Even though the fuss over Lee Westwood's rise to No 1 could be over almost before it has begun, it is no reason to dim the celebration when he tees off with Phil Mickelson in Shanghai for the World Championship tournament in the small hours of tomorrow morning.

Jose Maria Olazabal could be appointed as Colin Montgomerie's successor as early as next week. A European Tour source has revealed the Tournament Players Committee will discuss who will lead the defence of the Ryder Cup in Chicago at a meeting in Portugal on Tuesday – and such is the support for the Spaniard the position of Europe captain will be his to accept or decline.

Another day brought yet another reason to question the priorities of the "FedEx Four". Miguel Angel Jimenez yesterday showed Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose and Luke Donald just what commitment to the Ryder Cup cause entails when scrapping long-laid family plans to enter this week's concluding qualifying event.

Any tip from the top is eagerly welcomed by hackers. A word from the wise is like a message from heaven, a key that could get us out of the dungeon of the damned.

England's robert Rock opened the Irish Open with a six-under 65 here yesterday – and was then disqualified for signing for a wrong score.

Darren Clarke admits he has not always seen eye to eye with Colin Montgomerie, while Thomas Bjorn once called him "a 40-year-old behaving like a three-year-old". But they, along with Paul McGinley, are to be the Scot's three assistants when he captains Europe in the Ryder Cup in two months' time.

Darren Clarke was today unveiled as the 'third man' to help Europe try to win back the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales on October 1-3.

According to reports last night, Darren Clarke is to be announced today as one of Colin Montgomerie's vice-captain's for the Europe team which contests the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in October.

Darren Clarke lost the Scottish Open but won a spot in this week's Open Championship yesterday. The big Ulsterman failed to stop the charge of Edoardo Molinari who joined his brother Francesco as a European Tour winner.

Darren Clarke will take a three-shot lead into the weekend of the Scottish Open with his mouth as dry as his waterproofs are wet.

It's been too long since Darren Clarke has been atop of a big-time leaderboard, but there the big Ulsterman is, looking as imposing as he always did after a first-round 65. From announcing he was considering walking away last month, Clarke has marched right back in again.

One of the beauties of golf is that mere mortals can not only try to emulate the great gods but that we can do so at the great venues. Your average park footballer will not often get the chance to put one in the top corner at Stamford Bridge, but your average club golfer, on production of the necessary fee, can live the dream on a famous fairway.