Bubba Watson continued his impressive bid for a second Masters title in three years on Friday as Thomas Bjorn became Europe’s leading contender for a first victory since 1999.

Rory McIlroy allayed fears about the state of his game by storming into contention at the Valero Texas Open.

Shane Lowry will face Rory McIlroy in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona on Wednesday.

Tiger Woods made a blistering start to his second round at the Farmers Insurance Open today to race into a three-shot lead in La Jolla, California.

The opening session of the Ryder Cup was shared 2-2 for the first time since 1997 after an action-packed – and for a moment contentious – morning’s golf at Medinah in Chicago.

The man who secured the winning point in the last Ryder Cup was today aiming to claim the first in defence of the trophy, alongside “the greatest player on the planet”.

The USPGA Tour like to call it the ‘Fifth Major’ and with a prize fund of $9.5m (€7.3m) and the presence of nine of the top 10 in the world rankings, the 39th Tournament Players Championship at Sawgrass looks like living up to expectations.

Rory McIlroy’s return yesterday to the top of the world rankings even though he only tied for 40th in the Masters and didn’t play at all last week has many people mystified as to how this could possibly happen.

Hunter Mahan has climbed from 22nd to ninth in the world after capturing the Accenture Match Play Championship by beating Rory McIlroy in the final.

Luke Donald is set to start his Accenture Match Play title defence against former world number one Ernie Els in Tucson on Wednesday.

It has been a long, long time since John Daly took a lead into a weekend, but that was the situation at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters after he did not hit a single shot yesterday.

Gusts of 35mph meant less than three hours' play was possible on the second day of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha.

Less than three hours’ play was possible before strong winds brought a suspension of play at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha today.

Gonzalo Fernandez Castano holds a one shot lead after day one of a windswept Qatar Masters in Doha.

Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano overcame a desert storm to grab the lead away from American John Daly on the opening day of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha today.

Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal and former Open champion John Daly were among the early pacesetters at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha today.

Whether you agree paying Tiger Woods more in appearance money than the entire prize fund was worth in Abu Dhabi at the weekend or not, he contributed hugely to the success of the tournament.

England’s Robert Rock is up from 117th to 55th in the world after his victory over Tiger Woods and golf’s top four in Abu Dhabi.

Padraig Harrington will need to climb to 65th in the world rather than 64th to earn a place in next month’s Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.

AMERICAN Steve Stricker birdied two of the last three holes to fire a four-under-par 69 in the final round to win the US PGA Hyundai Tournament of Champions by three strokes.

LEE WESTWOOD has taken the world number two spot off Rory McIlroy with his seven-shot victory at the Thailand Championship.

Tiger Woods has climbed back up to 21st in the world rankings after finally ending more than two years without a victory.

Tiger Woods gave up the lead at the Chevron World Challenge as Zach Johnson edged one shot ahead after the third round in California.

Darren Clarke will be trying to end what he calls an “incredibly frustrating” spell in this week’s Australian PGA Championship at Coolum.

PEOPLE should cast their minds back a year before declaring that Tiger Woods is on his way back to the top.

The hug said it all today as Tiger Woods yet again clinched another Presidents Cup victory for the United States.

Greg Norman needs his International side to win eight out of 12 singles at Royal Melbourne tomorrow if they are to avoid a fourth successive Presidents Cup defeat.

Tiger Woods still has to prove he was worth a wild card for this week’s Presidents Cup – but America still lead by two points.

Tiger Woods suffered the biggest match play defeat of his life today - but it was still the Americans who began the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne much the better.

The highly-anticipated match-up between Tiger Woods and Adam Scott will happen on the opening day of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

TWELVE months ago, Pádraig Harrington ended a two-year title drought when he won the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia.

Tiger Woods returns to action in the Australian Open this week down at 58th in the world – just one year after losing the number one spot to Lee Westwood.

RORY McILROY is gunning for Luke Donald.

Sergio Garcia has climbed from 31st to 18th in the world following his second successive victory at the Andalucia Masters.

Keegan Bradley held a two-shot lead at the end of the first round of the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Tiger Woods has dropped another three places to 36th in the latest world rankings.

Tiger Woods, expected to announce later this week that he is returning to action at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday week, is out of the world’s top 20 for the first time since January 1997.

It did not take long for Royal St George’s to serve up a warning of what troubles lay in store for the remaining players in the Open Championship today.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE believes it would have been in Rory McIlroy’s best interest to play an event before next week’s British Open at Sandwich.

Vijay Singh, joint runner-up the last time The Open was held at Sandwich in 2003, will have the chance to play in next week’s championship there – if he is fit enough.

Nick Watney fired an eight-under-par 62 to set a new course record and take the joint lead heading into the final round of the AT&T National in Pennsylvania.

Irish golfer Rory McIlroy has climbed to third in the golf world rankings after his runaway victory at the US Open last week.

THERE was a time not so long ago when Tiger Woods ruled the majors and picking a winner was easy. You didn’t have to get it right but few would argue with your selection.

Graeme McDowell has the bragging rights over fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy again as he starts his defence of the US Open at Congressional near Washington this week.