IN GOLF, as Rory McIlroy knows well from his amateur days, there is little time for reflection; there is always another tournament just around the corner.
And, in his case, the 19-year-old Ulsterman - who lost a play-off to France's Jean-Francois Lucquin for the European Masters title on Sunday - moves on to this week's limited-field Mercedes Benz Championship in Cologne with some incentives to kick on following his near-miss.
With his place on the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters now secured, which ticks another box on his list of targets for the season, McIlroy has moved to 111th in the latest world rankings as he closes in on a place in the world's top-100 and, more tellingly with regard to getting into next year's majors, moves him to within 0.97 points average of a place in the top-50.
McIlroy is one of six Irish players in the field for Cologne, where he will be joined by Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and the Ryder Cup-bound Graeme McDowell.
Although McIlroy came up heartbreakingly short of a maiden tour win in Switzerland on Sunday, the fact remains that the 2008 season - which still has seven tournaments to run before it finishes in Valeria - has been one of unprecedented success for Ireland's professional golfers with more tournament wins on the European Tour than any other nationality.
There have been eight tournament victories for Irish players this season, with multiple wins from Pádraig Harrington, McDowell and Clarke, as well as breakthrough successes for Lawrie and McGrane.
The eight wins constitutes the best season by Irish players on the European Tour, and the win rate is three greater than that of England and four ahead of France, Australia, South Africa and the United States.
McIlroy's runner-up finish to Lucquin means that he is the seventh Irish player to break into the top-50 on the European Tour order of merit, moving him to 46th place on the money list
Harrington (1st), McDowell (5th), Clarke (15th), McGinley (23rd), McGrane (30th), and Lawrie (33rd) have also booked their places at the year-end Volvo Masters.
Of this group of seven, only McGinley and McIlroy have failed to achieve a tournament win this season, but there are seven tournaments (the Mercedes Benz, British Masters, Dunhill Links, Madrid Masters, Portuguese Masters, Mediterranean Masters and Volvo Masters) remaining.
Clarke and McGinley return to tournament action in Cologne knowing their roles with the Ryder Cup will be confined to watching the action unfold next week on television.
Both are also pencilled in to play in the British Masters and the Dunhill Links, with Clarke - now that he has missed out on Valhalla - focusing his attentions on claiming a place in the world's top-50 by the year's end, which would give him entry into next year's majors.
Clarke is currently ranked 63rd in the world.
TOP ORDER
Tournament wins on PGA European Tour 2008 (to date)
8 - IRELAND
Graeme McDowell (Ballantines Championship, Barclays Scottish Open).
Damien McGrane (China Open). Darren Clarke (Asian Open, Dutch Open).
Peter Lawrie (Scottish Open).
Pádraig Harrington (British Open, US PGA).
5 - ENGLAND
Richard Finch (New Zealand Open, Irish Open).
John Bickerton (Alfred Dunhill Championship).
David Dixon (St Omer Open).
Ross Fisher (European Open).
4 - FRANCE
Thomas Levet (Andalucia Open).
Gregory Bourdy (Portuguese Open).
Gregory Havret (Johnnie Walker Championship).
Jean-Francois Lucquin (European Masters).
4 - USA
Phil Mickelson (HSBC Champions).
Tiger Woods (Dubai Desert Classic, Accenture Matchplay, US Open).
4 - AUSTRALIA
Aaron Baddeley (Australian Masters).
Adam Scott (Qatar Masters).
Geoff Ogilvy (WGC-CA Championship).
Scott Strange (Wales Open).
4 - SOUTH AFRICA
James Kingston (South African Open).
Richard Sterne (Joburg Open).
Trevor Immelman (US Masters).
Hennie Otto (Italian Open).
3 - INDIA
SSP Chowrasia (Indian Masters).
Arjun Atwal (Malaysian Open)
Jeev Milka Singh (Austrian Open).
3 - SPAIN
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Hong Kong Open, BMW PGA Championship).
Pablo Larrazabal (French Open).
2 - SWEDEN
Mikael Lundberg (Russian Open).
Peter Hanson (Scandinavian Masters).
2 - GERMANY
Martin Kaymer (Abu Dhabi Championship, BMW International).
1- SCOTLAND
Alasdair Forsyth (Madeira Islands Open).
1 - FIJI
Vijay Singh (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational).
1 - NEW ZEALAND
Mark Brown (Johnnie Walker Classic).
1 - CHILE
Felipe Aguilar (Indonesian Open).
