Open which saved him from a quadruple-bogey eight and ensured he led the tournament heading into the final day.

New Zealander Michael Campbell closed the two-shot gap between himself and long-time French Open leader John Bickerton to leave the pair locked together at 10 under with seven holes to play of the third round.

First-round leader John Bickerton maintained his position at the head of the French Open field but he came under pressure from Scotsman Gary Orr who made a superb charge earlier in the day.

England’s John Bickerton has revealed that a flash of inspiration on the putting green contributed to his holding the lead after the first round of the French Open.

England’s John Bickerton fell just one short of equalling the course record as he posted an eight-under-par 63 to lead the French Open by two strokes.

Sweden’s Joakim Backstrom, whose only European Tour victory came in France, found himself leading the French Open early in the first round.

Tiger Woods heads a talented 16-man field for this week’s Target World Challenge which begins at the Sherwood Country Club in California today.

THE lesson of Pinehurst is self evident for Europe’s top golfers - if Michael Campbell can win the US Open, so can we.

South African Rory Sabbatini has issued an apology for his extraordinary behaviour at the Booz Allen Classic in Maryland on Sunday.