Rory McIlroy made an impressive comeback in the fourth and final round to win the Hong Kong Open today and with it keeps the pressure on Englishman Luke Donald for the coveted European Tour’s Race to Dubai championship.

Rory McIlroy won with a final round of 65 by two strokes with a 5 under score.  The 22 year old from Northern Ireland was delighted to seal the victory and told reporters:

“It is very special to win this. No matter how prestigious tournaments are, this is one of my favourites and I’m really happy to win it,” he said. “To be able to win a golf tournament when you are not at your best is something. Tiger Woods did this all the time. This is a great win, to come from behind and to be able to draw level and then close it out.”

There has been much pressure on the young Irishman’s shoulders since he turned professional in 2007 and eventually won his first major – the US Open – earlier this year.

McIlroy beat off challenges from France’s Gregory Havret who finished second, two strokes behind, and Sweden’s Peter Hanson on 9 under. Ian Poulter was looking to retain the title he won in 2010 and shot a good final round to finish joint fourth on 8 under with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Thailand’s Pariya Junhasavasdikul.

After failing to win the Hong Kong Open, Ian Poulter told reporters:

“It’s disappointing obviously. I came to defend and I’ve come up shy. I thought I had a chance when I got to 9 under, but I just flushed it on the 15th. It was a costly bogey at the wrong time,”

Last week Lee Westwood announced that he would be joining the US PGA Tour next year which I assume is to give him a better chance to win either the US Open or The Masters.  By doing so Westwood may forfeit the chance to win the Race to Dubai, based on the highest prize money on the European Tour in a given season, but the US is where the big money is.

If like Lee Westwood you are looking to win your share of prize money then why not check out the golf betting competition at BettingExperts.

They are offering a massive a £5,000 in a free to enter competition.  The competition covers all golf tips for major, minor tournaments including PGA and European Tour during the competition date. The top ten golf tipsters with the highest profit (measured in units) on golf shares the prize pool, which will be paid in free bets & prize giveaways. Tipster with the most overall gets the first prize.

Oakley You vs Rory McIlroy

After finishing joint third in today’s WGC Champions tournament in Shanghai, Rory McIlroy will be officially unveiled as golf’s world number 2 tomorrow.

Oakley are offering you the chance to play a round of golf against the current US Open golf champion, Rory McIlroy in the second of a series of great interactive video games.

The video sets scenarios as you play the famous Wentworth golf course. The set questions test your golfing prowess as you weave your way around the course making decisions as to which club to use and where you should be aiming your ball.

The answers you give affect the outcome of the video, which is shot in a realistic point-of-view style.

The video is the second in Oakley’s You Vs. series. The first, ealrier this year offered gamers the opportunity to race against the UK’s hottest cycling property, Mark Cavendish.

Rory McIlroy

Taking part in the game is fun enough, but by doing so you can enter Oakley’s exclusive competition too, simply by ‘liking’ the Oakley Facebook page. And if you are so good that you manage to beat Rory McIlroy over 18 holes, then you have the chance to be selected as the lucky winner who gets to meet Rory and have the honour of caddying for him, walking around the Wentworth golf course.

The You Vs. Rory McIlroy interactive video game is great fun and can be accessed from the dedicated Oakley microsite or the Oakley Europe Facebook page.

Firstly, Like the page, select some Oakley sunglasses to wear, and then start exercising your golf expertise for a chance to win a prize any golf-fan would go crazy for!

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The Bombardier Golf's Tips

In the aftermath of the British Open Championship the UK is still praising the latest golf masters champion to come out of Northern Ireland.  Darren Clarke was not even on the raidar, let alone backed to win by any pundits.

Clarke entered over 50 major championships before his maiden victory last Sunday at the  British Open Championship on a very demanding links course in Sandwich, Kent where one Japanese golfer asked why they didn’t stage the Open in the summer!

Following the recent success of young Rory McIlroy who won this years’ US Open, and Graeme McDowell who won the US Open in 2010, I feel for the forgotten golfer from Northern Ireland who only a few years ago had Tiger Woods looking over his shoulder.  But since winning three major championships in 12 months in 2008 (The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship in 2008) Padraig Harrington has failed to be a serious contender; and with all the media hype about the richness of top golfers in Northern Ireland, I didn’t hear Harrington’s name mentioned once.

