Kevin Markham gives an A-Z to get you in the mood for the excitement of the Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy may have enhanced his chances of completing the career grand slam by opting out of the par-three contest, but the world No 3 still faces a tough task to end Europe’s surprising Masters drought.

He has twice lifted the Claret Jug, made a reservation for a place in golf’s Hall of Fame and etched his success into the collective memory of Irish sports fans.

It did not need George O’Grady to tell us it is Darren Clarke’s time to captain Europe at the Ryder Cup, writes Simon Lewis.

Darren Clarke, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn were set to discover on Wednesday which of them will have the daunting task of following in Paul McGinley’s footsteps as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.

The European Tour could tomorrow confirm Paul McGinley’s successor as 2016 Ryder Cup captain.

Darren Clarke seems far from a certainty for the 2016 Ryder Cup captaincy vote after Miguel Angel Jimenez refuted claims in a Spanish newspaper that he was not interested in leading the European team.

Paul McGinley flees from the idea that he was the perfect captain or that he has turned the Ryder Cup into a poisoned chalice for his successor.

Paul McGinley deserved the praise he was receiving from his players as they sipped the champagne and held the trophy that meant he was a winning Ryder Cup captain.

Paul McGinley is confident Rory McIlroy’s conversion into the dominant figure in world golf also includes a new-found penchant for punctuality given his predecessor Jose Maria Olazabal’s heart-stopping moment at Medinah two years ago.

Paul McGinley believes his experience "riding shotgun" during Europe’s remarkable Ryder Cup run of success has made him better equipped to step into the captaincy role at Gleneagles this weekend.

Tom Watson has targeted beating European hero Ian Poulter in Scotland this weekend as the way for his USA team to gain redemption for their Medinah meltdown two years ago.

Padraig Harrington admits being a vice-captain in this year’s Ryder Cup will tell him if he his cut out to lead a European team himself in the future.

European captain Paul McGinley has named Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal as his final vice-captains for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles later this month.

34-year-old now beside an illustrious winners’ list

Justin Walters is the early leader of the 2014 Irish open which is underway at Fota Island Co Cork.

Rory McIlroy’s break-up with fiancee Caroline Wozniacki is just the latest incident in a long line to threaten the Irishman’s golf game.

Usually in golf, the numbers 64 and 62 represent a brilliant day on the course and a score to be cherished. But when those figures are the number of major championships you have played without a victory, that is not the case.

Jose Maria Olazabal has backed Rory McIlroy to bounce back from a miserable 2013 and be a central figure in Europe’s bid to retain the Ryder Cup in September.

Paul McGinley declared he now has 20 players better prepared for Ryder Cup selection following the dramatic conclusion to the Seve Trophy at St Nom-la-Breteche yesterday.

Reigning Irish Open champion Paul Casey continues to stake his claim for a return to Ryder Cup action next year after another impressive display on day two of the Seve Trophy in France.

Former Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal will attempt to bring some Medinah magic to the Seve Trophy and lead another European side to a team triumph.

Liam Bond was today looking to take a step closer to an unlikely victory in the ISPS Handa Wales Open which would quadruple his career earnings and leave him top of the Ryder Cup qualifying race.

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.

The age old adage that you should be careful what you wish for is certainly holding true for Darren Clarke, just eight months after what was described as an “unseemly” politicking for the Ryder Cup captaincy.

Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley is assured of a major say in who succeeds him for the 2016 match against the United States after European team chiefs announced an overhaul of the selection process.

Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley is assured of a major say in who succeeds him for the 2016 match against the United States after European team chiefs announced an overhaul of the selection process.

Jose Maria Olazabal and Sam Torrance will lead the respective teams in the Seve Trophy in France this October.

As Paul McGinley predicted, when he met Darren Clarke, his one-time Ryder Cup team-mate turned captaincy rival on the first tee at Oak Hill yesterday, it was smiles as they shook hands.

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.

Sleeping on Saturday evening would not have come easy to the top two players on the eve of their final round of the 2013 Irish Open.

The title sponsor that Pádraig Harrington says he has up his sleeve, and anyone who may be contemplating pumping millions into the Irish Open prize fund, will not have been enthused by the leaderboard in Maynooth yesterday.

Paul Casey today claimed the 12th European Tour title of his career in dramatic fashion after overturning a four-shot deficit in the final round of the Irish Open.

Jose-Maria Olazabal tried everything to play down his prospects of bridging the 23-year gap since he last won the Irish Open Championship.

Players with good form at Gleneagles and experience of playing in bad weather will rank “very highly” in the list of contenders for one of European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley’s three wild cards.

Graeme McDowell could have been speaking for the entire European contingent when he summed up his efforts at this year’s Masters.

Hopes for a first European green jacket since Jose Maria Olazabal donned his second in 1999 do not look likely to rest on his compatriots as Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño failed to repeat their opening-round success yesterday at the Masters.

It’s 14 years since a European donned one of Augusta National’s famous green jackets and was proclaimed Masters champion.

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.

Medinah miracle worker Jose Maria Olazabal has heaped praise on his successor as Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley.

Paul McGinley has been chosen to lead Europe in their defence of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland next year.

Speculation that Colin Montgomerie could return as Ryder Cup captain on Tuesday has not changed Jose Maria Olazabal’s position.

THERE will be no gold medals here; no trinkets, baubles or pay cheques.