Damien McGrane was revelling in the trying conditions before officials called a halt to play and later announced the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters was being reduced to 54 holes.

DAMIEN McGRANE was among four golfers disqualified from the Alstom French Open in Paris yesterday.

DARREN CLARKE generously awarded playing partner Miguel Angel Jimenez a ‘6’ for technique after the frustrated Spaniard snapped his putter on day two of the Volvo Golf Champions in Bahrain.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON, pictured, fell foul of “trial by television” last week, but fans at home are being told not to turn him in this week if they see him grounding his club on sand in Bahrain.

Padraig Harrington fell foul of "trial by television" last week, but fans at home are being told not to turn him in this week if they see him grounding his club on sand in Bahrain.

GRAEME McDOWELL has labelled TV rules critics ‘anoraks’ and called for a review of the Rules of Golf after the shock disqualification of Pádraig Harrington from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Martin Kaymer is on course to retain the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and take the world number two spot off Tiger Woods after a scintillating second-round 65 today.

Padraig Harrington, one stroke off the lead overnight, was disqualified from his first event of the year without hitting another shot today.

For the second time in his career Padraig Harrington has been disqualified from an event he had a good chance of winning.

Padraig Harrington has been disqualified from his first event of the year today.

PÁDRAIG Harrington’s decision to tinker with some 20 changes to his game over the past six weeks paid immediate dividends yesterday with his lowest ever New Year starting score on day one of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Charl Schwartzel has been tipped for super-stardom ever since he won a European Tour card just after his 18th birthday in 2002 – and maybe now it is about to happen.

IT wasn’t quite decided by the flip of a coin but it will feel that way to Ian Poulter after he bizarrely lost the Dubai World Championship to Robert Karlsson on the second play-off hole.

European Tour player Eirik Tage Johansen has been fined for slow play for the second week running – and this time it was £4,000 (€4,500)

Big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros blazed a stunning bogey-free, eight-under-par 64 to head into the final round of the Qatar Masters with a one-stroke lead over South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen.

Spain’s Alvaro Quiros shot to the top of the Qatar Masters leaderboard this morning after blitzing the front nine of his third round to dislodge overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen.

THE WINNING of a major should be one of those must-see moments in a golf season.

Ignacio Garrido three-putted the last to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Spanish Open in Seville tomorrow.

Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia may not be contesting this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Germany, but another star of the Open Championship is back in action.

Another 90 minutes was lost to rain at the Italian Open in Milan this morning.

European Tour officials today took the rare decision to make players play holes twice at the Italian Open in Milan.

Home hope Retief Goosen produced a bizarre first round in the South African Open, which culminated in a disastrous 11 on the 17th after he appeared to have mastered the Humewood course.

South African Retief Goosen racked up an 11 on the 17th hole of his opening round of the SAA Open at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth after incurring a two-stroke penalty.

The United States today drew first blood in the Ryder Cup at the K Club as Darren Clarke got off to a flying start after a rapturous welcome.

EUROPEAN Tour executive director George O’Grady said that if the winds got beyond 50 mph there would be potential structural issues with temporary stands, television towers and the tented areas of the K-Club site.

RYDER Cup officials remain optimistic about completing the contest on schedule despite the bad weather which closed the K Club yesterday — and a forecast of more to come.

One week after his joint best performance of the year Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam was forced to pull out of the Mallorca Classic first round at Pula today.

US Open champion Michael Campbell admitted Thursday’s wash-out at the Deutsche Bank Championship had been “a blessing in disguise.”

US Open champion Michael Campbell admitted yesterday’s wash-out at the Deutsche Bank Championship had been “a blessing in disguise".

England’s Simon Khan took the lead in the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House today – and then was given a whopping £8,000 (€11,600) fine for slow play.

SOUTH African golfer Richard Sterne rescued his European tour career in brilliant fashion yesterday by winning the Madrid Open with a closing 65.

A controversial incident on the 18th hole could cost Swede Johan Edfors his European tour career tomorrow.

FIVE days after undergoing laser eye surgery, Pádraig Harrington returned to form yesterday and gave Europe's Ryder Cup side another boost.

Five days after undergoing laser eye surgery Padraig Harrington returned to form today – and gave Europe’s Ryder Cup side another boost.

US Open champion Retief Goosen claimed he was "brain dead" for the first few holes at The K-Club yesterday.

DARREN CLARKE and Pádraig Harrington were at odds at The K-Club yesterday but only about the likely winning score in the €3.3m Smurfit European Open that gets underway over the splendid new South Course today.

Ian Woosnam, who feared he was “too old and knackered,” just 24 hours earlier, stormed into contention for the Algarve Open de Portugal today.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, who missed out on next week’s US Masters after being disqualified from his last event, could gain some consolation in the Algarve Open de Portugal.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, second in the race for Europe’s Ryder Cup team, has missed out on vital cup points and almost certainly on a place in the Masters next month after being disqualified from the Qatar Masters today.

THERE will be an early start to day two of the Qatar Masters this morning after a desert sandstorm restricted play to just three-and-a-half hours at Doha yesterday.

Just three-and-a-half hours’ play was possible on the opening day of the Qatar Masters today after a desert sandstorm hit Doha.

It did not take long for Sergio Garcia to begin angrily swishing a club again when the Cisco World Match Play semi-final matches finally got under way 30 minutes late at Wentworth this morning.

Seve Ballesteros was soon in trouble on the second day of the Seve Trophy.

Padraig Harrington returns to the scene of the crime this week. The place where one of his best-ever performances suddenly turned into one of his worst-ever moments.