Monday 1 June 2015 14:33, UK
Five talking points from another record-breaking week at the Irish Open, where difficult conditions produced a surprise winner.
Worth the wait
It took over six years and 174 tournament appearances to achieve it, but Soren Kjeldsen finally ended his wait for a fourth European Tour title.
The Dane feared his career may have been drifting away from him when the languished outside of the top 100 of the Order of Merit, but the 40-year-old now has plenty to smile about after winning his first tournament since the 2009 Open de Andalucia - booking qualification to the Open Championship in the process.
Kjeldsen didn't do it the easy way in horrendous wind and rain, posting the highest final-round score by a winner in the tournament's history before eventually coming through in a play-off.
Rule Britannia!
While there have been plenty of discussions about the growing rise in young American stars on the PGA Tour this season, the final leaderboard in Ireland showed plenty of encouraging signs for the state of golf in the UK.
Eight Britons ended the week in the top 10 at Royal County Down, with five of those being English under-30s. Eddie Pepperell, 24, posted a career-best week as he narrowly missed out on a maiden European Tour title, as 23-year-old Tyrrell Hatton booked a spot at this year's Open Championship with his highest finish of the season.
With Andy Sullivan and Danny Willett continuing their strong starts to 2015 and rookie Matt Fitzpatrick also performing well, as well as another top-20 finish for Tommy Fleetwood, the future looks very bright indeed.
Rory needs a rest
Even the world No 1 can't perform at 100% week in, week out and it has showed with McIlory recording a second missed cut in as many tournaments.
Although the world No 1 had hoped a rare weekend off at Wentworth may have been enough to recharge his batteries for his home event, five tournaments in five weeks left McIlroy a shadow of his best. The tournament host had pledged to give any prize money he earned this week to the Rory Foundation, but failed to reach the weekend for the third year running.
The weather didn't help an out-of-touch Rory, who broke 80 on the opening day for the first time in a round since the 2011 Masters, with McIlroy struggling both on and around the greens. McIlroy now has a much-needed break to look forward, with a couple of free weekends away from competitive action to prepare for the US Open.
Take the weather with you!
Although the rain was minimal in comparison to the floods and delays suffered across the pond this week at the AT&T Byron Nelson, those competing at Royal County Down this week were left very exposed to the elements.
Strong winds hampered scoring throughout as gusts reached 40 miles per hour during the final day, leading to just five players closing the tournament under par. With torrential downpours, hail and even sleet all thrown in during four bitterly cold days, you wouldn't think that summer is nearly here...
A week to remember
With the strongest field in the tournament's history, record prize money available and a sell-out crowd throughout, the Irish Open was once again an overwhelming success.
Crowds in excess of 18,000 flocked to the seaside course in Newcastle to see home-grown talent like Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell take to the fairways alongside big names like Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia.
McIlroy said it had been a "memorable" week, with the picturesque Royal County Down providing a fantastic venue and advertisement for Northern Irish golf. He wasn't wrong.
