IF it boils down to a battle of the rookies at Celtic Manor this weekend, then the Ryder Cup will be safely back in European hands. There are 11 debutants between the two teams with six in the home side – with three straight into action this morning.

Richard Collins investigates the ‘see-ip’ call of this visiting songbird.

THIS was one homecoming that Darren Clarke will not have relished.

GRAEME McDOWELL is finally getting his feet back on the ground seven weeks after his US Open heroics and right on schedule for a proper assault on a second major title at this week’s USPGA Championship.

SUPER-CONFIDENT Martin Kaymer lived up to his own hype with a four-shot win in the KLM Open at Hilversum yesterday – the fifth victory in-a-row by a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

GERMANY’S Martin Kaymer has a very good command of the English language but it took the first major victory of his career to learn the meaning of “unflappable”.

HEADY days for Irish rugby. Two teams in the weekend’s Heineken Cup quarter-finals, the World Cup can’t come soon enough, and Dublin’s Aoife McCarthy has given IRFU chiefs another reason to smile.

AN IRISH fashion designer told a court yesterday that a Dunnes Stores top was “a direct copy” of a Karen Millen sweater, in a landmark legal case over the protection of design rights.

England’s Tyrrell Hatton pocketed the first prize of €1.8million

The Masters Tournament has announced it will postpone this year’s tournament to a date to be determined later in the year.

It took a mere 11 minutes of the 2020 inter-county season to throw up the first controversial incident of the new playing rules.

The racist abuse that local councillor Hazel Chu has received has emboldened her to run for the Senate, as well as for President of Ireland.

It was perhaps the most agonising three-putt in majors history but Dustin Johnson insisted he was proud of his efforts after another last-day heartbreak.

Anthony Elding said he couldn’t have written the script better as his dream ending to the season saw him win the FAI Ford Cup for Sligo Rovers.

The way Martin Kaymer has plotted his way so assuredly around Oak Hill so far this week, it is staggering to think there were genuine concerns the German was not fit for purpose on the European team at last September’s Ryder Cup.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has called on his team to make history in tonight’s Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Juventus at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.