The giant live oak tree outside the Augusta National Golf Club clubhouse has to be the greatest hangout in all of golf.

When Rory McIlroy took the unpopular decision late last year to participate exclusively on the PGA Tour this season, he endured plenty of criticism from this side of the Atlantic.

Rory McIlroy entered the final round of the US Masters on Sunday as the overwhelming favourite to win his fifth major. Had he done so, he would have become the first European to win a Grand Slam of major championships, writes John McHenry.

Entering the first round yesterday, Tiger Woods held an all important psychological advantage over most of his rivals.

Robin Dawson might be the world No 98 and a recent star performer in the Bonallack Trophy but he admits he’d love to add an amateur “major” to his trophy cabinet should he eventually make the move into the professional ranks.

Rory McIlroy might not be a country music fan but if he’s looking for advice on winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam, Sky Sports analyst Paul McGinley has some words of wisdom.

Rory McIlroy has retained his best friend Harry Diamond as his caddie for the 2018 season.

Rory McIlroy started his final round in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, Akron, Ohio, with three birdies in six holes to get within a stroke of the lead only to fade disappointingly around the turn and fail to put in a serious challenge over the closing holes.

Rory McIlroy shrugged off a closing three-putt bogey and declared his opening 67 in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with new bagman Harry Diamond as the start of a new chapter in his career.

It has been a year of change for Rory McIlroy, who has switched equipment companies, gotten married, and now split with his longtime caddie JP Fitzgerald.

On form, Rory McIlroy is one of those extraordinary athletes we see only every so often in our lifetime. 

Erica Stoll may have got golf star Rory McIlroy to the tee on time but now she must rely on someone else to make sure he gets to his wedding on time.

Q: Rory, who would you pay to go and watch?

After more than 500 rounds of European Tour competition, Rory McIlroy recorded his first hole-in-one on day two of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

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

Dungarvan’s Kevin Stack and West Waterford’s Gary Hurley kept Munster interest alive in the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Championship at a sun-kissed County Sligo.

Dermot McElroy hopes to celebrate his call-up to the St Andrews Trophy squad by challenging for his first amateur major when the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open gets under way at Rosses Point today.

Rory McIlroy believes returning to his Holywood roots and playing a social round of golf in the company of his best mates could lead to him finally breaking loose from a disappointing first half of the season.

Ulster withstood a late rally by Munster at Lee Valley yesterday to dethrone the home team as Irish Interprovincial champions and regain the title they last held in 2010.

Des Morgan will chase his Mullingar Scratch Cup dream again today — just 10 weeks after a four-hour operation to have a faulty heart defibrillator replaced.

Muskerry’s Niall Gorey got out of jail with a dramatic semi-final comeback against Reeve Whitson, but had no answer to a brilliant Rory McNamara in the final of the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open at Rosses Point.

He might have been watched by 60 years-old Des Smyth, but Niall Gorey is determined to become the oldest swinger in town by breaking his championship duck in the West of Ireland Amateur Open at Rosses Point today.

He might be the last County Sligo man standing, but local hopeGary McDermott welcomes the pressure as he bids to become the first home winner of the West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship for 63 years.

Waterford hurling great Paul Flynn is hoping that ignorance is bliss when he makes his championship debut in the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open at Rosses Point today.

Ireland suffered heartache in a dramatic climax to the Men’s Amateur Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes on the Ayrshire coast last night as their title disappeared in the dying moments of the round-robin series.

Ireland returned to the Glasgow Gailes Links on the Ayrshire coast at the crack of dawn to complete their battle with Scotland in the Men’s Home Internationals after rain halted play last night.

Ireland captain Pádraig Hogan believes a strong start against hosts Scotland tomorrow will be key to success in the Home Internationals at Glasgow Gailes.

Alan Dunbar bounced back from a poor opening round to equal the course record at Carton House’s Montgomerie layout and leap into contention at the European Amateur Championship.

Rathmore’s Alan Dunbar leads a strong Irish contingent looking to score a home victory against a stacked international field at Carton House this week for the International European Amateur Championship.

If perseverance and commitment count for anything, then Pat Murray will win the West Coast Hotels-sponsored South of Ireland at Lahinch today.

Captain Phil Cooney and his superbly balanced Munster team were celebrating at Royal Co Down last night after they completed a clean sweep in the Interprovincial Championship by beating a hotly fancied Ulster side by 7 matches to 4.

Connacht, who bridged a 28 year gap when capturing the title at Rosses Point last year, begin their defence of the Interprovincial Championship this morning with a difficult match against Munster at Royal Co Down.

Seven Irish players contest this week’s Scottish Open but while Pádraig Harrington will tee up on the acclaimed Castle Stuart course to the east of Inverness with the comfort of a British Open tee time, it won’t be the same for six others.

Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington, 2nd and 4th in the US Open, spearhead the home challenge in next week’s Irish Open at Royal Portrush.

Muskerry’s Niall Gorey and West Waterford’s Gary Hurley are just five shots off the pace after a scorching start to the Golfsure-sponsored Irish Amateur Close.

Malahide teenager Gavin Moynihan joined major winners Padraig Harrington and Louis Oosthuizen on the roll of champions when he produced a brilliant short game display and defied near gale force winds to clinch the Irish Amateur Open in dramatic fashion at Royal Dublin.

It was a polished Diamond — one Harry Diamond from the Belvoir Park club in Belfast — who shone brightest at scenic Rosses Point to take the title in the final of the Radisson Blu West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship yesterday.

Stephen Healy (Claremorris) will represent the home province on the final day of the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at Rosses Point today after a clear-cut 4 and 3 triumph over Nicholas Grant (Knock) in their quarter-final yesterday.

Local teenager Sean Flanagan is still on track to claim the Co Sligo club’s first West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship since 1950 following his terrific showing in yesterday’s two matchplay rounds at Rosses Point.

England’s James McCormick was the surprise leader after the opening stroke play round of the Radisson Blu-sponsored West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at a damp and gloomy Rosses Point yesterday.

The Lee Valley Scratch Cup tees off this weekend.

THE yawning gap of 34 years since David Young was the last man from host club Royal Portrush to win the North of Ireland Amateur Open Championship closed yesterday.

GOLF star Rory McIlroy was given a hero’s reception yesterday as he arrived at Wimbledon. The young Irishman arrived to hearty applause from fans after he lifted the recent US Open — his first major.

SIXTY-ONE years have passed since a Rosses Point man last lifted the Radisson Blu sponsored West of Ireland Championship.