Two Irish players – Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey – are in the field for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at the renowned Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where the $12 million purse offers the biggest payday to any winner of the majors, a cheque for $2.4 million.Mehaffey – who plays mainly on the Ladies European Tour these days – defied her Rolex world ranking of 1,098th to earn her place in the field by brilliantly topping last month’s qualifying tournament at The Buckinghamshire for what will be her third appearance in the championship and first since 2020, when she missed the cut.Solheim Cup star Maguire will be making an eighth career appearance in the US Women’s Open, with a best finish of tied-eighth in 2022. Maguire’s tied-ninth finish in the ShopRite Classic on the LPGA Tour on Sunday moved the Cavan woman up three places to 72nd on the world rankings and to 26th on the updated CME Globe order of merit rankings.Maguire’s form has rebounded from a run of three missed cuts with a tied-33rd finish in the Kroger Queen followed by this tied-9th in the ShopRite, her second top-10 of the season having finished runner-up to Lauren Coghlin in the Aramco Championship earlier in the year.The most significant move, however, came from Lauren Walsh as the Kildare woman’s third-place finish behind Celine Boutier in New Jersey – which earned her a payday of $133,344 – moved her to 53rd on the LPGA order of merit, a significant jump of 105 places, in her rookie season.Pádraig Harrington wins Stackstown 50th anniversary Pro-AmPádraig Harrington hands flag at Stackstown Golf Club to chairman Eamon Cowzer during the Pro-Am. Photograph: Paul Lundy Sports Photography Three-time Major champion and six-time Ryder Cup player Pádraig Harrington made a nostalgic – and winning – return to Stackstown Golf Club to claim the Tilestyle Stackstown Pro-Am on Sunday, the 50th anniversary of the club of which his late father Paddy was one of the inspirational founding members.Harrington – who has 43 professional wins worldwide, including his two Claret Jugs and one Wannamaker Trophy along with successes in what he terms the “minors”, the US Seniors Open and the ISPS Handa Senior Open – produced a bogey-free round of 66 in the foothills of the Dublin mountains to win by two from Simon Thornton and Nicky Grant.Of a rare return to his home club, Harrington, in his post-round acceptance speech, said: “This golf club growing up was an unbelievable place, the atmosphere that there was [gave] a great feel to the golf club ... I really feel there’s a great atmosphere in the club. The golf course has gone from strength-to-strength,” adding, referencing how the young trees have matured, “it’s amazing how much it has changed since when I was young.”Harrington has some serious engagements on the horizon as he gets back to work across the Atlantic at next week’s RBC Canadian Open before competing in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.Word of Mouth“I feel like mentally I’ve kind of let my frustrations get the best of me this year. I felt like this week I wanted to start just being better about that and fighting all the way through the finish line” – Russell Henley on birdieing the last three holes of his final round to force his way into a playoff in the Charles Schwab, where he defeated Eric Cole in a playoff for his first win of the season on the PGA Tour.By the Numbers: 2Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry return to tournament play for this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, the latest of the $20 million PGA Tour signature events this season.Shane Lowry is back in action at Memorial. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty On this day ... June 2nd, 1974The one and only win of Bob Menne’s time on the PGA Tour came in the Kemper Open, in a field which included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Lee Trevino.Without a full tour card, Menne spent week-to-week headed to pre-qualifying in chasing a place in any given tournament but the 32-year-old’s perseverance finally came good when he birdied the 18th hole of regulation in the final round to get into a playoff with Jerry Heard and then birdie again at the first playoff hole to secure victory and a career-best payday of $50,000.Menne finished with 67 for a total of 18-under-par 270 at Quail Hollow for his solo win on the PGA Tour, before taking up a club professional job just a couple of years later: “After the Kemper I thought I was going to win some more, and I certainly thought I could do it, but I just didn’t.”Heard – a five-time career winner on the PGA Tour, including the Colonial in 1972 – adopted a philosophical attitude on losing to Menne: “If I had to lose, I couldn’t lose to a nicer guy. He needs the exemptions and the money. It’s not like losing to Jack Nicklaus, who has more money than he can spend.”Social SwingAs a Korean American am so Gr8ful South Korea 4 all the love & support this week & that my mom got 2 c her sons journey 2 turn my life around in her motherland. Gotta keep workin 1%BETTER SOBER is DOPE 🔥 – Anthony KimStart four shots back. Shoot 66. Take home the trophy 🏆@CelineBoutier makes a final-round charge with #ProV1x to win the @ShopRiteLPGA for the second time #1ballingolf – Titleist big up French player Celine Boutier, who closed with a 66 for a winning total of nine-under-par 204 in the 54-holes ShopRite LPGA Classic tournament.Following Celine Boutier’s victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, the final spot in the 2026 US Women’s Open presented by Ally was filled by Karis Davidson, who will make her championship debut at The Riviera Country Club – the USGA social sites provide a piece of good news for Australian Davidson, currently ranked 83rd in the world.Know the RulesQ: A player takes lateral relief from a red penalty area by correctly dropping a ball in the two club-length relief area. While the player is assessing their next shot, a gust of wind blows the ball back into the penalty area. What is the ruling?A: There is no penalty. Such an occurrence is covered by Rule 9.3: if the player puts the original ball or another ball into play by dropping, placing or replacing it, and natural forces cause the ball at rest to move and come to rest in another area of the course or out of bounds, the ball must be replaced on its original spot.In the BagRussell Henley – Charles Schwab ChallengeDriver – Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees)3-wood – Titleist TS3 (16.5 degrees)5-wood – Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees)Irons – Titleist T250 (4), Titleist T100 (5-9)Wedges – Titleist SM11 (47, 51, 55 and 60 degrees)Putter – Scotty Cameron Phantom X5 Tour PrototypeBall- Titleist ProV1x