On the final day Darren Clarke looked composed under pressure from two Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, ranked sixth and seventh respectively, in the world rankings.

Rik Mayall as The Bombardier

Maybe Padraig Harrington can take some tips from Rik Mayall’s character, The Bombardier in this hilarious new video advertisement from Bombardier beer starring Rik Mayall as he gives three tips to improve your golf swing.

Three British golfers head up the official world rankings as Germany’s former no.1, Martin Kaymer drops to fourth after failing to finish in the top eight in the BMW International Open in Munich yesterday.

Following his U.S Open victory Rory McIlroy moves up to a career best third place behind Luke Donald (first) and Lee Westwood.

This is great news ahead of the 140th British Open Championship which this year is being held at the Royal St. George’s Golf Course in Sandwich in Kent, the Garden of England on the south-east coast, in two weeks time.

Rory McIlroy will go into the British Open as one of the favourites, and it will be good to see how he copes with the pressure post that fantastic display of golf at The U.S Open when he led from round 1 and never once showed a loss of concentrate or bottle as he had on the final round of the U.S Masters in April at Augusta.

The U.S Open was Rory McIlroy’s first major win after several near misses and five years of dealing with the heavy burden of expectancy and praise from many of his contemporaries and commentators alike.  Unfortunately, I think if anything the pressure is going to be greater as everyone looks to see if Rory McIlroy can begin to pull away from the rest of the field and dominate the next few years of golf in the same way as Tiger Woods had before him.

If anymore incentive was required, it has been announced that the winner’s cheque for the British Open is now £900,000 as prize-fund money increases to £5m.

Some high profile PGA players will be missing the AT&T National in the U.S to play The Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness as a warming up for the Open Championship.  Those PGA players making the trip across the pond include Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker, who join English golfers Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose.

The Barclays Scottish Open starts on Thursday 7th July with Round 1 of The Open commencing on Thursday on 14th July.

I am really looking forward to this year’s British Open and hope the heat wave continues so the top golfers in the world can do battle with each other, rather than the conditions.

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Many commentators are suggesting that now Rory McIlroy has won his first major title he will dominate the future of golf for some years to come, filling the void left by Tiger Woods in the past couple of years following a recurring knee problem and a breakdown in his personal life.

McIlroy has got much to live up to if he is going to be as successful as Tiger Woods who has won three US Open titles in 2000, 2002 and most recently in 2008 when he was playing with the knee injury that subsequently had him miss the rest of the 2008 season.  Since his return Tiger Woods had failed to find his form and is now in danger of dropping out of the top 20 world ranking.

Rory McIlroy will need to win the US Open a further three times to equal the record of four wins jointly held by Willie Anderson, A-Robert T. Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus.  The latter being a mentor to the young Irishman over the past two years.

The next major championship in the golf calendar is the British Open which this year is being held at the Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent.  So why not go online and buy a new set of golf clubs learn to play the shots the pros make look so simple.

You can buy the same golf clubs, balls and clothes as Rory McIlroy at Direct Golf.

22 year old Rory McIlroy became the youngest player to win the US Open for 88 years and the first to lead at the end of all four rounds since Tiger Woods in 2002.  In doing so he will have wiped the memory and pain of his disaster at Augusta where he was in a similar position after three rounds, only the fall apart on the final day.

Though he is still only 22 years old, big things have been expected of Rory McIlroy since he turned pro in 2007 at the sprightly age of 17.  The weight of expectation was placed on his shoulders when Tiger Woods stated that McIlroy was the future of golf.  And though over the past four years he has come close, he has never been able to keep in the zone for four days solid; until now.

On completing his final round, 2010 US Open champion, fellow compatriot and close friend Graeme McDowell said Rory McIlroy was the best golfer he has ever seen.  Strong words coming from a man who has played with Tiger Woods on several occasions.

