He becomes the latest Irish winner on the PGA Tour and the fifth ever, following in the footsteps of the likes of Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry in recent history.

Power is the first Irish champion of the Barbasol Championship, with his five-under-par Sunday taking him into a playoff against the overnight leader J.T. Potson who, much like Louis Oosthuizen at The Open, squandered his advantage.

Potson allowed Power to gain the advantage with his poor display on three of the final four holes and the Waterford native didn’t let go of it.

The pair birdied the first extra hole and parred the next four in the play-off but a shot into the water from Potson doomed the American’s title hopes.

The Olympian missed his first putt but stroked in his second from close range to par the sixth extra hole and win the tournament.

The 34-year-old has seen a remarkable turnaround in fortune in recent weeks, with the Tooraneena man achieving six top-20 finishes in his last six starts after nine straight cuts.

Four of those finishes are in the top 10 with his first PGA Tour win granting Power the praise he deserves after an impressive three-month spell.

The win in Kentucky earned Power his PGA Tour card for the 2022 season and his highest-ever world ranking of 113th, three of 2016 Masters Champion Danny Willett.

He currently ranks 69th in the FedEx Cup rankings and has 665 points to his name – nine events previous, his points tally was 20.

The Irish golfer is within the requirements needed to make the playoffs this year, as a result.

The FedEx Cup playoffs begin on August 19th with the first of three events, the Northern Trust, taking place at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.

The post Séamus Power Wins First PGA Tour Tournament appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year got back into the swing of things instantly after his five-bogey first-round display left him over par.

The Clara native achieved four birdies on the front nine and suffered his only bogey on the course’s infamous fourth hole.

He complimented his front-nine 32 with a score of 33 on the back-nine, with two further birdies helping the defending champion to a four-under-par score heading into the final two rounds.

The gap between tournament leader, 2010 Champion Golfer of the Year Louis Oosthuizen and Lowry did expand but the Offaly man will be happy with his recovery on day two.

Lowry’s Team Ireland Olympic teammate Rory McIlroy shot even for the second day in a row to confirm his position in The Open for the weekend.

McIlroy made amends on holes 4-6 after a horrible stretch yesterday saw him shoot three bogeys in a row.

However, the golfer shot four bogeys once again, all on different holes to that of yesterday, and it ultimately kept his score higher than it could have been.

His four birdies countered the bogeys and helped the Northern Irish golfer ensure a stable round two performance kept him afloat.

The final hole was the only hole he birdied for the second time.

Pádriag Harrington also made the cut, joining Lowry and McIlroy among the ranks for rounds three and four.

The two-time Champion Golfer of the Year went two-under-par on Friday to secure his spot in this weekend’s action.

Harrington avoided the same mistakes he made at the beginning of round one to ensure there would be no double-bogey on his scorecard again.

However, two bogeys on the front nine – one at hole 9, where he birdied on Thursday- ensured a second consecutive 36 for the first half of the course.

Fortunately, the Dubliner more than made up for this with a strong performance on the back nine, particularly on the first six holes, to ensure he brought his score down below the cut.

Harrington had a lot more fortune on hole 15 on Friday but struggled once again on the closing hole, putting with his fifth shot for the second round running.

Darren Clarke was the only golfer from the island of Ireland to miss the cut, with the 2011 Champion Golfer of the Year seeing his return to the course he won at get cut short.

A poor front nine was compounded by a woeful start to the final nine holes as Clarke could only manage a triple bogey at 10 – a hole he made par at in round one.

A further bogey on 11 put the writing on the wall for the last man to win at Sandwich, who bowed out with a score of six-over-par.

Harrington, Lowry and McIlroy will progress to the final two rounds, which will be available to watch on Sky Sports The Open.

The post The Open: Lowry Impresses As McIlroy And Harrington Eke Through appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The famous tournament has had five Irish winners in its lifespan (dating back to 1947) and there have been four Irish wins since the turn of the century.

Shane Lowry – 2019

Offaly’s Shane Lowry is the current defending champion, having won in 2019.

The Clara native had stiff competition in the first two rounds but a stellar third round put the Claret Jug beyond anyone else’s reach.

Lowry became the first Irish player to win The Open on Irish soil, achieving victory in Portrush, Antrim.

The Republic of Ireland golfer won his first major by six strokes and will defend his title this weekend.

Pádraig Harrington – 2007 & 2008

Pádraig Harrington is the only Irish golfer to win the tournament twice, doing so back-to-back in 2007 and 2008.

