Four of golf’s great champions have accepted invitations to become Honorary Members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. With 11 major championship victories between them Catriona Matthew OBE, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Nick Price are among the most successful and influential professional golfers of the modern era and are outstanding ambassadors for the sport.
Ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, newly named Ryder Cup Vice-Captains Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell took on the 14 Club Challenge.
European Captain Padraig Harrington has named Robert Karlsson as his first vice captain for The 2020 Ryder Cup against the United States at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin next September. Karlsson twice played in the Ryder Cup, in the victorious 2006 team that crushed the USA at the K Club and on the losing side two years later at Valhalla.
Thirty amateur players will contest a nine-hole event at Royal Troon on the eve of this year's Open Championship as part of efforts to boost participation in the sport.
We love Andrew Johnston, now we'll get to see what America thinks of him as he has qualified for the US Open at Oakmont.
It was always going to be a struggle for Europe given the strength of the American team but might things have been a little different? We look at five key areas where it went wrong for Padraig Harrington and the European Ryder Cup set-up.
It's Open eve and and we can't wait for it all to kick off in the morning. In the meantime we've got seven moments of Birkdale magic to keep your Open buzz up!
All hail the Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort in Antalya, Turkey, for adding something special to this week's Turkish Airlines Open – a rooftop tee shot over a swimming pool!
Padraig Harrington summed it up well a while back when he said the players "might have to take one for the team". The problem is it became clear that many of the players were not prepared to 'take one' as he put it and the lack of an adoring crowd became the deciding factor.
Darren Clarke has picked his Vice Captains for the Ryder Cup.
Barring something quite extraordinary, it looks like the Ryder Cup will be staying in the USA after the 2020 Ryder Cup. It is difficult to see anything stopping Team USA from getting the 3½ out of the 12 points on offer in Sunday's singles to regain the cup.
Players such as Rory McIlroy may believe that a Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup and so should be postponed but the truth is Europe cannot afford to postpone the event if the knock-on effect is the pushing back of the 2022 match.
