The Irish golfing legend, Padraig Harrington, has spoken of his ambition to win the US Masters next year. The tournament will be held in April and the golfer, who has won both the Open and the USPGA during an extremely successful year, has announced that he is going to alter his game slightly in order for his title bid to be as strong as possible.

These alterations will primarily be made to his swing, but he says he also has “some serious gym work to do” over the coming months.

Fans of Harrington, who is thirty-seven years of age, may be surprised that the successful Irishman has been so outspoken about needing to make changes to his game. However, the golfer explained that as soon as he thinks his game can no longer be improved, he will make the tough decision to retire from the sport.

Such a decision would be an extremely shocking one, particularly given the recent form of Harrington. He successfully defended his Open title earlier this year and followed this impressive victory with a USPGA win.

Harrington was the first European player to be awarded with the USPGA for over seventy years. He was handed the European Tour Golfer of the Year award for the second year in a row in recognition of these two achievements.

Nobody had any cause for complaint with regards to this award, despite serious competition from Robert Karlsson. The Swede humbly announced that “there is no doubt that Padraig is Golfer of the Year”.

John Daly will escape official action after throwing a camera belonging to a spectator at a tree after a frustrating start to the Australian Open. The player was making preparations for an important shot after hitting a poor shot on the ninth.

Whilst standing near some trees, a keen golfing fan, Brad Clegg, started to take photos of the two-time major winner. This did not go down too well with Daly to say the least. Whilst we are not surprised to see golf players mouthing off after a poor shot or interference from the crowd, Daly’s actions did prove to be fairly shocking.

He grabbed the camera away from Clegg and smashed it against a nearby tree. Verbal complaints were not absent either, with the player complaining about Clegg’s actions rather loudly.

The player was annoyed that the flash made his eyes burn and was irritated that a member of the viewing public felt it appropriate to invade his personal space by putting “a camera that close”. Whilst throwing the camera against the tree, the enraged golf player sarcastically stated that he would buy Clegg a new camera if he really wanted it back.

The day did not get much better for Daly, who stormed away from the golf course in a rather rude manner after signing his card. He bogeyed the ninth hole and finished with a six-over-par, whilst Clegg was left searching frantically for his camera.

Clegg took the action in good humour, revealing that he would not be asking for compensation from Daly, since he is “a big bloke”! Clegg did believe that his actions were not “unreasonable” but conceded that they were slightly “bold”.

Daly has been involved in similar incidents during his career. He was fined six years ago whilst in Australia after throwing his equipment in a lake and subsequently refusing to sign his scorecard.

The British government spends an average of £4,000 a year on golf balls, many of which are used as corporate gifts for Chinese ambassadors, American presidents, and Taiwanese business men.

Barack Obama might appreciate a new bucket of personalised white balls for his birthday but there isn’t a working class man alive who would condone the use of taxpayers' money for a weekend frolic on the green.

Nevertheless, the giving of golf balls at corporate events only serves to highlight the true scale of the golf industry and the importance that governments and the general public alike attach to the game.

Nike, Titleist, Srixon, and dozens of other companies plough millions of pounds a year into research and design but many scientists agree that the construction of golf balls and the orientation of the dimples on the outer skin can attribute their existence to aesthetics rather than their technological prowess.

Scientists at the University of Maryland have commandeered several super-computers in an effort to create the perfect golf ball. Professor Elias Balaras, the head of the project, hopes to build an aerodynamic ‘ultra-long’ golf ball that could grant even the most club-fisted golfer the drive of Tiger Woods.

Dimples deflect air currents when the ball is in flight, and whilst the United States Golf Association (USGA) regulates the size and overall shape of a golf ball, the pattern of dimples is exempt from all administration. This means that scientists have room to experiment during both casual play and competition.

Golf balls can travel in excess of 160mph depending on the ability of the golfer. Much like javelins, stealth bombers, and footballs, aerodynamic design is all-important if a golf ball is to excel at its purpose.

Professor Balaras’ team is charged with determining the flow of air around a golf ball and the extent to which backspin affects flight speed.

“Gravity constantly pulls the ball towards the ground while the aerodynamic force in the direction of motion, or drag force, dictates the distance it travels”, the finished thesis explains, “dimpled golf balls experience about half the drag as those with no dimples.”

There are approximately 60 million golfers in the world, 4 million of which live in the United Kingdom. Boffins estimate that the golf ball industry alone – excluding clubs and kitschy coloured trousers – is worth over a billion pounds.

Figures aside, Professor Balaras’ new golf ball is set to revolutionise world golf. Amateurs who have struggled to hit the ball further than they can throw it will find themselves hitting for 150 or even 200 yards.

The thesis, entitled 'Direct Numerical Simulations of the Flow around a Golf Ball: Effect of Rotation', was presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics. Unfortunately, all of the scientists involved with the research have admitted that their super golf ball will not see the light of day for a good few years yet.

Last weekend, Sweden managed to secure an exciting golfing World Cup win at Mission Hills in China, a tournament at which the English pair, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter, only managed to finish in sixth place, a total of twelve shots off the pace.

The impressive Swedish pairing of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson fought back from a deficit of three shots to beat the challenge posed by Spain’s team of Pablo Larrazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Karlsson and Stenson scored a nine-under 63 to secure their position ahead of the Spaniards, whilst Japan and Australia finished in joint third position.

Scotland, which was being represented by Colin Montgomerie, finished in an extremely disappointing nineteenth position. Even Ireland, who put on an awful performance at times during the tournament, managed to finish ahead of Scotland, in sixteenth place.

The final day of the tournament was extremely exciting and the conclusion was very tight. Sweden had arrived at Mission Hills as favourites and they started the final day four points behind the Spanish pair, who had been in impressive form. Several early birdies from Karlsson and Stenson saw them leap up the overall leader board and they finished on twenty-seven-under.

Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson were ecstatic after the victory, which was Sweden’s second World Cup success following the 1991 win in Rome. Stenson revealed his belief that it was the natural turn of the Swedes to triumph and it was “nice to win this one”. He was keen to recognise the heritage of the Swedish golfing scene and announced his pride at succeeding on behalf of his country.