Irish golfer Graeme McDowell last night toasted the "happiest moment of my life" as he welcomed his first child into the world, a life-changing moment that followed hot on the heels of a career-changing one.

When Rory McIlroy took a two-shot lead into the weekend at Valhalla he was asked about the keys to his amazing summer.

Some caddies find it difficult to live by the age-old maxim to keep up and shut up but that’s no problem for JP Fitzgerald.

It began in January 2013, with an Abu Dhabi laser show worthy of the New Year’s Eve fireworks in Australia that served as a backdrop for his ill-fated engagement to Caroline Wozniacki nearly one year later.

Waterford rookie Kevin Phelan has landed a sponsorship deal with the same company that first backed Rory McIlroy — Dublin-based investment boutique, FL Partners.

The fleet of flashy sports cars and SUVs parked adjacent to the lush Carton House sports pitches give the impression Ireland’s Rugby elite are in camp at their training base.

Newly-crowned European number one Henrik Stenson has given a guarded welcome to a new European Tour regulation requiring players to support their home events or be forced to play an extra two tournaments.

Waterford Castle’s Kevin Phelan hit what he described as “the shot of my life” to birdie the last and secure his European Tour card with a stroke to spare at the final stage of the Qualifying School in Spain.

Golf star Rory McIlroy is to be hit with a counter claim when he takes legal action against his former sports agent, a court has been told.

Damien McGrane might not have won the KLM Open on Sunday but his professional trajectory continues to be an example to Ireland’s budding tour stars — the poster boy for those who bite the bullet and take the PGA assistants’ route to the top.

YOU can understand Graeme McDowell’s disappointment at Rory McIlroy’s decision to leave Horizon Sports Management after just 18 months in the same stable.

British Amateur champion Alan Dunbar thought his place in the 2013 Masters was priceless.

The acquisition of superstar golfer Rory McIlroy boosted Horizon Sports Management’s fortunes in 2011, with accumulated profits more than doubling to €275,217.

It is little more than 18 months since JP Fitzgerald was vilified for his perceived part in Rory McIlroy’s meltdown in the final round of the Masters.

Rory McIlroy’s story is well documented.

Bog Warrior is likely to be back in action in “three to four weeks” after his fall at Down Royal on Saturday.

Rory McIlroy is officially a free agent when it comes to golf equipment.

British Open golf champion Darren Clarke has married his former model girlfriend in a beach ceremony in the Bahamas.

Rory McIlroy’s relentlessmission to become thenumber one golfer in the world continues this week at the Honda Classic at PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

RORY McILROY’S decision to leave International Sports Management left company founder Chubby Chandler in “shock”, the charismatic sports agent and player manager has admitted.

FIRST he brought the Claret Jug home.

GRAEME MCDOWELL waved farewell to 2011 last night with a sigh of relief having failed to meet expectations after his stellar 2010 campaign when he claimed the US Open and gave an important contribution to Europe’s Ryder Cup defeat of the United States.

THIS time last year, Graeme McDowell was the toast of the golfing world.

THE announcement that Rory McIlroy split from management company International Sports Management (ISM), headed by Chubby Chandler, will come as a surprise to many but others who have been following Rory’s meteoric rise through the pro ranks saw this one coming.

SO You Think has returned unscathed to Ballydoyle following his victory in the Red Mills Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday evening.

Connections of Hoof It are considering launching an appeal after he finished an unlucky third in the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.

IF THE opening moments of his pre-tournament press conference are anything to go by, Lee Westwood may be taking his plan of not trying too hard to finally land his first major, a little too far.

DARREN CLARKE will tee off for the first time as a Major champion today, fully aware that the rest of his professional career — and the way he approaches it — is in need of a rethink.

IF success is contagious, Chris Wood could be set to catch some given the company he keeps.

THERE’S one more round of back-slapping on the agenda. One more party to survive.

HE was Andrew Chandler’s first client and in winning The British Open, Darren Clarke has delivered the third leg of what would be a remarkable “Chubby Slam” for the founder of International Sports Management.

DARREN CLARKE signed off his British Open championship victory press conference on Sunday night by trying to explain what his great appeal was to the fans who had roared him on to success at Royal St George’s.

A TEXT from Tiger Woods, a boot up the backside from Rory McIlroy and some sage counselling from Dr Bob Rotella.

IT WAS four years ago that Darren Clarke read in an English broadsheet newspaper that he was continuing an “inexorable descent towards irrelevance”.

FOR Don Draper, advertising is based on one thing: happiness.

JUSTIN ROSE believes Rory McIlroy should relish the hype which will accompany him throughout this week’s British Open.

RORY McILROY is set tobecome one of the highest paidsportsmen on the planet after his US Open victory.

The American press have lauded Rory McIlroy following his emphatic US Open success at Congressional.

THE passing of the peerless Seve Ballesteros at the weekend has overshadowed everything else in the game of golf to such an extent that it seems almost disrespectful to discuss anything else.

PRIVATE jets carrying Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy passed over the skies of the Middle East yesterday.

CHARL SCHWARTZEL emerged triumphant at the Masters last night at the end of a thrilling final day at Augusta National that saw Rory McIlroy's hopes of a fabled Green Jacket disappear in heartbreaking fashion.

LEE WESTWOOD’S feet are firmly on the ground heading into his 12th Masters tomorrow.

Irish interest in the Ryder Cup doesn’t stop at the three players and the two vice-captains. There’s also a trio of bagmen keeping their employers on the short grass. Charlie Mulqueen explains