Cormac Sharvin knows it is only human to think about it but the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open’s leading Irishman is determined to not let thoughts of a place in this month’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush interfere with the business at hand.

Padraig Harrington shot a superb opening day seven-under 63 to shoot to the summit of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open leaderboard on Thursday evening and if it looked easy then it was.

On Tuesday at the 101st PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka served Miyazaki beef imported from Japan, roasted Long Island duck and branzino filet for the main course at his PGA champions dinner.

Fresh from recording his best result on the Challenge Tour, Conor O’Rourke tees it up in Portugal this morning as his bid to earn a European Tour card begins at qualifying school.

Richard McEvoy claimed his maiden European Tour title after a dramatic finish to the Porsche European Open in Hamburg.

Mallow’s James Sugrue and Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) have been nominated by the Golfing Union of Ireland to compete in the 36-hole Dubai Duty Free Irish Open qualifier.

Gavin Moynihan didn’t want to watch.

Gavin Moynihan is challenging for overall victory, but Derry’s Ruaidhri McGee still has a chance of winning his European Tour card after he sensationally rattled in seven birdies in his last eight holes to make the cut at the nerve-shredding Qualifying School in Spain.

Gavin Moynihan surged back into contention to win his European Tour card on a good day for the Irish at the Final Stage of the Qualifying School in Spain.

Four Irish hopefuls will begin their final journey towards a European Tour card in the last Qualifying School stage at Lumine, Spain, today.

Gavin Moynihan will hope to make it a glorious homecoming at the Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel, Spa, and Golf Resort, as he targets a maiden Challenge Tour victory.

Not making the GB & Ireland Walker Cup team that faced the United States at the weekend was disappointing but it was nothing I wasn’t expecting.

England’s Ashley Chesters held the clubhouse lead after day two of the weather-hit Porsche European Open in Hamburg.

Six PGA in Ireland professionals will compete at next week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, hosted by the Rory Foundation at Portstewart.

The list of places Brooks Koepka had to go to win golf tournaments looks like a page straight out of a travelogue: Spain. Scotland. Turkey. Japan.

Caddie Ricky Elliott gave up on his tour dream to become a humble assistant pro but he never lost his love of the game and got the thrill of his life — and a $216,000 (€193,427) bonus — when he helped Brooks Koepka win the US Open at Erin Hills on Sunday.

Peter O’Keeffe will never make a cent playing golf again but if the new Flogas Irish Amateur Open champion had his time again, he knows from painful experience the key to success is not just innate talent but a big, fat wallet to match an insatiable appetite for hard work.

There was a time when Douglas’ Peter O’Keeffe got so angry with himself during his five-year stint in the professional ranks that he would rip a golf glove off his hand in frustration.

English duo Aaron Rai and Paul Waring carded matching rounds of 65 before bad weather forced play to be suspended in the first round of the Joburg Open.

Tiger Woods double-bogeyed two of his last three holes to turn a potential 68 into a one over 73 on his return from a 16-month injury layoff in the invitational Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

John McHenry dissects the pick of the Ryder Cup rookies.

Gary Hurley will look to make the most of home comforts when the European Challenge Tour returns to Ireland for the Volopa Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa and Golf Resort.

European captain Darren Clarke faces some tough phone calls over the next 24 hours after Belgian Thomas Pieters spectacularly birdied the last three holes to win the weather-delayed Made in Denmark and stake his claim to one of three Ryder Cup wildcards.

Shane Lowry showed Darren Clarke that he won’t give up on his Ryder Cup dream without a fight when he followed his opening 75 with a sensational six under 65 to make the cut in the Made in Denmark.

Challenge Tour duo Kevin Phelan and Gavin Moynihan are hoping to take advantage of their precision and short game prowess when they enjoy “home” advantage in the €180,000 Volopa Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa and Golf Resort next month.

Gavin Moynihan was inches away from leaving the K Club in a €145,000 BMW but while he narrowly missed out on the required ace, the Irish rookie was happy just to have made his first Irish Open cut.

Asking what’s wrong with Rory McIlroy is a bit like that old joke about George Best, Miss World and the bed in £50 notes. When a player racks up six Top-10 finishes from nine stroke-play starts, there really shouldn’t be any reason to start pressing any alarm bells.

England’s Andrew Johnston hailed a dream come true after holding off a final-day charge from tournament host Sergio Garcia to win a first European Tour title in the Spanish Open.

Funding of almost €27m was announced by Sport Ireland yesterday, with hockey, modern pentathlon, Community Games, gymnastics, and golf among the big winners.

The final stage of the European Tour Q-School tees off at PGA Catalunya on Saturday. Around 25 players will emerge smiling at the end of the six-round ordeal but, for the rest, it’s a picture perfect autumn postcard that hides no end of pain and suffering, writes Brian Keogh.

West Waterford’s Gary Hurley fired five birdies in an opening 68 to get his qualifying bid off to a positive start in the 72-hole European Tour Qualifying School Second Stage in Spain.

Two of Ireland’s most promising young stars are hoping to ride the feelgood factor from the Walker Cup and rack up big finishes in the Volopa Irish Challenge at Mount Wolseley this week.

Irish amateur golf is riding the crest of a wave after a record five Irishmen played on the winning Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup side just a few weeks ago.

Ireland’s Walker Cup heroes will not be wasting time resting on their laurels after Great Britain and Ireland’s emphatic victory over the United States at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Like the 46A bus to Dun Laoghaire, which would take an age to come and then arrive with another stuck to its exhaust pipe, there are signs that things are about to start moving apace in Irish golf.

Feeling comfortable in one’s surroundings is the key to success in many things in life and for Irish golfer Kevin Phelan life is pretty good heading into an Irish Open at Royal County Down midway through a successful second season on the European Tour.

Tournament host Ernie Els set about making amends for a winless 2014 at the earliest possible opportunity with an excellent start to his bid for a sixth South African Open title yesterday.