The greatest doubted him and the other greatest pushed him. But Rory McIlroy became the world No 1 regardless what Jack said or Tiger did. If ever a coronation possessed validity, it was here at the Honda Classic in Florida yesterday.

England's Justin Rose shot another 66 to share the lead at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach, Florida yesterday – but three birdies in his last five holes brought Rory McIlroy right back into the thick of things.

Plans for an ambitious new golf course close to the Giant's Causeway have received a broad welcome in Northern Ireland - apart from environmentalists who describe it as "inherently and fundamentally wrong."

Rory McIlroy won the battle but lost the war. Having shot down Lee Westwood in yesterday's morning's World Match Play semi-final grudge match, McIlroy got held up and ambushed 2&1 in the desert by Hunter Mahan in the final.

Since disowning the grubby past is clearly to be the leitmotif of Labour's conference in Liverpool (see Tessa Jowell, below), my advice to Ed Miliband as he finalises tomorrow's forensic tour de force is this. Find space in the leader's speech to announce that, under the "bringing the party into disrepute" header used to expel Geoff Hoon and others last May, he is suspending Tony Blair's Labour membership pending an inquiry into his financial affairs. The insinuations about Mr Tony's Libyan dealings grow louder, with The Sunday Telegraph reporting that, in the three years after he left No 10, he secretly visited Gaddafi not twice, as previously believed, but on six occasions. The paper links one visit to the (unrealised) ambition of JP Morgan, which pays him £2m per annum for advice, to broker a huge aluminium deal between the Libyan Investment Authority and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Both parties firmly deny this, and who would doubt the word of either an investment bank or Mr Tony Blair? Yet the latter would agree that appearances count in politics – and that until his Byzantine commercial dealings acquire the transparency they deserve, his continuing membership of Labour cements the party to a fill-yer-boots ethos not strictly in keeping with the economic realities of today.

As wee Rory discovered in July, the weather can wholly cloud your view of the game in general or of a course in particular. Play somewhere when you can't grip the club properly because your glove is so wet, or you're swaddled by layers into near-immobility, or you risk being blown over if you attempt any sort of weight transfer through your swing, or possibly all three simultaneously, and you're not going to be rushing back. Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a case in point; I'm sure the course in a south Manchester suburb is sometimes truly lovely, but all I can remember is a faceful of mud with every strike, not necessarily excluding on the greens.

Former world number one Tiger Woods is to return to action at next week's Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio.

The other day in a questionnaire on the food and drink pages of a Sunday newspaper, asked which kitchen gadget he couldn't live without, a farmer called Tim Wilson, owner of the Ginger Pig butcher group, identified his Aga, the "hub" of his kitchen.

A dream week in the life of Tom Lewis ended last night with the 20-year-old collecting the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at the 140th Open Championship. But after all the hype and speculation about turning professional, this week it will be back to business as usual, which in amateur golf means a training session at Royal Aberdeen to prepare for the Walker Cup in September.

Phil Mickelson's long-time caddie played a strong supporting role yesterday. 'Give yourself good thoughts, a good tempo,' he urged his boss

One-time leader is now under a cloud, but it may be silver-lined

Oldest man to make the cut gives a timely lesson to the young 'bish, bash, bosh' brigade on how to tame a monster

Five-time Open champion steadies British amateur's nerve with timely advice to keep things simple and also finds the time to sink a 15th hole-in-one of his illustrious career

In the sunlight shining on a brilliant new generation of golfers there was another kind of glow here yesterday.