The Dubliner achieved his first win at Carnoustie in Scotland, shooting an impressive four-under-par on the final day to earn a play-off against Sergio Garcia, who led all weekend.

Harrington could have tied it up quicker had he not went into the Barry Burn twice on the 18th hole.

The Irishman became the first golfer from the Republic of Ireland to win The Open and the first Irish golfer since Fred Daly in 1947 after his one-shot play-off win.

Harrington repeated his feat the next year at the Royal Birkdale in Southport where everyone struggled throughout the weekend.

The golfer almost pulled out of the tournament because of a wrist injury and fought his way up the scoreboard throughout the weekend to become the second golfer to win the tournament back-to-back in three years, after Tiger Woods achieved the same feat in 2006.

His fantastic back nine on Sunday saw the two-time Champion Golfer of the Year separate himself from the rest of the pack.

Darren Clarke – 2011

Darren Clarke achieved his childhood dream by winning the 140th Open Championship three years later in 2011.

Clarke won at the venue where this year’s Open is being held, shooting five-under-par and leading since the second round.

At 42, the veteran came into the tournament as an outsider and left Sandwich as the champion.

It was a fairytale moment for the Northern Irish golfer whose best finish in a major previous to his win was third in the 2001 Open.

Rory McIlroy – 2014

In 2014, Rory McIlroy became Champion Golfer of the Year after shooting 17-under-par at the Royal Liverpool.

The current World number 11 achieved the first of two majors in the space of a month with a dominant weekend on Merseyside.

The Northern Irishman went bogey-free in the first round and achieved the same score of 66 in the second to take a commanding lead that he extended further on Saturday.

McIlroy bogeyed three times on the final day but his six-shot lead was too much for any chasers to close down.

The 149th Open Championship will take place from Thursday, July 15th – Sunday July 18th.

All Irish tee times are available here.

The post WATCH: Relive Irish Wins At The Open appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

It is the first time that The Open has been held at the venue since the Antrim golfer’s win and the second time it will be the final men’s major of the season in recent history.

Speaking at a press conference for The Open on Wednesday, he feels that it is special to return to the place where he won.

“It’s great to come back to any golf course where you’ve played well on and won but to come back to an Open venue where you’ve played well on and won is even more special,” said Clarke.

The 52-year-old sees it as a privilege to be able to return to the Royal St. George as the last person to win the tournament there.

He won the Claret Jug in 2011 at his 20th attempt, having come close before when he came third in the 2001 Open.

The win was a childhood dream of Clarke’s, who sees the win as the best moment of his career.

He was an outsider in 2011 and praised the history of the course, which has seen shock wins in the Open throughout its existence as a tournament venue.

Clarke talked of his approach to the weekend 10 years ago, a weekend which he felt changed his mindset.

“I was ready to step across the line and win the biggest and best tournament in the world and the one I had always wanted to win.”

He noted that there are differences this week when compared to the Open Championship week in 2011.

The wind direction is different and the 18-hole course is a lot softer than it was during the last Open weekend at Sandwich.

Clarke said that these factors change the way the links course will be played this weekend.

“There won’t be so much chasing the greens, more flying them in there.”

The Open takes place from Thursday, July 15th to Sunday, July 18th with coverage of the tournament exclusively on Sky Sports The Open.

All Irish tee times for the first two rounds of the tournament are available here.

The post The Open: Darren Clarke Excited To Be Back At Sandwich appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The Open is on the 49-year-old’s mind but so is the Ryder Cup, which gets closer and closer every week.

The Ryder Cup captain announced his third and fourth vice-captain choices last week with Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer earning the same honour as Robert Karlsson and Luke Donald.

“The first priority is the Ryder Cup,” said Harrington.

Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter have been two golfers that the three-time major champion has praised publicly.

Harrington feels that their Ryder Cup records mean that they should be held in high regard when it is time to select his team.

He also named Martin Kaymer as another example of a player with an impressive history as a Ryder Cup golfer.

However, the captain also understands that the future is coming fast with recent wins from Jon Rahm and Viktor Novland solidifying the need to take note of the younger golfers too.

What a special weekend – To win my first major, on my first Father’s Day, at a place that means so much to me like Torrey, is simply unbelievable. If this is a dream, I still haven’t woken up yet – so happy I can enjoy this with my entire family! pic.twitter.com/ttXQOzw4xB

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) June 22, 2021

But the best possible way of impressing Harrington, regardless of age, is with your performances.

