Troy Matteson kept up his furious pace with a five-under 66 to lead by three from three-time defending champion Steve Stricker going into the final round of the John Deere Classic.

Only three players in golf history have won 10 or more majors, but Tiger Woods has helped to identify who might join him, Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen.

ST ANDREW’S and the Open Championship. It certainly has a very special ring to it.

AS he sat in self-imposed exile over the weekend, Tiger Woods would have cast a jaundiced eye over the advice flowing in his direction.

RORY McILROY’S recent comment that he “looked forward to playing for Team GB” in the 2016 Olympic Games revived a controversy that blew up more than 50 years ago when a great Irish lady golfer withdrew from the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team because the blazer badge displayed only the Union Jack flag.

Overnight rain softened the long Hazeltine National course as Tiger Woods prepared to defend a two-shot lead in the final round of the US PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods will take his unbeaten record as a 54-hole major leader into the final round of the US PGA Championship mindful of his rivals but relishing the battle ahead.

THE BOOKMAKERS don’t often get it wrong but after studying the less than overwhelming performances by our leading players in recent tournaments, it is surprising to see Pádraig Harrington (25/1) and Rory McIlroy (28/1), quoted as third and fourth favourites for this week’s Open Championship at Turnberry.

The absence of Tiger Woods is going to be far more noticeable at the final major of the year than it was at the Open.

From a chance at three in a row to a no-show, Phil Mickelson’s life at major championships has been anything but charmed lately.

First there was Bobby Jones and the “Impregnable Quadrilateral” of 1930. Then came the “Tiger Slam” of 2000-01 when Woods held all four majors at the same time.

Tiger Woods heads a talented 16-man field for this week’s Target World Challenge which begins at the Sherwood Country Club in California today.

AMERICAN journeyman Bart Bryant upstaged world number one Tiger Woods by cruising to a six-shot victory in the season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday.

IT all ended at 4.40pm on a muggy St Andrews afternoon although there were still an hour and twenty five minutes of golf to be played.

Tiger Woods broke down after grabbing his fourth Masters and ninth major title at Augusta last night as he dedicated his victory to his ill father.

After 10 majors without a win and five where he had not even been in contention in the last round, Tiger Woods achieved an amazing fourth Masters victory at Augusta tonight.

Nick Faldo claims he has “no idea” whether he or Ian Woosnam will be picked to captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 2006.

Ernie Els’ bid for a record-equalling fourth straight Heineken Classic title got off to a faltering start today.

Former world number one Greg Norman will be wired for sound at this week’s Heineken Classic in Melbourne.

TIGER WOODS has shafted his Nike driver and reverted to his tried and trusted Titleist for this weekend’s US PGA Championship.

THE Country Club of Rochester, the venue for this week’s US Open Championship, holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Irish golfers.

WORLD number one Tiger Woods may have thought he had achieved all he could in golf, but the authors of a new book have given the great one a fresh challenge.

Nick Faldo began his preparations for the US Masters today, fervently hoping to cling on to his special piece of tournament history.

The gates to Augusta National were closed to the public for the first time in 20 years today after bad weather disrupted the build-up to this week’s US Masters.

Thunder and lightning today greeted the early arrivals for this week’s US Masters at Augusta.

MIND GAMES or exasperation? Who knows why South Africa’s Retief Goosen chose the Madrid Open to label his Irish rival for the Order of Merit, Padraig Harrington “the slowest player on the European Tour.”

YOU'RE lucky to get 2 to 1 against Tiger Woods winning his ninth major at Muirfield this week.

AMERICAN Brad Faxon believes golfing greats like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player are wrong to criticise current players for not doing more to challenge Tiger Woods' supremacy in the game.

It is next stop Muirfield for Tiger Woods as he tries to achieve golf’s first-ever Grand Slam of all four majors in one year.

Tiger Woods tonight joined Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only men to make a successful defence of the Masters at Augusta.

Colin Montgomerie starts his bid for something almost as remarkable as his seven successive Order of Merit titles at Wentworth tomorrow.