Last weekend was busy for the Irish in the world of professional golf

The Genesis Invitational at Riviera was a fantastic tournament which included the host and 15 time major winner Tiger Woods returning to professional golf. His performance was very good considering he hasn’t played in a long time and his best round was on Saturday as he shot a round of 67. All the best players in the world teed it up in this event such as Shane Lowry, Seamus Power and 2022 FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy. This was a designated event on the PGA Tour which meant their was a prize fund of $20 million with the winner receiving $3.6 million.

Rory McIlroy played in a star group over the first two rounds with Tiger Woods and 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas. McIlroy was extremely patient on day one as he shot a impressive round of four under. The highlight of McIlroy’s opening round was a chip in for birdie on par 3 14th. McIlroy’s short game is underrated as he also chipped in for birdie in his second round. McIlroy was nicely placed on six under after two rounds and was only five behind leader Max Homa. McIlroy’s chances of winning The Genesis came to an end on day three as he shot a disappointing round of two over.

Hitting fairways is usually the hole mark of McIlroy’s game but he has struggled to hit fairways over the last two events at Waste Management Phoenix Open and The Genesis Invitational. McIlroy was hitting nice shots with his irons but couldn’t hole a putt as his putter was cold. In McIlroy’s defence the greens at Riviera were very bumpy. The Northern Irish man did get it to seven under after 11 holes of his final round but played the last seven holes in three over to shoot a level par round. McIlroy will be looking to sort out his putter with his putting coach Brad Faxon before he tees it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a couple of weeks. McIlroy will be disappointed that he has gone from number one to three in the world golf rankings but he likes Florida as he has won both The Players and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Shane Lowry has struggled for form since he let a final round lead slip at Abu Dhabi in January. The Offaly man decided to end his partnership with caddie Brian Bo Martin in January 2023. This was a strange decision as Lowry won 2019 The Open and 2022 BMW PGA Championship with Bo on the bag. Lowry showed that his short game is still sharp as he chipped in for birdie on day one as he shot an opening round of 69. He followed up his opening round with a 69 and 71 to leave himself on four under after three rounds. He finished with a bit of class as he stitched his second shot on 18th to finish inside the top 15 on seven under.

Seamus Power has been fantastic over the last few years as he is currently ranked fourth in 2022/2023 FedEx Cup rankings. Power was making a fantastic move on day three as he got it to six under before having a triple bogey on the difficult par 4 12th. Power didn’t let this affect him as he played the last six holes in two under to shoot a third round of 67. Power shot a final round of two under to finish alongside Lowry inside the top 15 on seven under. Power will use his top 15 finish as a confidence boost for his upcoming tournaments at Bay Hill and TPc Sawgrass.

Padraig Harrington continues to impress on the Champions Tour as he came second at the Chubb Classic. He shot a final round of seven under which included playing the front nine in 29 shots. Darren Clarke also played at the Chubb Classic but shot a final round of even par to finish in a tied for 25th.

Leona Maguire played in the Saudi International over the weekend. The Cavan women shot a final round of 74 to finish 16 shots behind winner Lydia Ko.

John Murphy, Gary Hurley and Tom McKibbin all played at Thailand Classic. It was a poor tournament for both Murphy and McKibbin as they both missed the halfway cut. Hurley shot a second round of five under to leave himself on six under with two rounds to go. A disappointing third round of three over put an end to Hurley having a good tournament. Hurley shot an even par final round to finish tied 66th.

Hope you enjoyed the golf over the weekend which included Jon Rahm returning to world number one after winning The Genesis Invitational.