Rory McIlroy has now officially arrived on the world stage.  The US crowds love him and with a deflated Tiger Woods, the biggest sponsors in the world will be queuing up to have a piece of his fame.  But it could have been so different if he had cracked under the pressure, as he did at Augusta in the US Masters in April when he went into the final day with a four stroke lead and finished in joint 15th after a final round of 80. If the same choking capitulation had happened to Rory McIlroy yesterday at Congressional it may have had a lasting psychological effect.  That is something McIlroy had been working on among other things with golf legend Jack Nicklaus who has acted as a mentor to McIllroy over the past two years.

As it is, this morning Rory McIlroy wakes up to realise it wasn’t all a dream after winning his first Major championship and with it will no doubt be the favourite to win next month’s British Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, Kent.

Rory McIlroy

Look around at any golf club or watch any tournament and you will see both pro or amateur golfers alike sporting wristbands.  This is in part a fashion statement but some bracelets allege to promote non-invasive therapies to help with stress, pain, fatigue, to enhance sporting endurance, exercise and training recovery and to promote general physical performance at any level.

One such popular product is the Trion:Z bracelet which was developed in Japan as a performance and lifestyle product over 10 years ago and has become one of the most famous brands in providing magnetic ionic gear to the global health and fitness arena.

The Trion:Z bracelets are designed to balance the body’s magnetic and electrical fields with the use of patented magnetic ionic technology which is unique to their range.

The use of complimentary health products is becoming more and more prominent worldwide, especially within the professional sports fraternity where we are seeing more and more athletes searching for the extra 1% that could give them that competitive edge; and though the Trion:Z bracelets are worn by sports men and women all over the world, it has become particularly popular with golfers.

Golf professionals who are wear and promote the Trion:Z bracelet include Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Brittany Lincicome, Ryo Ishikawa, and Mikko Ilonen.

But how do the Trion:Z bracelets work and what do they do?

Trion:Z products are designed to balance the body’s magnetic and electrical fields through the release of negative ions at a constant rate that is 50-100 times greater than competing products. This makes it one of the most technologically advanced natural health/performance enhancing products on the market. What’s more, 89% of consumers reported that they felt a noticeable difference from Trion:Z products.

For more information visit www.trionz.co.uk.

Charl Schwartzel eventually won the Masters by two shots (14 under par) by playing some truly amazing shots but most of all by playing a steady, confident round.  He appeared to be unfazed by the pressure and said it was helpful playing with another steady player KJ Choi.  But from the off Schwartzel’s chance of slipping on the famous green jacket was given a kick start with a chip and run for a birdie on the first and an amazing eagle at the third.

By contrast, it was sad and rather distressing watching Rory McIlroy fall apart and eventually breakdown in front the cameras and capacity crowd at the famous Augusta Golf Course.

McIlroy had lead from day 1 and had previously played three great days of golf as he went into the final day with a four shot lead that had everyone convinced he was finally going to win his first major. The boy from Hollywood, Northern Ireland will turn 22 next month but for the past four years, since turning pro when anyone was asked they said it was only a matter of time until Rory McIlroy starting winning majors.  Over the past few years he has won plenty of championships, but like Britain’s young tennis star Andy Murray, has fallen shot when given the chance to win a major.

On Sunday McIlroy looked nervous, quickening his pace and from the off the lead began to shrink.  But as he went into the back nine he was still leading by one shot from the likes of Charl Schwartzel, K J Choi, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Tiger Woods who was playing some sublime shots and looked to have returned to his best.

As McIlroy fell apart at the 10th with a triple bogey that included hitting two trees and shot to pieces through Amen Corner, the chasing pack was joined by Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy.  Rory literally broke down on the 12th hole with a four putt, it was the reason I don’t watch reality TV.  I was watching a young person’s world shatter and it was uncomfortable viewing.  Rory McIlroy finished the day with a round of 80!

With three holes to go the young Australian, Adam Scott had edged into the lead from his playing partner and fellow Australian Jason Day, and Charl Schwartzel.  But it was Scwartzel who remained calm while playing some sensational shots who eventually won the US Masters by two shots.  A very worthy winner that seemed appropriate exactly 50 years after fellow South African, Gary Player became the first overseas golfer to win the Masters.

