McDowell's Opportunity Knox

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Graeme McDowell won his first PGA Tour title since April 2013 with victory at the first play-off hole in the OHL Classic in Mexico. The 2010 US Open winner admits the barren run - his last victory anywhere was at the French Open 16 months ago - left him questioning his ability after dropping out of the world’s top 50.

But after handing the initiative to fellow co-leader Russell Knox by bogeying the 16th as the rain-delayed tournament went into an extra day he seized his second chance at the first play-off hole with a brilliant approach to two feet for birdie to guarantee himself a place at next year’s Masters and PGA Championship.

“It really gives me something to grab onto,” McDowell said of the victory. “You go through a year like this and you think ‘am I finished? Am I good enough?’

Graeme McDowell elected to finish the par-5 13th when the horn sounded to suspend play because of darkness. He made birdie. Photograph: APGraeme McDowell grabs share of Mexico lead as play suspended

“It has been a tough year but this is special. I have been dreaming of this day and I said to myself I was going to appreciate it when it came.

“I’ve stuck to my task the last couple of months and this is a nice step back up to where I want to be. “I hit as good a five-iron as I could hit and it was nice to knock in a two-and-a-half footer to take care of this.”

McDowell began the day tied with Knox on 19-under after Sunday’s final day was cut short by storms but after a brief stoppage for more rain Knox made his move with a birdie at the 13th. The Scot, chasing back-to-back victories after winning the WGC-HSBC Champions last week, handed back that shot at the next but it was McDowell’s error in leaving his par putt in the jaws of the hole at the 16th which opened the door for Knox.

As the Co Antrim golfer posted the clubhouse lead on 18-under - holing a nerveless 10-footer for par - Knox stood on the 18th tee needing a par-four for victory.

However, he pulled his drive into a bunker, came up short of the green and missed from 15 feet for victory. Jason Bohn, who had started the day two behind, joined them in the play-off but when McDowell, first to play his approach to the 18th, hit a five iron to two feet victory was his as neither of his rivals could match his birdie.

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McIlroy Links Recipe for Irish Open

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Rory McIlroy insists he will not be begging big name US stars to tee it up in the Irish Open at The K Club next May.

The Holywood golfer promised to return the favour for the likes of Rickie Fowler, Ernie Els, and Sergio Garcia after they turned up at Royal Co Down in May to help the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, hosted by the Rory Foundation.

The Down man has committed to doing things for Fowler, Els, and Garcia’s charitable events in return but it appears that he is not prepared to continue doing favours going forward.

While there were high hopes that the likes of Tiger Woods or Dustin Johnson would be persuaded by McIlroy to turn up in Kildare from May 19-22 next year, Woods is already out of the equation having undergone back surgery last month.

Instead, four-time major winner McIlroy hopes the massive prize fund — up from €2.5m to €4m next year — will be enough to attract a stellar field.

Asked which US stars he was targeting, McIlroy said: “Really I’m not. I think the prize fund, that speaks for itself. I’m not going to do any IOU’s this year like I did last year.

“It’s a fantastic tournament in its own right. I mean, it’s a bit of an awkward date on the calendar and obviously Royal Co Down attracted a lot of guys because of the golf course that is.

“That’s the sort of thing that I would hope for in the future; that the golf courses and the increased prize fund obviously attract a few more players.”

McIlroy’s dream is to host the Irish Open in a links every year as part of a three-week links swing before the Scottish Open and the Open Championship.

But he admits that the lack of links courses — Portmarnock and Royal Dublin are currently no-go venues for the government backers or the tour’s sponsors because they are men only — makes that dream a challenge.

“I would love to always see it on a links course,” McIlroy said. “We’re working on it. I’d love to see the Irish Open change date to closer to the Open to have a little bit more of a links swing going into the Open, where maybe it would be the Irish Open, Scottish Open, and the Open, or something like that.

“That’s a long way down the road but I’d like to see it go to that.

“But the European Tour have been fantastic. They, along with myself, have made a huge commitment to the Irish Open for the next three years and hopefully they go well and we can go on from there.”

