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PHIL MICKELSON is clearly a member of the Rory McIlroy fan club and can see him winning multiple Masters. The Down man is 11-2 second favourite for the tournament behind Tiger Woods and Mickelson can see why. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CLINT EASTWOOD, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer and are among the star names featuring in a new campaign designed to improve the pace of play, whose theme is taken from the iconic film Caddyshack. Using the line 'While we're young' from Rodney Dangerfield's character, the light-hearted series of public service announcements was launched by the USGA ahead of today's US Open at Merion. 'Pace of play is a big issue,' said Woods, who is seen in the advert being told to hurry up by a group of children before missing a putt on a crazy golf course. 'Rounds take too long and no-one enjoys it. This campaign is light-hearted but it also shows that we need to pick up the pace of play,' he added. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FORMER British Open champion Darren Clarke has set his sights on returning for the Ballantine's Championship on April 25 after confirming that a freak tennis injury has ruled him out of this week's Augusta Masters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY summoned all his Celtic grit in a bid to go into the Masters as a winner yesterday — unfortunately he wasn't the only one. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IN TENNIS, it would be a huge story if the world's 23rd-ranked male or female player — currently Sam Querrey and Su-Wei Hsieh respectively — won one of the biggest titles going. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IRELAND'S top four golfers were meant to be locking horns in the Arizona desert yesterday but instead they were trapped in the clubhouse looking out on a surreal winter scene. The first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, which will now pit Graeme McDowell (right) against Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy against Shane Lowry today, was suspended after driving rain and snow made the Dove Mountain course unplayable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LITTLE guy, big heart, major ambition and the stomach for a fight. Sounds more like Hanna-Barbera character Scrappy Doo, but that''s how Padraig Harrington described Europe''s newlyappointed Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley this week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wet 'n' wild: Michael Hoey has blamed over-hydration for his late collapse in Durban INPHO FORMER paratrooper Thongchai Jaidee stormed into a three-stroke lead over Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen as the Volvo Champions event got underway at a wet and windy Durban Country Club yesterday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SCOTLAND'S Paul Lawrie was a one-shot leader at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Challenge yesterday, his three-under-par 69 giving him the edge at Sun City. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PADRAIG HARRINGTON finished his season with a flourish, carding a finalround 68 to finish in a tie for ninth on 14-under at the DP World Tour Championships. The Dubliner (below) collected a cheque for almost €135,000 — his biggest payout since finishing in a tie for fourth at the US Open. It was also a profitable weekend for Peter Lawrie, who took home over €100,000 for his 14th place finish. However, the European Tour yesterday revealed plans to make next year's season finale more profitable for Europe's elite. The plan is to introduce a 'Final Series' of four big-money events at the end of next season - two in China, one in Turkey and then one in Dubai. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LUKE DONALD picked up where he left off in more ways than one in Dubai — but, as so often in the recent past, it might turn out to be Rory Mcllroy's week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY and Rhys Davies, Walker Cup team-mates five years ago, are back together for the Holywood native's defence of the UBS Hong Kong Open this week — but the similarity ends there for the time being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY staked an early lead before holding on to win by a stroke in his 'Duel at Jinsha Lake' 18-hole exhibition event against Tiger Woods yesterday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PADRAIG HARRINGTON stormed to his first win for two years in Bermuda yesterday, pocketing €460,000 in the process. The Dubliner sealed a one-shot win over Webb Simpson, having only been entered in the four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf after the injured Ernie Els pulled out along with Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods. The 41-year-old shot rounds of 66 and 67 to beat Simpson by one and both Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley by six. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PAD P RAIG HARRINGTON has found himself called into the four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal in Bermuda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JIM FURYK had the round of the day at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, but Rory McIlroy's 10th successive sub-70 score has kept him on course for a $10million jackpot this weekend. The 23-year-old world No 1 sank a 25-foot eagle putt on the 16th in a second round 68 at East Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FORMER world No 1 Vijay Singh rolled back the years with a six-under 66 yesterday to grab the second round lead at the BMW Championship, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy one shot behind and Padraig Harrington lurking a further three strokes back after a 65. With heavy rain forecast for later in the day, play started early at Crooked Stick Golf Club and Singh went right to work mixing seven birdies with a single bogey for a two-day total of a 13-under 131 in the penultimate FedExCup playoff event. 