THE little fella might have been three decades older than his 53 years the way he struggled up the hill.

MAURICE O’Meara grew up in Malahide, a mile and a half from the gates of Portmarnock Golf Club.

JUST when it appeared the Irish Seniors Open would fall by the wayside after the withdrawal of AIB’s long-standing sponsorship, support for the event at Carton House next weekend came from an unusual quarter.

IT has been another good year on the European Seniors Tour for Ireland’s Denis O’Sullivan.

ALTHOUGH he probably knows the great Kerry links better than every other player in the field, Denis O’Sullivan makes his first competitive appearance at Ballybunion since 1991 when he takes part in the AIB Irish Seniors Open which begins this morning.

THE clerk of the weather did all in his power to destroy the 3 Irish Open and inflict untold damage on it for many years to come.

The decision on who takes over from Nick Faldo as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain seems unlikely to be made before May.

The Ryder Cup may only have ended two weeks ago, but Justin Rose has already turned his mind to regaining the trophy in Wales in 2010.

WITHIN moments of the Ryder Cup having been regained by America the inquest had begun and the knee-jerk reaction from Kentucky to Kent was to stick the boot into Europe captain Nick Faldo.

IAN WOOSNAM’S affinity for eastern Europe this year continued after the Welshman fired a six under par round of 65 to lead after the first round of the inaugural Casa Serena Open in the Czech Republic.

Jose Maria Olazabal says he still believes “very strongly” that Sergio Garcia will go on to major glory.

Darren Clarke believes Nick Faldo will make a “sensational” Ryder Cup captain - whatever opinion opposite number Paul Azinger or anybody else has of him.

The player seen as the European most likely to end the eight-year drought in the Majors this week does not believe he has to change his “nice guy” image to do it.

Colin Montgomerie has not always considered himself lucky - far from it, in fact. But he does at the moment.

For Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie the Open marks a line in the sand for the two golfers.

Ian Woosnam has expressed his delight after Europe’s Ryder Cup side, beaten to the BBC Team of the Year award by St Helens Rugby League Club, were named today as the Golf Writers’ Trophy winners for 2006.

NOW for a major championship! That’s the message from newly-crowned European Order of Merit winner, Pádraig Harrington.

Darren Clarke believes the wealth of young European talent could steer the continent to a fourth Ryder Cup triumph in a row in two years’ time at Valhalla.

IN the end there was such a love-in, it felt wrong to have forced the two sides in the Ryder Cup to play each other at all.

Paul Casey produced the greatest finish to any Ryder Cup game in history today - with a hole-in-one.

IAN WOOSNAM isn’t one for curveballs, so it didn’t require Mystic Meg to figure out his pairings yesterday as Europe’s fine-tuning continued ahead of the Ryder Cup.

IF THE American team room is oozing with bonhomie, camaraderie and good vibes, European captain Ian Woosnam went a long way yesterday to counter any suspicion that things were different in any way among his players.

IAN WOOSNAM may still be playing Ryder Cup captaincy catch-up, but he’s getting there. A man of his vast experience and innate cunning was never going to be left behind.

Paul McGinley can feel his self-belief starting to grow again, but is ready to accept any decision European captain Ian Woosnam wants to make.

Nick Faldo believes next weekend’s Ryder Cup will be as tight as the security surrounding the K Club.

RACEHORSES, stamps, artists, chefs and fashionistas. It seems there is nothing or nobody that doesn’t want to be associated with Ryder Cup guff… er, golf.

Darren Clarke returns to golf tomorrow just 32 days after his wife Heather lost her battle with cancer.

Thomas Bjorn let rip at Ian Woosnam today in a way that will send shock waves through European golf two weeks ahead of the match against the Americans.

Nothing was going to stop Colin Montgomerie flying from Munich to Glasgow for a Robbie Williams concert tonight – and only something extraordinary will now prevent Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal earning Ryder Cup places tomorrow.

Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal today became near-certainties to be part of the European team going for a record third successive Ryder Cup victory in less than three weeks’ time.

Thomas Bjorn believes Darren Clarke should be a certainty for a Ryder Cup wild card on Sunday night if he feels ready to return to golf.

Lee Westwood climbed off his sick bed today and gave a performance that ought to make every European – not just Ian Woosnam – want him in the Ryder Cup next month.

Paul Casey would love to see Darren Clarke line up alongside him at the Ryder Cup in three weeks’ time.

Ian Woosnam is keeping his two wild cards close to his chest as the race for places in his Ryder Cup team comes down to the crunch.

Jose Maria Olazabal’s return to the Ryder Cup after seven years suddenly has a huge question mark over it. And not just because he fell from third to 10th in the qualifying table this weekend.

Paul McGinley believes Europe will have their strongest team ever for this year’s Ryder Cup at the K Club in September.

Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley is determined to keep “chiselling away” at the points necessary to ensure a place in what he believes will be the strongest European team ever.

Colin Montgomerie began the KLM Open today as a hot favourite to take advantage of a weakened field and win his first tournament of the year.

European captain Ian Woosnam welcomed Lee Westwood’s return to top form as the race for Ryder Cup places gathers momentum.

Lee Westwood carded a course-record 63 in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship to boost his Ryder Cup credentials.

Welshman Bradley Dredge lost his grip on the Smurfit Kappa European Open in wet and windy Dublin this afternoon.

Welshman Bradley Dredge continued to lead the Smurfit Kappa European Open in wet and windy Dublin today – but he was not going to achieve a feat last achieved on the European tour 14 years ago.