Shane Lowry might have missed a great chance to win in the US again with a poor 18 holes in the middle of his Waste Management Phoenix Open weekend. But the two he made in front of 20,00 U-S-A screaming American fans at the signature 16th proved to be the moment of the week for the strapping Clara lad.

Shane Lowry had mixed feelings after firing a six under 65 to grab an early share of the lead on his debut in the frost-delayed Waste Management Phoenix Open but if he had to choose one overriding feeling, happiness probably outweighed any feelings of frustration.

Irish golf  might be struggling somewhat to ease  players onto the main tours, but when we have the world No 2 heading a five-strong posse in Dubai, a multiple major champion and a WGC winner accompanying a stellar rookie in the US, a Walker Cup winner making his pro debut in Australia and a pair of ambitious Munster men doing their thing from Myanmar to Colombia, it’s clearly not all that bad.

Paul Dunne birdied the 18th in the Farmers Insurance Open to miss out on a Top 10 finish and an automatic start in this week’s Waste Management Open. He need not have worried — the organisers of the huge party that doubles as the sellout event at TPC Scottsdale in Phoenix immediately handed him a Sponsor Exemption and another chance to edge towards the Holy Grail of PGA Tour membership.

It seems like only yesterday that Pádraig Harrington was fist pumping like a wild-eyed madman on the 18th green at Oakland Hills. Denying Sergio Garcia yet another major down the stretch. in the 2008 US PGA remains the most recent of Harrington's five PGA Tour wins but following his victory in the Asian Tour's BANK BRI Indonesia Open in his final start of 2014, hopes are high that Harrington can return to winning ways.

Call it health and safety gone mad or what you will but that the PGA Tour has banned players such as Padraig Harrington from throwing (or kicking) things into the crowd on the 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open sound like overkill.