'I've got to keep it going,' Singh, who has not won on the PGA Tour since 2008, said. 'I've been playing well for two days for a while now, but I need four days of good playing. 'Sooner or later I think four days is going to happen, and hopefully it starts this week.' The smooth-swinging Fijian, who started his day one shot off the lead, began on the back nine and was quickly on the move with birdies at the 11th and 15th before grabbing the lead with four consecutive birdies from the 18th. His only bogey came at the par-four fourth but then signed off with another birdie at the last to secure a one shot lead over Woods (67), McIlroy (68) and American Ryan Moore (66). Harrington and Lee Westwood shot into contention with the best rounds of the day, and after six birdies, an eagle and one bogey the Englishman joined American Bo Van Pelt (69) two behind the lead. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RICHIE RAMSAY claimed his second European Tour victory when winning the Omega European Masters title by four shots at Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THERE was some French flair on show here at Crans-sur-Sierre yesterday as Gregory Bourdy shot into the lead at the Omega European Masters after a faultless nine-under-par opening round of 63. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PAUL LAWRIE has moved on from Scotland to Switzerland to try to pull off the same double that Thomas Bjorn achieved last year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PERHAPS it was the late-night finish, or maybe the closing ceremony of the Olympics and the fuzzy afterglow of sporting success was clouding our perspective but there was a sense yesterday that Rory McIlroy's triumph at Kiawah Island was being taken slightly for granted. Or, maybe it is Ireland's recent remarkable record at golf's four Majors that has made the sporting public blasé about a sporting achievement that was, until recently, more precious than Olympic gold. Since Padraig Harrington emulated Fred Daly's 1947 British Open win, four Irish golfers — McIlroy, Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke — have won seven of the last 22 Majors staged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LUKE DONALD will again try to win his first Major this week, but this time he will do so having been inspired and motivated by Britain's success at the Olympics. The Englishman (right) spoke while dodging thunderstorms at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, where the USPGA Championship — starting tomorrow — will be his 38th attempt to land one of golf's four biggest titles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ERNIE ELS is backing Adam Scott to bounce back from his Royal Lytham heartbreak — the biggest Open meltdown since Jean Van de Velde in 1999. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PAUL CASEY has vowed to go on fighting after one of the worst experiences of his golfing life last week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GRAEME McDOWELL will just have to imagine what next week's Irish Open at Royal Portrush would have been like if he had been parading the US Open trophy again. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY had more than just his US Open title defence to prepare for yesterday — there was also a trip to the baseball. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LEE WESTWOOD has a new caddy in Charlotte this week and may not have Billy Foster back until after the British Open in July. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IT IS only three years since Angel Cabrera won The Masters and Henrik Stenson the Players Championship, but the fact that both are playing the Puerto Rico Open rather than the Cadillac Championship this week tells its own story. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY is just one shot off halfway leaders Justin Rose and Tom Gillis after a good day for the Irish at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach, as Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell made encouraging moves up the leaderboard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PADRAIG HARRINGTON will almost certainly need a win at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach this week or face missing his first World Championship since 1999. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JOSE Maria Olazabal has a hard act to follow when he captains Europe in their defence of the Ryder Cup in Chicago next September. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LAST week, a frosty handshake between Tiger Woods and former caddie Steve Williams revealed a lot, but yesterday a hug with his captain said it all as Tiger Woods yet again clinched another Presidents Cup victory for the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FOR Tiger Woods this week's Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne is very different to his five previous appearances in the match — and his six Ryder Cup caps. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