Charl Schwartzel won with 14 under from Adam Scott and Jason Day on 12 under.  While Luke Donald was the best placed Britain tied in fourth on 10 under par along with Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy.

It was good to see Rory McIlroy get a great reception as he walked towards the 18th hole.  He had started the final day on 12 under but finished on 4 under, and everyone felt his pain.  And though he was magnanimous in defeat and faced the media soon after, showing a maturity beyond his years, I wondered if this was just another experience that Rory McIlroy will place under his belt to win a major or would he follow in the golf shoes of Sergio Garcia, who also received global accolades and showed all the promise as a teenage golfer but choked on several occasions when it looked like he was about to win a major.  Sergio Garcia is now 31.

Yas Links Golf Course in Abu Dhabi

Links Abu Dhabi, the new Kyle Phillips designed golf course is the “best course in the Middle East” according to the latest issue of Golf Course Architecture magazine.

The world-class development on Yas Island, home to the Yas Marina Formula 1 Circuit, venue of the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the spectacular Ferrari World, the world’s largest indoor theme park, has received widespread critical acclaim.

It is the first Middle East design for leading course architect Kyle Phillips, creator of World Top 100 Course Kingsbarns, Scotland, as well as the highly rated Verdura Golf & Spa Resort (Sicily), Dundonald (Scotland), and The Grove (London), who has created an extraordinary links overlooking the Arabian Gulf that rides rolling sand hills along three kilometers of coastline, and features nine seashore greens.

This championship course is located on the west shores of Yas Island and includes a 5750 m2 (57000 ft2) luxurious clubhouse and world-class, floodlit practice ranges and academy of golf.

In a unique twist, Phillips was able to design not only the golf course, but the coastline along which the course runs. That’s because the channel along the western edge of Yas Island had to be dredged to produce the 1.8 million m3 (cubic metres) of fill used to construct the golf course. The result is a coastline that lends itself perfectly to exciting golf holes, and one that is also benefiting from an approved environmental programme that has introduced 130,000 mangrove plants.

Yas Links General Manager, Chris White, said: “Kyle has created a breathtaking golf experience at Yas Links and one that is unique in the Middle East. It is a rolling, heaving golf course, weaving through sand hills and wending its way along the shoreline with views of the Arabian Gulf on all 18 holes.

The course opened in March 2010 as a semi private golf club offering both golf and social membership as well welcoming guest play; and in January 2011 some of the world’s top golfers will experience Yas Links for themselves in 2011 when the world’s most prestigious one-day Pro-Am tournament moves to Abu Dhabi.

The Invitational on January 17, 2011, hosted by Abdullah Al Naboodah, will see some of the world’s best players join forces with 50 invited amateurs for a day of great competitive golf. World No.1 Lee Westwood, reigning US Open Champion Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia and Ross Fisher plus more to confirm.

For more information visit www.yaslinks.com.

Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter were mobbed as Hunter Mahan conceded the 17^th hole, giving Graeme McDowell the victory needed to bring the Ryder Cup back to Europe. All the Team Europe players gathered around Captain Colin Montgomerie as champagne and tears began to flow.

Colin Montgomerie told Sky Sports “It’s a proud, proud moment for me.”

Europe needed five points from today’s Singles and got the points they needed with wins from Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jiminez & Graeme McDowell; and Rory McIlroy and Edorado Molinari.

Team Europe won four Singles matches today:

Luke Donald beat Jim Furyk (1up)
Ian Poulter beat Matt Kuchar (5&4)
Miguel Angel Jiminez beat Bubba Watson (4&3)
Graeme McDowell beat Hunter Mahan (3&1)

The United States also won six Singles matches today:

Dustin Johnson beat Martin Kaymer
Jeff Overton beat Ross Fisher (4&3)
Tiger Woods beat Francesco Molinari (4&3)
Phil Mickelson beat Peter Hanson (4&2)
Zach Johnson beat Padraig Harrington (3&2)
Steve Stricker beat Lee Westwood (2&1)

Rory McIlroy v Stewart Cink – halved
Edorado Molinari v Rickie Fowler – halved