Shane Lowry and Séamus Power step up as Rory McIlroy sits out Cognizant Classic

Nordqvist takes the reins

Leona Maguire will have a very familiar face at the head of Europe’s quest to regain the Solheim Cup after Swedish veteran Anna Nordqvist was appointed as team captain for next year’s match against the United States at Bernardus Golf Club outside Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

The Cavan golfer will be seeking a fourth-straight appearance in the Solheim Cup having played a starring role on her debut in 2021 when Europe won in Ohio, featuring again in the successful defence at Finca Cortesin in Spain in 2023, before her third appearance, in an underused role, in the loss to the USA in Virginia last year.

Maguire actually partnered with Nordqvist twice in foursomes in Spain.

Nordqvist is a nine-time Solheim Cup player and doubled up as vice-captain in 2023 and 2024, so her elevation to the captaincy, succeeding Suzann Pettersen, comes as no surprise.

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Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist in action for Team Europe during the 2023 Solheim Cup in Casares, Spain. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

“I am so honoured to be appointed as the 2026 European Solheim Cup Captain. Whether we were winning or losing, the Solheim Cup has played such a huge part in my career ever since I made my debut in 2009 in Chicago. The friendships I have made, and the memories created during the nine matches I’ve played, make it so incredibly special to be given the opportunity to be European Captain at my tenth Solheim Cup!” said Nordqvist.

Making that team in 2024 will be among Maguire’s goals but, for now, she is very much in playing mode. This week she is in the limited field at the HSBC World Championship in Singapore and will complete a third leg of the LPGA Tour’s Asian Swing in next week’s tournament in China.

Sara Byrne, meanwhile, shifts from her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour to compete on the Epson Tour in the United States where the Cork player also has a card this season. Byrne makes her debut on the US secondary circuit – a pathway to the LPGA Tour, the route taken by Maguire – in the Central Florida Championship. The top-10 of the end-of-season Epson Tour rankings get full LPGA Tour cards.

Light schedule

In keeping with his policy of playing a reduced schedule, Rory McIlroy is skipping this week’s Cognizant Classic – despite it being virtually on his doorstep in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida – where both Shane Lowry and Séamus Power tee up at the PGA National.

Lowry, currently 16th on the FedEx Cup standings after a strong start to the season that included a runner-up finish to McIlroy at Pebble Beach, is kick-starting a run of events that also takes in next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and the following week’s The Players at TPC Sawgrass.

Séamus Power will be in action in the Cognizant Classic. Photograph: Michael Owens/Getty Images

While Power has enjoyed a solid start, with top-25s at Pebble Beach and the Genesis, the Waterford man is in need of a big week in Florida if he is to earn a late exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the fourth of this season’s signature events with a $20 million purse.

In Numbers: 0-Zero-Zilch

There are no Irish players in the field for this week’s Investec South African Open, co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour.

Word of Mouth

“That was not by design. I don’t recommend going right on that tee shot. I was very fortunate to get the bounce” – Brian Campbell on riding his luck en route to a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour, after the 31-year-old American’s tee shot on the second playoff hole of the Mexico Open with Aldrich Aldrich Potgieter rebounded off a tree which saved it from going out of bounds. Campbell sank a four footer for a winning birdie in making the most of his lucky break.

On this day: February 25th, 1990

Éamonn Darcy, aged 37, was in the twilight of a fantastic tour career when he captured his fourth (and last) title on the European Tour, where a stunning opening round 64 in the Dubai Desert Classic gave him a lead he would never relinquish.

Darcy, who won 17 professional career titles worldwide, shot rounds of 64-68-75-69 for a total of 12-under-par 276 which gave him a four-stokes winning margin over another Irish player, David Feherty, who was suffering from a throat infection on the final day.

Irish golfer Eamonn Darcy, pictured competing for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup in 1987. Photograph: Simon Bruty/Getty Images

Indeed, there was a green hue in the desert that year, as Des Smyth finished in tied-third alongside Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros.

Darcy, though, stole the show. The Wicklow man, who’d ventured into life as a golf professional as a 16-year-old with a handicap of 12, brought his unique swing far and wide, including a winning Ryder Cup in 1987, was imperious in the desert, if admitting to final day nerves: “I didn’t enjoy it until I knew I was going to win. Even in bed this morning so many things were going through my mind that I felt more pressure than in almost any other tournament.”

The Social Game

Shot 75 for a one over total and a missed cut. Struggled trusting my reads on the greens and putted badly because of that. @MexicoOpenGolf @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/s0o7tNUfcW
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) February 22, 2025

Shot 75 for a one over total and a missed cut. Struggled trusting my reads on the greens and putted badly because of that @MexicoOpenGolf @PGATour – Pádraig Harrington’s self assessment of his poor putting in Mexico.

It's so awesome for @IlliniMGolf to have two @PGATOUR winners in the past three weeks, but when they're former teammates, it makes it extra cool!
Mega-proud of you @4Brian_Cam and @tomdetry!
I know how hard each of you have worked, and you both deserve this! #proudcoach
— Mike Small (@MikeSmall4) February 24, 2025

It’s so awesome for @IlliniMGolf to have two @PGATour winners in the past three weeks, but when they’re former team-mates, it makes it extra cool! Mega-proud of you @4Brian_Cam and @tomdetry! I know how hard each of you have worked, and you both deserve this! #proudcoach – Mike Small, headmen’s coach at the University of Illinois, quite rightly blowing the trumpet after Brian Campbell joined Thomas Detry as a PGA Tour winner.

So proud of our Amateur champion Aldrich Potgieter - incredible golf from the 20-year-old!#hardlines https://t.co/wwgJk3NUEy
— GolfRSA (@GolfRSA) February 24, 2025

So proud of our Amateur champion Aldrich Potgieter – incredible golf from the 20-year-old #hardlines – Golf RSA, the governing body for golf in South Africa, singing the praises of the country’s new phenomenon who lost out in a play-off to Campbell in the Mexico Open.

Know the Rules

Q: In a match, a player’s shot from the fairway accidentally strikes their opponent’s golf bag. What is the ruling?

A: There is no penalty and the ball is played as it lies. Such a situation is covered by Rule 11.1a: If a ball accidentally hits any person or outside influence (such as a golf bag), the ball must be played as it lies and there is no penalty.