Following a barren spell (by his lofty standards) without any successes, Rory McIlroy ended his six-month drought with victory in the Irish Open last week. Having missed the past few cuts at his 'home' tournament, the world number three fared rather better at The K Club - home of the 2006 Ryder Cup - with a three-shot victory over Welshman Bradley Dredge and Scotsman Russell Knox. Having said that, if you think that it was as comfortable as the winning margin suggests then you’d be mistaken.

Play was first suspended on Sunday - and not for the first time in the tournament - with 10 holes left for the leaders, McIlroy leading by one from Knox. By the time the horn sounded again, two hours later and with four holes remaining, the Scot had just birdied 14 to tie McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard. The brief second delay certainly didn't halt Knox in his late charge, a birdie at the 15th seeing him lead by one with just three holes to play.

But we know how quickly things can change in golf

Up step Rory McIlroy. A sublime second shot into the heart of the par-5 16th green set up a two-putt birdie for the Northern Irishman, coinciding with a bogey-six for Knox. A two-shot swing and a huge momentum shift in the Rory's favour. One hole to play, Rory leads by one. The 18th at the K Club is a par-5 with water lurking for any wayward shots. The perfect final hole. After a nailed drive straight down the middle, McIlroy showed why he is one of the world's best with his second. 253-yards was the number, two feet was the final result. A truly astonishing shot, when the pressure was at its highest, setting up a tap-in eagle to secure the title. The shot of champion.

Here’s what Rory had in the bag:

Driver – Nike Vapor Fly Pro (9.5 degrees)
Fairway Woods – Nike Vapor Speed (15 and 19 degrees)
Irons – Nike VR Pro blades (4-9)
Wedges – Nike Engage (47, 52, 56 & 59 degrees)
Putter – Nike Method
Ball – Nike RZN Platinum

Talking of barren spells, Sergio Garcia clinched his first PGA Tour title in almost four years at the AT&T Bryon Nelson in Texas. Brooks Koepka held the overnight lead going into Sunday, a two-shot cushion over world number two Jordan Spieth. Much has been made of Spieth’s form this season, especially after his final-round collapse at The Masters last month. The truth of the matter is that he has played in 11 events this season, missing only two cuts and not finishing any worse than T21 in every other tournament – what a terrible season for the young American….

But this wasn’t Spieth’s week, a closing 74 made sure of that. Instead, the tournament was in Koepka’s hands until the closing stretch, when errant tee shots led to bogeys on 14 and 15, presenting Sergio with a chance of glory. Firing a two-under 68 on Sunday, the Spaniard tied Koepka at the top of the leaderboard and so a playoff was needed to decide the winner.

Now Sergio may well be one of the unluckiest golfers out there, with countless near-misses proving that fate isn’t always on his side. That was until last week. Another poor tee shot by Koepka, this time on the first playoff hole, found the water, practically gifting the tournament to Sergio there and then. Someone of his class wasn’t going to make the same mistake, instead he hit the middle of the fairway before finding the heart of the green to secure the 9th Tour win of his career.

What equipment did Sergio use?

Driver – TaylorMade M2 (9.5 degrees)
Fairway Woods – TaylorMade M1 (15 and 19 degrees)
Irons – TaylorMade PSi Tour (3-PW)
Wedges – TaylorMade Tour Preferred EF (52 and 58 degrees) 
Putter – TaylorMade Monte Carlo
Ball – TaylorMade Tour Preferred X