Ireland’s Paul McGinley hopes his experience of the course at the Yalong Bay Golf Club will put him firmly in contention when the TCL Classic in Hainan begins tomorrow.

EUROPEAN Tour executive director George O’Grady said that if the winds got beyond 50 mph there would be potential structural issues with temporary stands, television towers and the tented areas of the K-Club site.

HIGH winds may have blown yesterday’s Ryder Cup schedule off course but upbeat tourism chiefs say the industry is still on target to benefit massively from the event.

FIANNA Fáil should ban corporate donations to avoid further eroding public confidence in the political system, the Green Party has said.

IT is no coincidence that a national meeting of taxi drivers voted unanimously that their next stoppage will impinge on the very prestigious Ryder Cup golf event, which will be held in this country for the first time.

IT is arguably the most expensive lunch in Dublin this week — €120 a head to dine with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

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.

PAUL McGINLEY strolled from the Augusta National locker room to the practice range as if he was beginning his preparation for just another run-of-the-mill tournament instead of his second tilt at the Masters.

TWO Irishmen watched Greg Owen’s misery at Bay Hill on Sunday from the closest possible quarters.

YOU’LL have the yachting world at the end of your garden if you are quick enough at 1 Ard na Lí, in Cork harbour’s Crosshaven.

BILLIONAIRE race-horse owner JP McManus will definitely be king of the castle when he finally moves into his very own luxury pad in the autumn.

President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin were urged today to end all further contact with the leadership of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association.

FOLLOWING decent performances in Malaysia and California, Padraig Harrington is very positive ahead of the Doral Open and next week’s defence of the Honda Classic.

GOLF and soccer lovers are queuing up to dig deep in aid of a very worthy appeal.

IAN WOOSNAM and his potential Ryder Cup players must have been stirred, if not exactly shaken, by Chris DiMarco’s victory in the Abu Dhabi Championship at the weekend.

PAUL McGINLEY and Padraig Harrington are passing up on the bountiful number of Ryder Cup points at stake in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Championship, which starts on Thursday.

MONTY or Cambo? That’s the big issue here as the Scot and the Kiwi go head-to-head in pursuit of the European Tour order of merit.

“THE most important win of my career.” That was Colin Montgomerie’s verdict at St Andrews last night after he had captured the Dunhill Links Championship in a dramatic finish against Englishman Kenneth Ferrie.

THOUGH Paul McGinley isn’t complaining, it is understandable that players resent the awarding of Ryder Cup and Order of Merit points to those contesting the £2.44m (€3.61m) HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.

THE outstanding behaviour of Munster rugby fans was mentioned during Padraig Harrington's press conference here yesterday.

FOURTH at The K-Club a fortnight ago, second at Loch Lomond over the weekend.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON has declined to accept a penny of the €240,000 he picked up for winning the JP McManus pro-am at Adare Manor on Tuesday.

ONE man dropped his wife off at the maternity ward and returned to play his round of golf, but even he couldn’t upstage mobile phone magnate Denis O’Brien — who had the mother of all chip shots.

THERE were many winners on the first day of the JP McManus pro-am at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort yesterday.

KENNETH FERRIE departed here last night the richer by €577,816 after his sensational victory in the Smurfit European Open.

A MAGNIFICENT eagle three at the 18th has elevated Kilkenny's Gary Murphy into a share of fourth place after the opening round of the Smurfit European Open at The K Club.

Charlie Mulqueen, The Heritage

Ian Woosnam is this morning expected to celebrate his 47th birthday by being confirmed as Europe's next Ryder Cup captain for when the event is staged at the K-Club near Dublin in September 2006.

IT’S now official - there will NOT be an Irish captain of the European Ryder Cup team at The K-Club in September 2006.

WHAT a week that was for Paul Casey. He alienated himself from all things American with an amazing attack on the country and its citizens and followed up with pointed criticism of their new Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman.

THE many who believe Europe will have an even stronger team in the 2006 Ryder Cup match at The K-Club had their view strengthened at Mount Juliet over the weekend when Thomas Bjorn made such a dramatic return to top form.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON sits down at the beginning of each season and lays out his goals for the following 12 months.

SANDY Lyle may be 46 years old and hasn’t won a tournament since 1992 but he still harbours ambitions of making the European Ryder Cup team this year.

REMEMBER those halcyon days when Ben Crenshaw and Hubert Green, Severiano Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo, used to enthrall us all among the sandhills and the sunshine of those famous Co Dublin dunes?

TOO little, too late. That was the message yesterday from Darren Clarke who this time converted an immaculate long game into a three under par round of 68 and a two under par total of 282.

EMBARRASSING. That's the best word to describe the failure of Europe's best to capture the Open Championship or indeed any major title since 1999.

LITTLE did he know it but Kilkenny's Gary Murphy was about to transform his golfing career on the greens of Loch Lomond 12 months ago.

RETIEF GOOSEN is threatening to turn the Smurfit European Open Championship at The K-Club into a one-horse race.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON gamely battled his way through the 30 miles per hour winds for 15 holes at The K-Club yesterday - and then went double bogey, bogey, bogey to throw away four shots.