Darren Clarke believes he is close to getting back into the winner’s circle after a second round 66 sent him hurtling up the leaderboard in the weather-delayed Avantha Masters in New Delhi.

The Ulsterman birdied five of his last seven holes in a nine-birdie round to leap into a share of 12th place with Irish Open champion Shane Lowry, who also shot a six under par 66 at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

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Brett Rumford leads the Qatar MastersPeter Lawrie and Graeme McDowell took advantage of easier second round conditions to move within five strokes of leader Brett Rumford at the halfway stage of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters.

Rumford fired a best of the day 66 to move one stroke ahead of Welshman Bradley Dredge and two ahead of Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson on nine under par.

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Shane LowryShane Lowry continued his magnificent start to the 2010 season when he opened with a one under par 71 in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters.

The reigning Irish Open champion, who moved up to 90th in the world thanks to his fourth place finish in last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, birdied the par five 18th in testing conditions to finish the day tied for 15th place with Ulsterman Gareth Maybin.

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Shane LowryWhen Bernhard Langer lapped the field in the 1987 Irish Open at Portmarnock, the 29 year old German declared that his 19 under par performance was the best of his life. It was better, he insisted, than the 10 under par total that gave him the 1985 Masters.

Langer won by ten from Sandy Lyle that day and the youngest Irish professional to make the cut was 25 year old Philip Walton, who finished 24 strokes behind the winner. None of the six Irish amateurs in the field came close to making the cut.

Shane Lowry was just three months old at the time.

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There are lies and damned statistics but the numbers produced by the European Tour boffins give Padraig Harrington the edge over Rory McIlroy this year.

Yes, McIlroy topped the stroke average and almost won the inaugural Race to Dubai while Harrington floundered in swing tinkering hell for half the season before exploding into life in August.

But if you add together their ranking in the nine Genworth Financial Statistics categories, Harrington finished an average of six places ahead of McIlroy.

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The Mullingar Scratch Cup is changing dates next year with Banbridge's Conor Doran expected to return to defend the title from August 28-29.

The prestigious 72 hole strokeplay event is moving from its traditional August Bank Holiday date to avoid a clash with the European Amateur Championship, which will be played at Vanajanlinna Golf Club in Finland from 4-7 August.

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Rookie Niall Kearney has joined former Ireland team mate Shane Lowry in the Horizon Sports Management stable.

The Dubliner, 21, signed with the Dublin-based management group this week and hopes to make his tour debut in Africa in January.

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Rory McIlroy, who has risen from 39th to ninth position in the official world rankings in his second full season on tour, has been voted the ‘Professional of the Year’ in the 2009 Irish Golf Writers’ Association Awards, sponsored by AIB Bank.

The 20-year-old phenomenon from Holywood, Co Down, claimed a maiden tour win when capturing the Dubai Desert Classic in February and went on to have 14 top-10 finishes including a third place at the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine. McIlroy finished second, behind Lee Westwood, in the European Tour’s ‘Race to Dubai’ standings.

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Damien McGrane eagled Leopard Creek's 18th hole for the second day in a row to move into the top 10 in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

A closing three gave the Kells man a two under par 70 and left him just two shots behind second placed Edoardo Molinari and Ernie Els but still six adrift of a rejuvenated Pablo Martin on seven under par.

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Watch out for Shane Lowry on the European Tour this season.

The 22 year old from Offaly is just three shots off the lead after carding a five under par 67 in the opening round Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa - the first event of the 2010 campaign.

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Irish Open hero Shane Lowry has big game on his mind at Leopard Creek.

The Offaly ace tees off the 2010 European Tour season in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa on Thursday.

But rather than the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo roaming the nearby Kruger National Park, he’s gunning for the world ranking points and more dates with top cat Tiger Woods.

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Shane Lowry claimed the biggest cheque of his professional career and his best finish since his Irish Open victory when he tied for third behind Italy's Edoardo Molinari in the €1.5 m Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on Sunday.

Molinari claimed his fourth win of the season and his third in his last five starts when he made a four footer on the second play-off hole to beat Sweden's Robert Karlsson after both players had tied on 13-under 271.

Lowry closed with a four under par 67 to share third with Hirofumi Miyase on seven under par and earn 11.6m yen (around €88,000).

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