C HUBBY CHANDLER may have struggled to put a price on losing the most prized asset in his ISM management stable, but how is $2million for the first week? Rory McIlroy claimed golf's biggest first prize yesterday — but only after losing a three-shot lead for the second event in a row and being forced into a play- off. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RORY McILROY came from five strokes back to match American Keegan Bradley's four-under-par 67 and leave Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel way behind after the first round of the 36-hole PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal in Bermuda. The event brings together the season's four Major champions, with the winner earning almost £380,000 and even the player finishing last taking home more than £125,000. No European has won since Ian Woosnam in 1991. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IF IT was all about money Luke Donald would have no more questions to answer. Finishing joint second in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational added another £405,851 to the world number one's earnings this season. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MARTIN KAYMER thinks he would cope better with the demands of being world number one if he can get back there. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TIGER WOODS is out of another tournament through injury — and whether he makes the British Open his first event for over two months now remains to be seen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND'S Robert Rock is seemingly all set to make his US Open debut tomorrow — albeit without time for a practice round at Congressional after encountering American visa problems. Officials at Congressional in Washington were informed that Sunday's Italian Open winner had boarded a flight from London that was due in late last night. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

t iger Woods has yet to say whether he wi l l be f i t enough for the Players Championship next week but ro r y Mc i l r o y h a s confirmed he will not be taking part in gol f ' s richest event. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GIVEN that every one of the world's top 50 has turned up here at doral for the start of the WGC-Cadillac Championship today, who can blame the organisers for adopting the motto: 'If you've got it, flaunt it'? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The AMerIcAns are taking their time over naming a successor to corey Pavin as ryder cup captain. no announcement is expected until the new year, far later than has usually been the case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lee Westwood denies that becoming world No 1 has increased the pressure on him as he tees off in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WORLD No 1 Lee Westwood is another man with a big interest in what Martin Kaymer is doing. With a top-two finish the U.S. PGA champion could take over at the top of the world rankings, but Westwood, whose defence of the tournament started with a three-under 69 for a share of fifth place, was happy enough. The Englishman is still suffering from the calf muscle injury that has bothered him most of the year. 'Everybody's got to remember I'm still rehabbing,' he said. 'I've not been able to work on my game and it does not help that it's as hot as it is — it makes it swell. 'I'm hoping it'll be back to 100 per cent next season and I'm looking forward to not having to worry about it. I showed I was rusty and was not competitive sharp, but I hit only two iffy shots all day. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE biggest first prize in golf might not be enough to attract Rory McIlroy next year. The 21-year-old Northern Irishman revealed in Dubai he is not certain to compete in the Players Championship — often dubbed golf's 'unofficial fifth major' — in May. Having already decided not to continue as a member of the US PGA Tour, the world No 9 would set more alarm bells ringing if he skips their flagship event. 'Not sure,' was McIlroy's answer on being asked whether he would be chasing the winner's cheque of more than £1million at Sawgrass in Florida. 'I don't like the golf course for a start. Not to say The Players isn't a great event — it's very prestigious and it would be great to win it one day — but it just might not suit the schedule next year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IT'S over — or rather, it soon will be. The longest unbroken reign in the 24-year history of the world golf rankings ends this Sunday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TIGER Woods remained an alsoran at the BMW Championship in Chicago today — and rory Mcilroy was still one of the back markers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One man who is unlikely to be teeing off at Adare this morning is england's Lee Westwood. He flew home from Paris tonight to have treatment and a possible scan on the right leg injury that bothered him at the French Open. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WELSHMAN Rhys Davies did not quite get the 25th birthday present he most wanted yesterday at the halfway point of the Madrid Masters, after falling behind fellow first-round leader Luke Donald — who now holds the outright lead. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SERGIO Garcia hit a new low yesterday when he crashed out of the Madrid Masters at the halfway stage — his first missed cut on European soil for nearly six years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]