The European Tour is believed to be struggling to take the Irish Open to Lough Erne in 2017, as announced by Acting NI first minister Arlene Foster last year, with Portstewart recently emerging as an alternative venue.

Asked about the Lough Erne problem, McIlroy dodged the question, replying: “Right now we are just concentrating on this year and trying to make The K Club as good as it can be and we’ll go from there.”

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Communist Golf Ban in China

The Chinese Communist Party has banned all 88 million of its members from joining golf clubs, in its latest update of party discipline rules.

Extravagant eating and drinking, and abuse of power, are also formally banned, said Xinhua news agency.

The party has in the past warned its officials to refrain from extravagant dinners and purchasing moon cakes using public funds.

China has been conducting a strict anti-corruption drive since 2012.

The new rule on golf states that members are banned from "obtaining, holding or using membership cards for gyms, clubs, golf clubs, or various other types of consumer cards, or entering private clubs".

If caught, members could either receive a warning or be removed from the party, depending on the severity of the violation.

'Social interaction'

The new regulations (in Chinese) did not explain why the joining of golf clubs is banned, but such clubs are often seen by the Chinese public as places where officials have cut shady deals.

In September, local media reported that at least 60 employees in state-owned companies were punished for spending public funds on playing golf.

Earlier this month, Lin Chunsong, a vice-mayor in the south-eastern Fujian province, was sacked for belonging to a golf club and playing golf while he should have been at work.

One owner of a golf equipment store in Shanghai, who was only identified by his surname, Huang, told Reuters that his store's sales had dropped at least 30% last year.

Golf in China was "about the social interaction", he said. "If a company boss can't play with a government official, there's little point in him spending his money."

Another new rule states that party members cannot "violate official provisions on hospitality management and engage in over-the-top entertaining, or take advantage of opportunities for extravagant eating and drinking".

The Communist Party has also rephrased a previous clause banning adultery and mistresses, which now says that members are banned from "having improper sexual relations with other people which have bad repercussions".

The party's strict rules for officials have in the past affected business for restaurants and luxury goods retailers in China and elsewhere.

President Xi Jinping has led a major anti-corruption campaign since taking office three years ago.

He has previously warned of unrest if corruption and perceived privilege within the Communist Party are not tackled.

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Lawrie Losing Card Chase

Kevin Phelan had a fine start to the Hong Kong Open on Thursday morning - finishing among the group on four under, two off the lead, to keep his hopes of regaining a European Tour card next year alive.

Peter Lawrie and Kevin Phelan sit 122nd and 123rd respectively in the Race to Dubai and only a sixth-place finish or better is enough for either to secure full playing privileges for next season.

Lawrie had a very different first round with seven bogeys and a double bogey leaving him eight over and three shots off last place.

Six birdies on the third, seventh, 10th, 14th, 16th and 17th though left Phelan in a good place after day one.

Justin Rose lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite as Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter ensured his last-minute dash to Hong Kong was not a wasted journey.

World number seven Rose, who is the top ranked player in the field, carded a flawless five-under-par 65 on Thursday to lie one shot off the lead shared by Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Taiwan’s Lu Wei-chih.

But Poulter was just two shots further back on three under as he looked to make the most of his dramatic late entry into the event, the 39-year-old only arriving in Hong Kong at 7pm on Wednesday.

Poulter dropped out of the world’s top 50 on Sunday and was therefore ineligible for his planned appearance in the upcoming WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, meaning he would be unable to play the 13 events required for European Tour membership.

Only members can qualify for Europe’s Ryder Cup team and that meant Poulter was forced into a frantic journey from Orlando to Hong Kong — via New York — but only after former US PGA champion Rich Beem generously agreed to give the Englishman his tournament invite.

Poulter followed birdies on the second and fifth with bogeys on the eighth and ninth to reach the turn in level par, but came home in 33 thanks to birdies on the 10th, 15th and 17th.

Pavan came into the week 191st in the Race to Dubai and needing to finish second or better to climb into the top 110 and keep hold of his playing privileges.

