Graeme McDowell is on the verge of doing something really “big” in the game but those who fancy a Masters flutter on the pride of Portrush should save their cash for another day.

Matt Every and Graeme McDowell shared the lead after the first round of the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, with Jordan Spieth eight shots off the pace as he came back to earth following his Masters win.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth is confident he will win more majors in pursuit of world number one Rory McIlroy. 

Who would have succeeded in a golfing rivalry between Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods is a debate that has stirred at a thousand clubhouse bars more than 15 years, but Graeme McDowell believes the game’s next giants will turn the hypothetical into reality.

Such is his relationship with Augusta National that the Masters often holds a sting in the tail for Graeme McDowell, but it was a brush with an actual bee that nearly derailed him last night.

Graeme McDowell believes his lack of form could be a blessing in disguise on a course that drives him to distraction. 

Irish professional golf might be enduring a mini-crisis, with four European Tour regulars losing their cards at the Q-School, but there’s some good news on the horizon with West Waterford’s Seamus Power blazing a trail to the PGA Tour.

It may have escaped your notice in the midst of Rory McIlroy’s romantic problems but there is a golf tournament about to get under way at Wentworth today.

While torrential rain stalled Graeme McDowell’s RBC Heritage Classic defence, his goal of making this year’s Ryder Cup team remains on track as he believes his best two chances of collecting another Major will come at he US and British Opens.

Graeme McDowell will hope history repeats itself as he defends his RBC Heritage title at Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head this week.

Rory McIlroy fell victim to his first meltdown since the 2011 Masters when he crashed to a final round 74 and lost in a four-way playoff for the Honda Classic at PGA National last night.

Graeme McDowell’s historic Volvo World Match-Play Championship success has led to suggestions he could have been warned for slow play during Sunday’s final at Thracian Cliffs in Bulgaria.

Graeme McDowell hopes his first PGA Tour win for three years can kickstart his career instead of signalling it is time to take his foot off the gas.

In the wake of last weekend’s RBC Heritage Classic victory, Graeme McDowell has told how his mother was rescued by a lifeguard after getting lost in Hilton Head.

A class act.

There have been some statements from either side of the Atlantic in recent days that have been giving pause for thought regarding the relative status of the European Tour and its bold and brash American cousin, the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy’s return yesterday to the top of the world rankings even though he only tied for 40th in the Masters and didn’t play at all last week has many people mystified as to how this could possibly happen.

Padraig Harrington said in January that he expected to win more majors. Now he is even more convinced.

Pádraig Harrington will not let a closing double bogey at Augusta National detract from the giant strides he has made in getting his game back into what he believes is major-winning shape.

In his previous visits to Houston, Pádraig Harrington looked as if was auditioning for a role at NASA’s nearby high-tech space facility.

Pádraig Harrington is offering millions of euro worth of advertising space to the highest bidder after a family tragedy put his recent golfing struggles into perspective.

PETER LAWRIE leads the Irish charge at the Scottish Open after day one at Castle Stuart near Inverness.

ANOTHER dismal week, another slump in the world rankings.

Luke Donald is on course to become world number one after a second-round of 65 moved him into a one-shot lead at The Heritage at Hilton Head.

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.

A jogger has been killed by a plane as he was running along a beach, US authorities said today.

Despite his lofty world ranking, Justin Rose has hardly been a name on everyone’s lips going into the Players Championship which begins today.

Justin Rose withdrew from the Verizon Heritage tournament at Hilton Head before his second round today because of back trouble.

Boo Weekley will return to defend his title at the Verizon Heritage, which gets under way on Thursday.

Trevor Immelman found some of his long lost form on Saturday after being struck by a debilitating illness at the Masters in April as the South African carded six birdies in a four-under-par 66 in the third round of the US PGA Championship.

Niall Turner led home a strong Irish contingent at this week’s Puerto Rico Collegiate Classic.

Australian Aaron Baddeley admitted his previous solitary experience of winning on the PGA Tour helped him secure his second victory at the £3m (€4.5m) FBR Open at the TPC of Scottsdale in Arizona.

THE FIRST serious head-to-head of the season between the probable US and Ryder Cup teams has ended very emphatically in favour of the Americans at the Masters.

A measure of how well Phil Mickelson had played in the first two rounds of the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta came today from Swede Richard Johnson.

HAVING cavorted around the world since early January, the European Tour finally returns to its roots this week with the €2.5m British Masters getting under way at the Forest of Arden this morning.

DARREN CLARKE needed just four words to sum up his final round collapse in the MCI Heritage at Hilton Head. “Anybody got a beer?” asked the Dungannon man.

THE prospects of a European victory in a major are probably a little brighter after the Masters.

PAUL MCGINLEY had been down in the dumps about his status as a professional golfer prior to finishing a splendid second behind Mark O’Meara in the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday.

IRELAND has been voted the ‘Established Golf Destination of the Year’ by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IGTOA) at a convention in the Dominican Republic.

SUNDAY was one hell of a day for the left-handed brigade.

Justin Leonard won the Worldcom Classic despite failing to pick up a birdie during his final round at the Harbour Town Golf Links.