Luke Donald returns to the scene of his greatest triumphs this week with a lot more at stake than when he was ruling the roost four years ago.

Padraig Harrington has endured a disappointing start to his final round with bogeys on the second and third and seventh holes.

As with all great sporting events, the anticipation often surpasses the reality.

Jet-lagged Graeme McDowell is hoping a good night’s sleep will help him mount a charge in pursuit of overnight leader Mikko Ilonen as the second round of the Irish Open gets under way at Fota Island Resort today.

There was no victory birthday celebration for Rory McIlroy at the Wells Fargo Championship and the 25-year heading home after yet another top-10 finish this season.

Felipe Aguilar produced a breathtaking back nine to storm to The Championship at Laguna National title in Singapore.

Pádraig Harrington was aboard the first stagecoach out of town after missing the halfway cut in the Wells Fargo Championship in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina.

Denmark’s Anders Hansen found himself still at the top of the leaderboard after compatriot Thomas Bjorn suffered a poor finish to his second round of the Alstom Open de France.

Former champion Thomas Levet today suffered a nightmare start to his first round as the Alstom Open de France got under way in Paris.

England’s Justin Rose, twice a runner-up in the BMW PGA Championship, today wasted little time in getting to the top of the leaderboard as the European Tour’s flagship event got under way at Wentworth.

Rory McIlroy is set to return to Haiti next week.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat today held his nerve after an untimely weather delay to win his first European Tour title in the Maybank Malaysian Open.

Padraig Harrington is just four off the clubhouse lead held by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, whose 65 continued the excellent form of last week when he was fourth in the Avantha Masters.

Padraig Harrington is just four off the lead after day one of the Malaysian Open.

Phil Mickelson is back in the world’s top 10 for the first time since last May after his wire-to-wire victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia end the year 14th and 16th in the world respectively after their weekend wins in South Africa and Malaysia.

Graeme McDowell’s victory at the World Challenge in California – his first title since the same event two years ago – has lifted him from 24th to 14th in the world.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry has moved up from 128th to 74th in the world after his victory at the Portugal Masters yesterday.

Rory McIlroy is back as world number one after storming to his second major victory at the USPGA Championship – and David Lynn is up from 98th to a career-high 40th after finishing as a shock runner-up.

Four days after blowing his French Open chances with a closing 75 Denmark's Anders Hansen looked a different golfer in Inverness today.

England’s Ian Poulter and German Marcel Siem found themselves out in front after overnight leaders David Howell and Anders Hansen made poor starts to the Alstom French Open final round at Le Golf National near Paris today.

Lee Westwood was able to play on in the Alstom French Open at Le Golf National near Paris today after hurting his right knee and groin before yesterday’s third round.

Golf’s world number one spot has changed hands for the fifth time in just over two months.

Masters winner Bubba Watson is not the only big name missing from this week’s Players Championship at Sawgrass – at £5.8m golf’s richest event.

Lee Westwood’s successful defence of the Indonesian Masters title was not enough to lift him above Rory McIlroy at the top of the golf world rankings.

Bubba Watson moved all the way from 16th to a career-high fourth in the world rankings thanks to his play-off victory over Louis Oosthuizen in The Masters.

Returning to the controversy of the week at the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club’s lack of female members, a lobbying group called change.org entered the fray yesterday, looking to further increase the pressure on the private club to review its membership policy.

Hunter Mahan has climbed from 22nd to ninth in the world after capturing the Accenture Match Play Championship by beating Rory McIlroy in the final.

Luke Donald is set to start his Accenture Match Play title defence against former world number one Ernie Els in Tucson on Wednesday.

England’s Robert Rock is up from 117th to 55th in the world after his victory over Tiger Woods and golf’s top four in Abu Dhabi.

Padraig Harrington will need to climb to 65th in the world rather than 64th to earn a place in next month’s Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

Tiger Woods has climbed back up to 21st in the world rankings after finally ending more than two years without a victory.

Lee Westwood carded a course-record 62 to storm into a seven-shot lead in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Sun City resort in South Africa today.

Australia laid down an early marker at the Golf World Cup, taking the clubhouse lead on 11 under par to lead the field by four strokes.

James Morrison held the clubhouse lead on 12 under par at the Singapore Open after following up yesterday’s 62 with a second-round 68 to pull two strokes clear at Sentosa Golf Club.

Tiger Woods returns to action in the Australian Open this week down at 58th in the world – just one year after losing the number one spot to Lee Westwood.

Sergio Garcia has climbed from 31st to 18th in the world following his second successive victory at the Andalucia Masters.

GREAT BRITAIN & Ireland held off a strong Continental Europe fightback to claim victory on the final day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche in Paris.

Continental Europe came on strong in the final-day singles to mount a spirited comeback in the Vivendi Seve Trophy in Paris.

CONTINENTAL Europe captain Jean van de Velde praised his team as they fought back to trail Great Britain and Ireland by a single point after the second day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche.

Continental Europe captain Jean van de Velde praised his team as they fought back to trail Great Britain and Ireland by a single point after the second day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche.

Continental Europe fought back to lead two of the five fourball matches against Great Britain and Ireland during the early stages of the second round of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche.

GREAT BRITAIN and Ireland captain Paul McGinley warned his players not to get carried away after a dream first day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche saw them take a 4-1 lead over Continental Europe.

Great Britain and Ireland captain Paul McGinley warned his players not to get carried away after a dream first day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche saw them take a 4-1 lead over Continental Europe.