That would represent a career-best for the 26-year-old, who has never recorded a top-three finish, but four birdies in his last six holes gave him an opening 64 and a share of the lead.

“This year has been a struggle to say the least,” Pavan said. “I’m just trying to dig deep and really look forward to every week. Obviously this is the last event of the year for me and then I’m looking to go to Q-School. So it’s all about just giving myself chances.

“I’m just really trying to get my game in better shape. It’s good on the range but I still feel like I’m lacking a bit of confidence. I know I have what it takes. It’s been tough last year and this year, but it’s all a learning curve and I really hope I can make the next step soon.”

Lu, who came close to retirement three years ago after undergoing brain surgery, won three times on the Asian Tour before a non-malignant tumour was discovered in 2012.

“For the first six months after the surgery, I pretty much gave up all my confidence and trust because I had no power and I didn’t think I could play golf anymore,” the 36-year-old said after a round containing eight birdies and two bogeys.

“I had to rest for another six months and then finally I started playing a little bit. If I played 18 holes, I could barely walk after 14 or 15 holes. But finally I started coming back mentally and physically. I just keep telling myself that I want to be a real golfer again and compete on the Tour.”

Lu’s countryman CT Pan and India’s Jeev Milka Singh were alongside Rose on five under, with Graeme McDowell, Oliver Fisher and Phelan among the group on four under.

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Clarke Delights in Open Return

The Open Championship will return to Royal Portrush in 2019, the R&A have confirmed.

The famous links, situated on the northern tip of County Antrim in Northern Ireland, became the first course outside Scotland and England to host The Open in 1951, when Max Faulkner clinched his only major title.

There has been much clamour to take the tournament back to Portrush over the last few years, although the R&A had been wary of logistical problems including access to the course for spectators.

But former R&A chief executive Peter Dawson announced last year that the historic Dunluce Course would host The Open in the near future, and the tournament will now be played there in 2019 and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Renowned course architect Martin Ebert will oversee many changes to the course, the overall length of which will increase by just under 200 yards to 7,337 yards while the number of bunkers will be increased by three to 62 in total, still leaving Royal Portrush with the fewest bunkers of any of the courses which host The Open.

The move received the support of Open champions Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy, who are relishing the chance to play in the world's oldest major in their homeland.

Clarke, the 2011 champion, said: "This is going to be absolutely huge for Northern Ireland and, indeed, Ireland as a whole. To have the world's biggest and best golf Championship played at such a fantastic venue as Royal Portrush, with all the passion that the Irish fans will bring to the event, is going to be amazing."

To have the world's biggest and best golf Championship played at such a fantastic venue as Royal Portrush, with all the passion that the Irish fans will bring to the event, is going to be amazing

McIlroy, who lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool in 2014, added: "Royal Portrush is one of my favourite golf courses in the world. I think it will be a fantastic Open venue. They are going to add a couple of new holes to the golf course and I think that will be a great addition and will make the course even stronger. I'm really looking forward to it."

An R&A statement read: "The Open is expected to be the biggest sporting event ever held in Northern Ireland, generating more than £70m in terms of economic impact and destination marketing benefit.

Royal Portrush is one of my favourite golf courses in the world. I think it will be a fantastic Open venue

"Northern Ireland will be at the centre of the global sporting spotlight from 18-21 July 2019 as The Open is staged outside of Scotland and England for only the second time in the Championship's more than 150-year history with sports fans from throughout Ireland and around the world expected to descend upon the town of Portrush."

Peter Unsworth, chairman of The R&A's championship committee, said, "We are very much looking forward to bringing The Open to Royal Portrush in 2019 and believe it will be a tremendous venue for the Championship. We know there is great anticipation throughout Ireland at the prospect of welcoming the world's top golfers and it promises to be a hugely memorable week.

"We are delighted with the progress being made on the course preparations and they will undoubtedly enhance the challenge presented by these historic links." 

The venue proved its credentials for hosting a big tournament when the Irish Open was held there in 2012, with 112,000 fans attending over week to watch Jamie Donaldson win his first European Tour title.

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