Phil Mickelson knew this was coming, even when he had so little to show for it.

Phil Mickelson's 100th major appearance ended with a far more disappointing statistic as the five-time major winner suffered an early exit at Quail Hollow.

English duo Danny Willett and Ian Poulter made the early running on the first day of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

It remains one of the most enduring and endearing images of recent Open Championship history.

Last Tuesday, the members of Muirfield Golf Club — the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which owns and runs the course — voted overwhelmingly to allow lady golfers to join the oldest recorded golf club in the world.

England's Matt Fitzpatrick remained firmly in contention to add a first PGA Tour title to his impressive CV on day two of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Rory McIlroy has indicated he can’t easily forgive Muirfield members despite their belated vote to admit women members for the first time in the 273-year history of the course this week.

Muirfield has told women interested in joining its ranks to “go for it” but be prepared for a wait after the course reversed a men-only membership policy and was restored as an Open venue.

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers insists the organisation should "stay out of politics" after revealing its relationship with Turnberry owner Donald Trump has not changed since he became US President.

It might not have been rock bottom for Henrik Stenson as he packed his bags on a January Friday night and slunk out of the 2012 Qatar Masters after another missed cut but the Swede had every reason to feel low.

Henrik Stenson believed his turn had arrived to become golf’s latest major champion and with it end the question of when Sweden would finally win one of the sport’s greatest prizes.

What a way to grab you and your country’s maiden major championship victory.

Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson were threatening to turn the 145th Open Championship into their own private duel as Rory McIlroy's patience snapped along with his three wood.

Frustrated Rory McIlroy has more than just a broken three-wood to mend after another disappointing day at the 145th Open left him finally accepting he was out of the running at Royal Troon.

There was a time when it was understandable to wonder just why Phil Mickelson carried a passport. Oh, that’s right, he needed it for those Ryder Cup visits to Europe every four years.

In a sport with many big egos, tunnel visions and platitudes, it will be wonderful today to witness two of the “good guys” in the game, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson, going head to head at the Open Championship.

Phil Mickelson saw major championship history elude him at the last moment but at least has the comfort of a healthy lead going into today’s Open Championship second round.

‘Duel in the Sun’ is still The Open’s greatest day, writes Kevin Markham.

Strange place, this Oakmont Country Club. Perhaps the only place in our golf world where it is the goal of membership to inflict pain.

Rory McIlroy veered from the sublime to the ridiculous to miss the halfway cut in the US Open as Lee Westwood and Shane Lowry remained firmly in contention at Oakmont.

Christy O’Connor didn’t subscribe to the view that his enormous success on the golf course was attributable to a natural God-given talent for the game.

Rory McIlroy has cut down on the distractions as he attempts to complete the career grand slam at Augusta this week.

If Arnold Palmer romanticised the American pilgrimage to the Open Championship and Jack Nicklaus cemented its competitive importance, Tom Watson humanised it.

The wheels of progress turn very slowly at Portmarnock but if the sticky issue of women members is ever resolved, Shane Lowry will join Rory McIlroy at the top of the queue for the return of the Irish Open to what many consider to be Ireland’s blue riband links.

Graeme McDowell wasn’t ringing any Open Championship alarm bells as he looks certain to drop outside the World’s Top 50 for a first time in more than five years after missing the halfway cut in the defence of his French Open title.

Renowned for his short-game prowess, Phil Mickelson sometimes does his best scoring with his biting perspective and cunning wit.

Rory McIlroy will begin his bid for a second US Open title this afternoon determined to separate the men from the boys on a course at Chambers Bay he believes will severely punish poor play.

Chambers Bay may remind Rory McIlroy of The Open at Muirfield two years ago but the world number one will play this week’s US Open in much better shape than the man that slunk away from the Scottish links after a missed cut.

Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from this week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in San Francisco for personal reasons, paving the way for Finland’s Mikko Ilonen to enter.

Veteran BBC commentator Peter Alliss has said that the corporation should have tried harder to win the rights to the Open Championship and that attempts to give women equal rights in golf have “caused mayhem”.

Just 27% of Rory McIlroy’s fellow professionals think the world No.1 will complete the career grand slam by winning the Masters this week.

Tiger Woods has dropped out of the world’s top 100 golfers for the first time since 1996.

Tiger Woods vowed to "keep fighting" and ruled out using injury as an excuse after the worst round of his professional career left him staring at a last-place finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Royal Troon Golf Club has announced its intention to undertake a “comprehensive review” of its membership policy.

Check out our spoiler-free guide to what’s good to watch on the box tonight.

No snapped clubs for Henrik Stenson at Valhalla yesterday, just a lot of love for his putter as the Swede stayed in touch with Rory McIlroy at the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard.

Graeme McDowell led the praise for "the curly-haired kid" at Hoylake last night as Rory McIlroy got his hands on the Claret Jug and brought Irish golf its eighth major in as many years.

The predicted thunderstorms failed to materialise, but Rory McIlroy provided the fireworks to take a stranglehold on the 143rd Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Open Championship leader Rory McIlroy will take to the Royal Liverpool links later looking to avoid the dreaded second-round syndrome which has dogged him all year.

There was a time when it was fair to question whether American golfers even owned passports. So spoiled, so comfortable, so insular in their PGA Tour world were they that their travels outside the home fence were few and far between.

The eyes of the golfing world, not to mention a dedicated TV channel, will be on Tiger Woods in the opening round of the 143rd Open Championship on Thursday.

Shane Lowry will try to maintain an even keel this week as he aims to carry his good form into tomorrow’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter will play through the pain barrier in this week’s Open Championship after being assured he can take on Hoylake’s heavy rough without aggravating a wrist problem.