1. Has he played well in the Masters before?

Despite capturing a maiden major championship and rising to number two in the world, Rory McIlroy still believes 2011 could have turned out even better as he looks to finish the season strongly, starting at this week’s Hong Kong Open.

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.

US PGA defending champion Padraig Harrington is confident he is playing well enough to defend his title this week but says it will take another six months before he fully benefits from the swing changes that kept him out of contention for the first half of the year.

IT WAS a desperately disappointing British Open for the Irish, none of whom looked remotely like figuring in the shake-up.

Rookie Joey Snyder fired a seven-under-par 65 and has a one-shot advantage after the third round of the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.