They call it the toughest test in golf, the US Open, and the class of 2014 are going to find in Pinehurst No 2 one of the most exacting examinations of their credentials as the second Major of the year gets under way in North Carolina today.

When the US Open returns to Pinehurst next week, a few crucial elements will be missing from the last time it was staged there, back in 2005.

New Zealand’s Michael Campbell has announced he will not return to the scene of his US Open triumph at Pinehurst next month after separating from his wife.

New Zealand’s Michael Campbell has announced he will not return to the scene of his US Open triumph at Pinehurst next month after separating from his wife.

The blisters on Peter Lawrie’s left hand reveal just how determined one of the nicest guys on the European Tour is to break free of a continuing downturn in form.

Lithuanian prosecutors have appealed the acquittal of an Irishman charged with plotting to smuggle arms to the Real IRA.

An Irishman jailed in Lithuania after being convicted of trying to buy weapons for the Real IRA has been freed by an appeal court.

The Irishman cleared by a court in Lithuania of trying to buy weapons for the organisation which bombed Omagh may seek compensation, it was revealed.

An Irish man jailed in Lithuania after being convicted of trying to buy weapons for the Real IRA has been freed by an appeal court.

An Irishman appealing his imprisonment in Lithuania for attempting to smuggle arms to the Real IRA has said he has been framed by British Intelligence.

One of Munster’s best known bar/restaurant premises, which was sold in 2006 for around €3 million, is back on the market with a guide price of €875,000.

Paul McGinley continues to make it clear that he will be his own man when attempting to mastermind Europe’s Ryder Cup defence at Gleneagles next year.

It was the most English of distances — a couple of paces less than a cricket pitch — yet for Paul Casey the 20-yard walk to pull the ball out of the hole on the 18th green on the Montgomerie Course was the most pleasant of journeys.

This country has produced many of the game’s finest but for reasons not always easy to fathom, their record at the Irish Open is a long way short of what might have been expected.

As he prepares to defend his Masters title this week, Bubba Watson has revealed his determination not to be a one-major wonder.

Darren Clarke didn’t drop a shot despite describing as “brutal” this week’s Tshwane Open course — one of the longest on the 2013 Race to Dubai schedule.

Double winning Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson believes Europe could be an even stronger force under Paul McGinley than compared to victorious former captains Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, Ryder Cup team-mates who both ended last year lifting a trophy, are part of a four-way tie for the halfway lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Ricardo Santos, who last year became Portugal’s first European Tour winner for 20 years, made a flying start to the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha today.

Former US Open champion Michael Campbell took more steps on the comeback trail today by moving into a share of the early lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha.

It did not take long for Justin Rose to lose the lead when he resumed the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship today – but it was a surprise who took top spot off him.

Miguel Angel Jimenez tonight celebrated becoming the European Tour’s oldest-ever winner – after a week which could have seen him fall outside the world’s top 100 for the first time in nine years.

Missing the halfway cut in the defence of his UBS Hong Kong Open title has only reinforced Rory McIlroy’s goal to cut back on his playing schedule.

World number one Rory McIlroy was resigned to missing his first cut since the US Open in June after a shocking finish to his second round at the Hong Kong Open today.

Miguel Angel Jimenez gave himself another chance to become the European Tour’s oldest-ever winner when he began the UBS Hong Kong Open with a five under par 65 today.

The best season of Jamie Donaldson’s career could be about to get even better.

Irishman Shane Lowry today became only the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional.

Former US Open champion Michael Campbell, who has gone four years without a top 10 finish, was up into a tie for second and only two off the lead after five holes of the Portugal Masters final round today.

England's Graeme Storm took a two-shot first-round lead at the KLM Open after a seven-birdie 63 at Hilversum today.

Were golf a team sport and he had a friendship with Harry Sinden, Lee Westwood, perhaps, would be in better position for a Major title.

Major winner Keegan Bradley’s first-ever tournament in Europe lasted only two days, but the American believes he is now better equipped for The Open at Royal Lytham in three weeks.

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.

Scotland’s Marc Warren has won a World Cup with Colin Montgomerie, two European Tour titles and over £2m, but remarkably has never played in a major.

Fourteen Major champions, plus world number one Luke Donald and third-ranked Lee Westwood, are in the field for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on May 24-27.

A total of 9,006 golfers, just 80 short of the record, have entered this year’s US Open, the event at which Rory McIlroy last year became the youngest champion since amateur Bobby Jones in 1923.

Miguel Angel Jimenez admits that staging the Andalucian Open this week will cost him money because of a struggle for sponsorship.

HAVING consolidated his place at the top of the world rankings by finishing third in the WGC Cadillac event at the weekend, Rory McIlroy takes a three-week break before the Masters at Augusta on April 5.

A Louth man wanted in Lithuania on terrorism and firearms charges is challenging his extradition in the High Court.

THE European Tour insisted yesterday no final decision has been made on the venue for the 2012 Irish Open — despite suggestions from Tour chief George O’Grady that the tournament will be boosted by “an exciting new package” next year.

A BARBER who callously shaved the word “fool” in inch-high letters on to the back of the head of a man with learning difficulties has been handed a community order.

A BROTHER of one of the men blamed for the Omagh bomb atrocity has been jailed for 12 years for trying to buy weapons and explosives in Lithuania.

THE conviction of Michael Campbell in a Lithuanian court yesterday marks the end of an international “sting” involving the police and security services of three nations.

A Lithuanian judge has found an Irish man guilty of trying to buy weapons and explosives in a six-year sting orchestrated by Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5, and jailed him for 12 years.

An Irish citizen on trial in Lithuania on charges of trying to purchase illegal weapons and explosives says he is not guilty and that he was provoked by undercover agents.