Scotland’s Russell Knox believes he can make the leap from a former “head case” to a bona fide superstar as he targets a Ryder Cup debut in 2016.

Graeme McDowell ended one of his worst years with one of his best shots.

Rory McIlroy will take a lead of just 1,613 points into the DP World Tour Championship next week as he looks to win a third Race to Dubai title in the last four years.

Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are both likely to be far from their best as they contest the final World Golf Championship event of the year in Shanghai this week.

Two weeks after struggling to break 90, Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a flawless 63 to claim the lead after the first round of the £4.5m Turkish Airlines Open.

Germany’s Marcel Siem claimed his fourth European Tour title in dramatic fashion after a three-man play-off for the BMW Masters in Shanghai on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy will be an interested spectator as the first event of the European Tour’s Final Series gets under way in China today.

Rory McIlroy will be an interested spectator as the first event of the European Tour's Final Series gets under way in China on Thursday.

There was a time when it was fair to question whether American golfers even owned passports. So spoiled, so comfortable, so insular in their PGA Tour world were they that their travels outside the home fence were few and far between.

The promotional catchphrase for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is – ‘Expect the Unexpected’.

Rory McIlroy may have seen more than his fair share of bogeys this year, but it’s members of the legal profession he is really sick at the sight of.

Twelve months ago Rory McIlroy arrived in Dubai on the crest of a wave, the world number one having won his second major title by eight shots and being just days away from a fifth victory of the season that secured the money list titles on both sides of the Atlantic.

Consider a couple of scenes from the golf world this year, with emphasis on ‘world’.

Graeme McDowell hopes to extend his marriage celebrations by capturing the European number one crown.

It was the most English of distances — a couple of paces less than a cricket pitch — yet for Paul Casey the 20-yard walk to pull the ball out of the hole on the 18th green on the Montgomerie Course was the most pleasant of journeys.

Matt Kuchar and Ian Poulter are both back in the world’s top 10 today, but it is the American who is really celebrating.

Rory McIlroy has admitted there are times he needs to get away from golf — as he controversially did last week even though a world championship was being played.

England’s Ian Poulter, still on a high from Ryder Cup glory, won the second World Golf Championship title of his career in China today.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods may have angered officials by not participating in the HSBC Champions, but Lee Westwood more than made up for their absence on a thrilling third day at Mission Hill.

Rory McIlroy may be on a week off, but he remains in the news and at the centre of debate – both for the clubs he plays with and for his choice of tournaments.

Rory McIlroy is officially a free agent when it comes to golf equipment.

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

After the euphoria of the Ryder Cup, Rory McIlroy had the victory rug unceremoniously dragged from under him on the opening day of the Turkish Airlines World Golf final in Belek.

Tiger Woods is to play the CIMB Classic in Malaysia on October 25-28.

Next year’s European Tour will again include just one event Ireland, two in England, one in Wales and three in Scotland.

Next year’s European Tour has been confirmed with the Irish Open switching from late July to the end of June, but with a venue yet to be announced.

ONE of the first aspects on the agenda of Horizon Sports Conor Ridge in managing the affairs of Rory McIlroy has been to curb the ‘madness’ of his client’s heavy end-of-season schedule.

WHILE the future of the Mission Hills World Cup was assured behind closed doors, Rory McIlroy continued playing his Pied Piper role as he and Graeme McDowell put Ireland into a share of the lead with two rounds remaining on Hainan Island in China.

GRAEME McDOWELL is targeting a successful end to the season to ease his workload for 2012 as the Irishman bids for his first European Tour title of the year at the Singapore Open.

KEEGAN BRADLEY has not stopped pinching himself all year — and he was at it again yesterday after taking the lead in the final world championship of the season.

World number one Luke Donald has officially withdrawn from next week’s HSBC Champions world championship in Shanghai to be home for the birth of his and his wife's second child.

MICHAEL HOEY returned to competition for the first time since his stunning Alfred Dunhill Links triumph and immediately ignited hopes of a second successive Tour victory in the Castellon Masters in Spain.

Michael Hoey has claimed his second European Tour golf title of the year by winning the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

The decline and fall of Tiger Woods has come to this – he does not even qualify for the next world championship as things stand.

Spain's Sergio Garcia is not a fan of the layout of Royal St George's but he will not allow that to spoil what he hopes will be his happiest Open for four years.

TIGER WOODs returned to his mother’s home country for a four-man charity skins tournament yesterday and left soon after winning only one hole in another disappointing performance.

Francesco Molinari claimed his second European Tour title after the Italian won the HSBC Champions by one stroke from Lee Westwood.

An incredible second shot at the 13th helped Francesco Molinari maintain his one-shot lead over Lee Westwood going into tomorrow’s final round at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

GRAEME McDowell has been the toast of the European Tour this year, but last night it was the turn of his caddie, Ken Comboy, to take the plaudits.

Francesco Molinari extended his advantage at the HSBC Champions to three strokes as the Italian carried yesterday’s fine form into today’s second round in Shanghai.

Lee Westwood was delighted to show exactly why he is the new world number one after the 37-year-old carded an excellent opening round of 66 at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai to trail leader Francesco Molinari by a shot.

TIGER WOODS is in unfamiliar territory at this week’s HSBC Champions tournament, but the American has no intention of changing his approach to the game as he bids to regain the world number one spot from Lee Westwood.

Justin Rose has resigned from the European Tour five weeks after being left out of the Ryder Cup team.