Ireland’s Pádraig Harrington will continue his bid to stop his slide down the world rankings in the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi this week.

Pádraig Harrington is reluctant to draw on a one-time only PGA Tour money list exemption should he not finish first or second in this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.

It was a loaded question and Rory McIlroy delivered the correct answer when asked what would be the perfect 25th birthday gift this coming Sunday, which is also the final day of the Wells Fargo Championship.

Rory McIlroy admits his Masters record is a source of disappointment and he cannot imagine ending his career without a green jacket.

Steve Stricker was among those who at first believed the news was a cruel April Fool’s Day joke when informed the 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods has withdrawn from next week’s Masters due to injury.

Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano today made light of tricky conditions to move within one shot of the lead as the second round of the 77th Masters got under way at Augusta.

A year after claiming he was not good enough to win a Major and needed to "play for second or third place", Sergio Garcia claimed a share of the lead on the opening day of the 77th Masters.

Rory McIlroy’s Masters bid was off to a solid start at Augusta National last night as he continued his newfound form into the opening major of the year.

He may be the world No 29 and three-time PGA Tour winner but the last time the public outside of the golfing bubble got a good look at Brandt Snedeker they will have seen an American kid getting all choked up about losing the Masters.

Lee Westwood aimed to make his actions speak louder than his words again as he took a one-stroke lead into the second round of The Masters.

Rory McIlroy bravely carried on through the pain at the USPGA Championship in Atlanta today after injuring his right wrist playing a high-risk shot.

SO how exactly did Darren Clarke, ranked 111th in the world, climb from the depths of despair to become British Open champion?

A second-round 66 gave Fred Couples a two-shot lead at the Northern Trust Open in California today.

Carl Pettersson shot a tournament-record 10-under-par 60 to haul himself into contention heading into the final round of the Canadian Open at St George's.

WHEN Tiger Woods won the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews by eight shots, hardly an eyebrow was raised in surprise.

The new US Open champion Graeme McDowell will have to wait until just before 2pm on Thursday when he tees off with two former winners of that title, Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy at the Open in St Andrews.

A COUPLE of weeks ago, Graeme McDowell became the first European winner of the US Open in 40 years for two very good reasons.

ONE month he wins the Champion Hurdle with Binocular, the next it’s the Aintree Grand National, and it seems life just couldn’t get any better for JP McManus.

YOU might not realise it, but this week’s Masters has more than just one entrant.

Tiger Woods will play with fellow American Matt Kuchar and Korean KJ Choi in the first two rounds of The Masters on Thursday and Friday.

Much has been made of England having eight players in next week’s Masters, but the South African contingent is arguably even stronger.

Irish 20-year-old Rory McIlroy has emerged as one the stars of 2009 as the end-of-year golf world rankings were released today.

Americans Brad Faxon and Brett Quigley instantly made their presence felt at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland today.

Graeme McDowell began his bid to keep his Ryder Cup place exactly how he wanted today – with a birdie.

Last year’s Masters champion Trevor Immelman is not expecting a Presidents Cup call-up from Greg Norman next week – unless he does something truly spectacular in Switzerland first.

Korean Yang Yong-eun’s amazing victory over Tiger Woods in the US PGA Championship – the first win by an Asian-born player in any of the men’s majors - has taken him from 110th in the world to 34th.

Last season’s Masters champion Trevor Immelman, who has been out of action since withdrawing from the Memorial Tournament a month ago with a wrist injury, has pulled out of next week’s Open at Turnberry.

Trevor Immelman and Robert Karlsson, last year’s Masters champion and last year’s European number one, have both withdrawn from this coming week’s Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Padraig Harrington will tee-off with defending champion Tiger Woods and 2007 champion Angel Cabrera at this week's US Open at Bethpage, New York.

Robert Allenby will resume second-round play at the storm-delayed St Jude Classic confident he can finish off the good work he started last night in Memphis.

Gareth Maybin did not leave Turin in the best of moods last May after missing the halfway cut in the Piemonte Open.

IRELAND’S Gareth Maybin, so close to winning just the seventh European Tour event of his career in December, was in a class of his own when the BMW Italian Open began in Turin yesterday.

Irish golfer Gareth Maybin, so close to winning just the seventh European Tour event of his career in December, was in a class of his own when the BMW Italian Open began in Turin today.

CONFIRMATION of Pádraig Harrington’s playing schedule in upcoming weeks has brought both delight but also disappointment to fans and tournament organisers on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Brian Gay strengthened his lead at the Verizon Heritage with a bogey-free third round four-under-par 67 at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina.

Luke Donald made his move in the Verizon Heritage in South Carolina today as he posted an early low score to give the leaders something to think about at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Former Open champion Todd Hamilton moved to the top of the leaderboard at the Verizon Heritage today as overnight pacesetter Alex Cejka battled to stay in touch.

Germany's Alex Cejka grabbed the first-round lead at the Verizon Heritage event as Jose Maria Olazabal found his way onto a leaderboard again at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Germany’s Alex Cejka gave the Verizon Heritage field a low score to aim at as he took the early clubhouse lead at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Defending Masters champion Trevor Immelman says of Tiger Woods: “Whether he’s human or not is still up for debate.”

Paul Casey can remember the pain of it all too easily and so can Ian Poulter. Now they have the chance and are in the mood to hit back at what Augusta did to them.

Sean O’Hair will start the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a five-shot lead over Tiger Woods following an arduous day in the wind at Bay Hill.

Trevor Immelman is the last player to beat Tiger Woods in a major – and he hopes he might be the next as well.

Trevor Immelman insisted today that Rory McIlroy has a chance to succeed him as Masters champion next month – if he can show he possesses the X-factor.