A little sooner than he would probably have preferred after his British Open meltdown, Adam Scott renews rivalry with Ernie Els in this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

Pádraig Harrington is confident he will be fit, fresh and ready to go for the British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in a fortnight after making the most of a much-needed week off following the Irish Open.

Second-round leader Rory McIlroy faltered on day three of the St Jude Classic in Memphis as Nick O’Hern, Davis Love III and John Merrick moved to the head of the leaderboard on six under.

Rory McIlroy produced a welcome return to form ahead of his US Open title defence next week as he fired an opening two-under-par 68 at the St Jude Classic in Memphis.

WHEN Pádraig Harrington admitted after missing his fifth cut of the year at Killarney yesterday that “change is required”, the key men in his backroom team such as coach Bob Torrance, caddie Ronan Flood and sports psychologist Bob Rotella might have felt they had good cause to worry.

AWARE the Irish Open would go ahead in 2011 without a title sponsor, the country’s leading players promised to do all they could to ensure the success of the championship.

RORY McILROY shot a remarkable 23 birdies, eight of them in a final round of 68, and an eagle, but four players still finished ahead of him in the Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village on Sunday.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is prepared to take his medicine and sit out next week’s BMW at Wentworth so he can go all out for more major glory.

GRAEME McDOWELL, now up to fifth in the world rankings, is confident that a change from Callawayto Srixon clubs will not harm hisprospects of making a strong start tothe new season in Hawaii this week.

LEE WESTWOOD has seen the glittering prize slip through his fingers in his last three major starts.

Rocco Mediate has accepted a place at the US Open that became available because St Jude Classic winner Lee Westwood was already in the field, the United States Golf Association has confirmed.

LEE WESTWOOD hopes his St Jude Classic triumph will prove to be the perfect preparation for this week’s US Open.

COREY Pavin, the US Ryder Cup team captain, must be wondering what’s going on these days.

GRAEME MCDOWELL threw open the curtains of his $500 a night hotel room at the Monterey Plaza on Cannery Row and stepped out onto the balcony to drink in the salty air and the stunning views.

Lee Westwood savoured victory in the United States for the first time in 12 years and welcomed receiving some long-awaited good fortune.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON headed for Pebble Beach lastnight insisting that he is not in panic mode about his form or his fitness ahead of the US Open.

Tiger Woods has been paired with in-form Englishman Lee Westwood for next week's US Open at Pebble Beach.

Lee Westwood's patience paid off as he sank three birdies in a row to rescue his second round and take a share of the halfway lead at the St Jude Classic in Memphis.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON faces a battle to resurrect his fortunes at the St Jude Classic at TPC Southwind, Memphis, after carding a second-round 74 that leaves him well off the pace.

Robert Karlsson and Rory McIlroy made significant moves up the St Jude Classic leaderboard as overnight leader Lee Westwood struggled to repeat his opening-day good form in Memphis.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington is third following a 65 in the St Jude Classic as the first round was suspended for the day due to bad weather.

IN his first action on the PGA Tour since missing the cut at The Players Championship in May, Pádraig Harrington fired a bogey-free 65 in the first round of the St Jude Classic at TPC Southwind, Memphis yesterday.

THE MAGNIFICENT victories at the weekend of Justin Rose in Ohio and Graeme McDowell in Wales coming on the back of the recent achievements by Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are piling the pressure on Padraig Harrington to end his title drought.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is going into hospital for a knee operation after this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and will not play the Wales Open at Celtic Manor from June 3-6.

Padraig Harrington is going into hospital for a knee operation after this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and will not play the Wales Open at Celtic Manor from June 3-6.

Mike Weir shot a 64 at Bethpage Black to take the clubhouse lead as the rain-delayed first round of the US Open neared completion today.

Clearing skies and warm temperatures helped the late starters at Bethpage Black steal a march on their earlier rivals as Ireland’s Graeme McDowell held a precarious share of the clubhouse lead halfway through the rain-delayed first round of the 109th US Open.

SHANE LOWRY believes too much is being expected of Rory McIlroy as the Northern Irishman tees up for only his third major tournament.

Sergio Garcia insists he has no hang ups about winning a major and is as focused as ever on the objective as he begins his 40th attempt at the feat as a professional in the US Open at Bethpage Black today.

IT says a lot for the strength of the game in Ireland that we have four players involved in the US Open starting at Bethpage Park this morning.

PHIL MICKELSON is unsure how he will react to the wave of support he will experience at this week’s US Open as he aims to sign off from golf with a fourth major victory.

EVEN though he arrived in Bethpage after a sparkling final round of 63 in the St Jude Classic in Memphis on Sunday, Graeme McDowell isn’t approaching his fourth appearance at the US Open in confident mood.

Phil Mickelson is unsure how he will react to the wave of support he will experience at this week’s US Open as he aims to sign off from golf with a fourth major victory.

Graeme McDowell will go into this week’s US Open in high spirits following his best finish of the season yesterday.

Graeme McDowell shot the lowest score of the day in Memphis but no-one was able to reel in runaway winner Brian Gay at the St Jude Classic.

Brian Gay gave up a shot at the final hole to leave him with a slender lead as he chased a second PGA Tour victory of the year at the St Jude Classic today.

Robert Allenby will resume second-round play at the storm-delayed St Jude Classic confident he can finish off the good work he started last night in Memphis.

Graeme McDowell made good use of his sponsors’ invitation at the St Jude Classic last night to claim a place on the leaderboard heading into today’s second round in Memphis.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington will be looking to get his season back on track today ahead of next week's US Open.

World number five Geoff Ogilvy is hoping to again fly under the radar at next week’s US Open at Bethpage Black in New York.

PÁDRAIG Harrington’s travails continued at the Memorial tournament over the weekend after missing the cut for the fourth time in America this year.

THE countdown to the US Open at Long Island’s Bethpage Parkin New York (June 18-21) begins this week at Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial tournament in Ohio, and the Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

RORY McILROY has returned to 16th in the world rankings after finishing fifth in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday.

THE DREADED vista of missing the cut in his national championship became a reality last night for Padraig Harrington. Despite shooting a splendid 68 in the vile conditions prevailing early in the day and finishing on three under par, he missed out on the weekend by a shot.