“Wherever [players] play, I want to see them play well…the best possible way of impressing me is playing good golf.”

As for the more immediate events on his planner – the Irish Open and The Open Championship – the golfer is confident and working on his mental game, which he said is a good sign.

He credited Mount Juliet as a great golf course with great greens and hopes to be very stressed when he’s on the back nine on Sunday.

The 2007 Irish Open winner does expect a great weekend in Kilkenny with a limited amount of fans present to see the golfers play.

“I think all the players will appreciate the limited fans.”

The Open begins two weeks from now and is something Harrington has his eye on after his impressive performance at the PGA Championship, where he was tied for fourth with Shane Lowry.

He felt that the conditions in South Carolina helped him to perform well, likening it to a links course which is what the Royal St George course is.

Given the right scenario, Harrington feels he could impress at Sandwich as he is used to links courses.

“Given the right conditions and the right golf course, I can be very competitive with the game I have.”

The idea of winning a major again is what gets the World number 155 up in the morning, adding that it gives him a unique buzz compared to the thought of winning non-major tournaments.

However, that does not mean the veteran golfer can not get excited for the other tournaments.

Harrington noted that Jack Nicklaus noticed he was at the tail-end of his career when he lost that feeling of excitement before every tournament, and that he still has that feeling.

This week is exciting for him but feels different to many others as he prepares to begin the quest for the title, as others have agreed with him on.

“We do feel like it’s special this week.”

Irish Open tee times and TV details are available here.

The post Pádraig Harrington: “The First Priority Is The Ryder Cup.” appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

His recent form, which consists of numerous cuts and off-the-pace performances mostly, has been the story of the last 12 months for McDowell.

The Northern Irish felt that he was flying high before the season was brought to a halt due to the pandemic.

“The dream of playing a Ryder Cup was starting to be real…I got back on the golf course and things went sideways,” said McDowell.

Adjectives like scrambling, searching and looking were used to describe his mentality when the run of bad form kept going after his return.

Work with a new coach did not turn things around and the Portrush golfer has had some dark days thinking about his career in recent times.

But he is “not ready to walk away” and wants to improve before he does but he has been his own worst enemy at times.

“The mental side of the game is not there [personally] – my confidence is low; my expectations are high.”

McDowell understands that he should not ask himself to change the way he plays golf in order to find results but instead rely on the basics.

He noted that while his numbers have been disappointing, the 2010 US Open winner believes he is closer than it appears to put things right.

“It’s not how I want the next 2-5 years to end.”

The number 167 ranked golfer in the world thinks that the Ryder Cup vice-captaincy has come at a good time.

Being around a Ryder Cup could be something that helps the once World no.4 to get back on his feet.

McDowell said that it is the kind of stuff he needs right now to help him regain his confidence on the course.

“There’s obviously no reason why I can’t do it again.”

Click here to view tee-times, betting and broadcasting details for the Irish Open.

The post Graeme McDowell: “I’m Not Ready To Walk Away” appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Halep injured her calf in May during an Italian Open matchup against Angelina Kerber and has not played since.

The world number three tennis player had previously missed the 2021 French Open through injury.

Therefore, Wimbledon will be the second major championship she has missed this year.

We will miss you this year, @Simona_Halep – come back stronger in 2022 #Wimbledon

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 25, 2021

In her statement, the Romanian said that she had “gave it everything in order to be ready to play Wimbledon…..unfortunately [her] body didn’t cooperate and [she’ll] have to save that feeling for next year.”

Halep stated that the time on the sidelines has been hard for her and that missing two majors makes it even worse.

However, the two-time major winner  hopes that the experience will make her even stronger than she was before.

No timeline was given for her return to the court.

She closed her statement thanking everyone at Wimbledon for their understanding and support.

The Full Statement:

“It is with great sadness that I’m announcing my withdrawal from The Championships as my calf injury has not fully recovered.

“I gave it everything I had in order to be ready to play Wimbledon and after having such special memories from two years ago, I was excited and honoured to step back on these beautiful courts as defending champion.

“Unfortunately, my body didn’t cooperate and I’ll have to save that feeling for next year.

“I can honestly say that I’m really down and upset about having to take this decision. This period has been difficult but to miss the last two majors has made it even more challenging mentally and physically.

“We will see what the future holds but I’m hoping it will make me a stronger person and athlete.

“Thank you to everyone at Wimbledon for your understanding and support.”

The post Wimbledon: 2019 Champion Simona Halep Ruled Out appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.