Shane Lowry was well entitled to a wry smile over the last day or two as he heard just about everybody talk up Ireland’s prospects of a medal at the 2016 Olympic Games now that Rory McIlroy has declared for Ireland and Graeme McDowell has confirmed he will wear the green, white and orange in Rio.

The presence of Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke provides Ireland with its strongest hand at the Masters at Augusta National.

THE ACCUSED: Caddy Steve Williams.

IT has been five years since David Feherty touched alcohol but on the Sunday night of the Masters this year, he was happy to watch his fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy nurse a bottle of beer.

WHEN one of your texting buddies is LeBron James and you decide to nip down to Haiti for UNICEF a week before a major championship it might be easy to conclude that focus may be an issue for Rory McIlroy ahead of his third US Open.

THE MASTERS remains the only major championship yet to be claimed by an Irish golfer but there are grounds for optimism that may change on Sunday evening.

DES SMYTH, now 57, has already won the Ladbrokes.com Irish PGA Championship six times and quietly fancies his chances of a seventh title when the event gets underway over the Seapoint links, Termonfeckin, Co Louth this morning.

WINNING major championships can do wonders for a golfer’s career.

CBS and Golf Magazine analyst David Feherty, pictured, said yesterday he wasn’t surprised Tiger Woods is having issues.

YOU can measure a sporting victory by financial prize, but that is the superficial way.

SUDDENLY after a remarkable Sunday of golfing achievement, capped by Rory McIlroy’s Quail Hollow Championship success, Tiger Woods at 34 years of age seems very, very old.

OF the 12 Irishmen who have competed in the Masters, the best finishes were achieved by Pádraig Harrington, tied fifth in 2002, and Darren Clarke, who shared eighth place in 1998.

RORY McILROY’S outstanding4th place in the HSBC-WorldGolf Championship in Shanghai at the weekend has moved him to within touching distance of a Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor next October.

RORY McILROY is one of the most recognisable and popular sportsmen on this island but his declaration of intent to represent Britain in the 2016 Olympics, should golf be accepted at next week’s vote of the IOC, is likely to lose him friends on the southern side of the border.

After years in the game’s wilderness, David Duval is eyeing the future with a new zest, both on and off the golf course, writes PJ Browne, in New York

SEAMUS POWER (West Waterford) defends his Irish Youths Amateur Open Championship title at Lisburn on Thursday and Friday and, if successful, will become only the second player in the history of the event to win the title on three separate occasions, following John McHenry’s wins in 1980, 1981 and 1985.

South African Andrew McLardy missed a golden opportunity for a course record on the final day of the BMW International in Munich.

THE MASTERS. Even the word catches in your conversation like a fish-hook.

FRED COUPLES has teed up his golf ball 23 times in the Masters and has played the weekend at Augusta National each and every year.

Pádraig Harrington did not hesitate when the inevitable question was asked: Is the Irish Open the title you would most like to win on the European Tour? In one word came a very definite response: YES.

IT has to happen sometime. That’s invariably the answer any time you query whether an Irishman will ever again capture his native Open Championship.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON confirmed last night that he will play in next week’s Masters tournament at Augusta National.

Charlie Mulqueen speaks with Colin Byrne, caddie to Retief Goosen.

FURIOUS would be a totally unsuitable adjective to describe Darren Clarke’s mindset after his staggering sextuplet bogey 11 at the infamous 17th hole.

THE ROYAL & Ancient aren’t generally known for a sense of humour and would never, it was imagined, get up to a bit of mischief.

“FAST cars and big cigars,” roared the delighted fans, as Darren Clarke unleashed an enormous drive down the middle of the 18th fairway in yesterday’s second round of the US Open at Olympia Fields.