On Wednesday, Shane Lowry toasted 2019. His team — including manager Conor Ridge, caddie Brian Martin and coach Neil Manchip — had gathered for Christmas lunch. Before they began, the big man raised a glass.

Kevin Markham assesses the challenges facing golf clubs in 2020

Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen claimed a slender lead in the opening round of the Italian Open after setting a target which proved too hot to handle.

The PGA Tour has announced plans to review its current pace-of-play policy after golf’s slow-play debate turned personal.

We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

Rory McIlroy has called for slow players to receive a solitary warning before receiving shot penalties.

Masters champion Tiger Woods played down an injury scare on the eve of his first appearance since missing the cut in the Open Championship as he attempts to play back-to-back events for just the second time this season.

The Northern Irish Open has evolved into a European first, writes Kevin Markham.

Irish golf clubs have had plenty to celebrate in 2019.

From Sunday morning nerves to lifting the Claret Jug, Shane Lowry’s big day out at Royal Portrush turned the Irishman from nearly man into a force to be reckoned with among golf’s elite.

Ian Poulter doesn’t believe that occasional fan abuse is an inevitable by-product of alcohol being generally available at Tour golf events.

Of all the challenges Shane Lowry had to overcome in Portrush last week, none was more persistent or annoying than the American journalist who insisted on pestering the Irish golfer — and the others from the island — with questions about the symbolism of an Open Championship held in Northern Ireland.

The Ryder Cup will return to Ireland in 2026 bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors an extra €100m economic boost to the country.

Brian O’Driscoll believes Joe Schmidt’s Ireland team can take inspiration from Shane Lowry’s Open triumph as they seek to emulate the Offaly golfer by climbing higher than ever before on the world stage.

If failing to prepare means preparing to fail, the question about how to prepare effectively must be broached by any self-respecting high performing athlete and coach. Mind you, there is no answer that will serve everyone equally.

Rory McIlroy has admitted he was more emotional and overwhelmed by the support he received at Portrush last week than missing the cut at the Open Championship. He said last night it was the first time he had to stop himself crying on a golf course.

World number one Brooks Koepka would welcome more equipment club testing during the season in the wake of Xander Schauffele’s row with the R&A at Royal Portrush.

Shane Lowry may have been at the centre of a whirlwind of celebrations and media attention since his Open Championship victory at Royal Portrush on Sunday but he is hoping his hard-earned status as Ireland’s newest major champion will not change him.

Lowry left Dublin on Tuesday afternoon bound for his hometown after conducting interviews for the media at the end of a whirlwind 36 hours of celebrations in Dublin that followed his return from Portrush.

Michael Hayes All-Ireland winners Mike Quirke and Patrick Kelly believe the red carpet should be rolled out at Croke Park for Open Championship winner Shane Lowry.

Simon Lewis Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler may not have had the outcomes they wanted

If the video clips doing the rounds on social media yesterday are anything to believe, Shane Lowry has been living up to his pledge to enjoy his magnificent and well-deserved Open Championship victory.

An Englishman and an Irishman competed in the final pairing of the Open Championship in Northern Ireland. Sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that was how the script for the 148th Open at Royal Portrush played out.

It’s not often golf takes precedence over Gaelic games for me but this was an exception — and oh what an exception.

A day of golfing perfection from Shane Lowry took the Irishman to the verge of Open Championship victory at Royal Portrush but the 32-year-old is steeling himself for the most challenging day of his career tomorrow.

Ask any professional golfer and they will tell you just how difficult the game can be at times, whatever your standard.

As your American-based golf correspondent, I’ve got a confession to make. I didn’t fancy my first pints of Guinness. In fact, I didn’t acquire a taste for it until my first trip to Ireland a little more than a decade ago and a visit to Temple Bar’s cobbled streets between the River Liffey and Dame Street in Dublin.

As someone who has witnessed the insane levels of attention he draws at home tournaments, Rory’s performance yesterday didn’t really surprise me as I have often seen him struggle to cope with that huge expectation.

History seems to hang from every lamppost along the Causeway Coast. Drive through the villages and town lands dotted around Portrush this week and there’s scarcely a pole devoid of a Union Jack or an Ulster Banner.

Rory McIlroy’s dream of winning the Open Championship on home soil is effectively over after he slumped to an opening 79 at Royal Portrush.

Darren Clarke stroked home a birdie at the fifth to lead The Open like he was knocking balls around in his back garden.

Pinch yourself. Major championship golf really is here.

There is something uniquely British about the tennis at Wimbledon. Where else do you still see players playing in “all whites” and on grass courts to wildly enthusiastically patrons, who nostalgically talk as much in the past as the present, while sipping their Pimm’s and eating their strawberries and cream.

About two years ago the R&A got in touch with some Dublin-based PR and advertising companies. They had a concern about the 2019 Open Championship that they wanted to throw some money at.

Jon Rahm is hoping an accommodation switch can lead to a reversal of fortunes in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Rory McIlroy admits that a fear of missing out fuelled his decision to change tack on Olympic ambitions and declare himself available to represent Ireland at the Games in Tokyo in 2020.

Rory McIlroy has spoken of the great legacy this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush can have, both for golf in Northern Ireland and its people.

Pádraig Harrington has predicted that the Open Championship’s return to Irish shores this week is the first step of tournament organisers the R&A taking golf’s oldest major around the world, ideally with Portmarnock as the launchpad.

Tiger Woods will favour quality over quantity in a bid to prolong his career after admitting he was emotionally and physically drained by his Masters triumph.

Irish para powerlifter Britney Arendse has been upgraded to bronze from last year’s Asia-Oceania Open Championships after a doping violation by the original third-placer.

Pádraig Harrington may not be allowed to gamble on golf but the two-time Open champion makes a compelling case for lifting the Claret Jug a third time this Sunday.

Portrush After 68 long years, one still has to commend the R&A’s bravery to entrust Royal Portrush once more with the stewardship of the jewel in their crown — the Open Championship.

Kevin Markham visits Royal Portrush to see how Open Championship preparations are progressing.

The past in the world of professional golf was truly a foreign country.