GOLF guru Andrew “Chubby” Chandler wants to aim higher with Hoof It after the four-year-old attempts to defy the welter burden of 10st in the Blue Square Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood.

New Open champion Darren Clarke is at a loss to explain how tiny Northern Ireland has suddenly produced an amazing three major winners in 13 months - after one in the previous 149 years.

IT WAS a chilly, windy morning for the third round of the Irish Close Championship at Tramore in 1987.

THE role of caddie JP Fitzgerald during Rory McIlroy’s final round Masters meltdown is set to form an integral part of the inquest into the collapse of the 21-year-old on Sunday night.

Nick Faldo still believes in Rory McIlroy after watching every shot of a Masters nightmare that inevitably turned his own mind back 15 years.

“I’VE learned a lot of things this week and the main one is not to dance in bunkers,” beamed Rory McIlroy after he had played the final 10 holes of his first Masters in six under par.

The European Tour today rejected a request from both the tournament promoter and BBC Television to speed up the third round of the British Masters at The Belfry.

Rory McIlroy can next year become the youngest player ever to appear in the Ryder Cup.

Irish teenager Rory McIlroy will make his professional debut in the company of 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie at The Belfry on Thursday.

DARREN CLARKE began his preparation for the Open Championship three weeks ago when he played a round over the Hoylake links with his manager and former European Tour professional Andrew “Chubby” Chandler.

Ireland's Darren Clarke returns to action next week heartened by the latest medical bulletin on his wife Heather, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.