Began the final round four strokes behind third-round leaders Robert Rock and Tiger Woods at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. Shot his second consecutive 68 at Abu Dhabi GC, including a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole and a birdie on his closing hole, to finish T3 in his season debut.

A week after a T33 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, bettered an opening-round, 3-over 73 by nine strokes with a 6-under 64 in the second round of The Honda Classic en route to a T9 in his first stroke-play event of the TOUR season. The top-10 came a year after a T6 at PGA National.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a second-round, 9-under 63 helped earn him a spot in Sunday's final pairing with eventual winner Tiger Woods. Made a 51-foot eagle putt on the par-5, sixth hole to temporarily get within one stroke of Woods, but after Woods made birdie on the same hole, he never again got within reach of the eventual champion, who won by five shots. His runner-up finish was the second of his PGA TOUR career, with the first also coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, in 2005.

2011: Made a career-high 16 starts on TOUR. Ten made cuts and three top 10s included a third-place finish at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Missed the cut in three of four starts in the majors.

Recorded a final-round 11-under 62, matching the course record set by K.J. Choi during the third round in 2003, to finish third at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. It equaled the best round of his career in relation to par, an 11-under 61 at County Louth GC (Baltray) at the 2009 Irish Open. Previous-best round on the PGA TOUR was a second-round 7-under 65 at the 2010 PLAYERS Championship (T26).

Picked up his second top-three finish of the season when he T3 at the European Tour's Abu Dhabi Championship. Finished a distant 10 strokes behind winner Martin Kaymer.

Collected his second top 10 on the PGA TOUR with a T9 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Defeated Heath Slocum (4 and 3) and Ross Fisher (4 and 2) before falling to Y.E. Yang (3 and 2) in the third round. Marked the first time he advanced past the second round in five career appearances at the event.

Matched the PGA National course record with a final-round, 6-under 64 to finish T6 at the Honda Classic. His record-tying round included just 11 putts (seven one-putts, including six straight on Nos. 10-15). It was the second time he matched a tournament-course record this season, also doing so in the final round (62) at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Held the third-round lead at THE PLAYERS at 12-under-par but plummeted to a T33 following a final-round 79.

Played consistently all week at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, with four rounds in the 60s at Sheshan International GC in China, to finish solo third, four strokes behind winner Martin Kaymer.

Represented Ireland in the World Cup, teaming with Rory McIlroy for a second consecutive time. The duo took a third-round lead into the final round at Mission Hills GC's Blackstone Course, but the team faltered to an even-par 72 in foursomes Sunday to T4.

Decided not to defend his Chevron World Challenge title and instead played the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the Sunshine Tour, where he shot two 70s on the weekend to T3 at the Gary Player CC. 2010: Dream season included victory at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach GL, holing the winning putt for the European Ryder Cup team, two European Tour victories and winning a playoff showdown against Tiger Woods at the Chevron World Challenge.

Final-round 66 aided T6 finish at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

Shot a final-round 63 in early June to win the Celtic Manor Wales Open on the European Tour. It was his first victory since the 2008 Barclays Scottish Open.

Fresh off that victory in Wales, posted rounds of 71-68-71-74—284 to win the U.S. Open by one stroke over Gregory Havret and two shots over Ernie Els. Trailed Dustin Johnson by three entering the final round. Became the first European to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. Following his U.S. Open victory, joined the PGA TOUR in mid-July.

Picked up his second European Tour title of the campaign with a two-stroke win at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters despite shooting a final-round 74 in heavy winds in Spain.

Making his second Ryder Cup appearance, earned 2.5 points with a 2-1-1 record, capped by a 3-up victory over Hunter Mahan to help lead the Europeans to a slim one-point win over the U.S.

Late in the season, he enjoyed a T3 at the Barclays Singapore Open at Sentosa GC. A week later, was in contention at the UBS Hong Kong Open after a third-round 63 at the par-70 Hong Kong GC. Shot a Sunday 68 to finish solo fifth, three strokes behind winner Ian Poulter. A week later, he needed at least a top-three finish at the Dubai World Championship to catch Martin Kaymer and win the Race to Dubai. Instead, he T13 at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Estates to finish second to Kaymer in the final standings.

Came back from four shots down entering the final round to defeat Tiger Woods on the first playoff hole (No. 18) with a birdie-3 at the Chevron World Challenge. Win came after finishing second in 2009 in his first start at Chevron. He is the first player to defeat Tiger Woods as a professional after being down three-or-more shots entering the final round. 2009: Made 11 of 11 cuts on the PGA TOUR with two top-10 finishes as a non-member. Among the early leaders at the St. Jude Classic, then fell back during the middle rounds before rallying with a final-round 63 to finish T7.

In early July, joined the PGA TOUR as a Special Temporary Member for the remainder of the season.

Finished T10 at the PGA Championship, his first career top-10 in a major. Teamed with Rory McIlory in representing Ireland at the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup. The duo combined to shoot a 28-under 260 to T2 behind the Italian team of Edoardo and Francesco Molinari. 2008: Won the European Tour's Ballantine's Championship on Jeju Island, South Korea, in March. Defeated Jeev Milkha Singh in a three-hole playoff by making a tap-in birdie after his 7-iron approach from 179 yards landed within a foot of the hole. Victory earned him a spot in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship the following week.

Won the Barclays Scottish Open by two strokes the week prior to the British Open. Earned a spot on the Ryder Cup team, where he had a 2-1-0 record in his debut. 2004: Captured the Telecom Italia Open in a Monday playoff with Thomas Levet of France.

Shot a record-tying 62 at St. Andrews in the first round of the Dunhill Links Championship, where he placed second.

Picked up the sport at age 7 with his brothers at the urging of his dad.

Says standing on the 18th green at Pebble Beach after winning the U.S. Open is his biggest thrill in golf.

Played numerous sports as a youngster, but, as he says, "golf always won.".