It's been 12 years now since Shane Lowry lifted the Irish Open trophy as an amateur at Baltray and the Offalyman would dearly love to do so again as he gets his latest quest underway this morning at Mount Juliet, teeing off at 8am. The defending British Open champion is one of the favourites this week and recent form would suggest he has a good chance, particularly with so much on the line including Ryder Cup hopes. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood are two of the other headline acts in Kilkenny this week while Graeme McDowell spoke yesterday about the changes in a career as it progresses with his focus now very much on the vice-captaincy at September's Ryder Cup.
Moving on to GAA and it is hoped that as much as 40,000 people could be in Croke Park in August for the All-Ireland finals if the current test events - which include 8,000 at this weekend's Leinster hurling semi-finals - continue to go as planned. Whether Stephen Cluxton will be there in a Dublin jersey is a question that has still not been definitively answered as rumours continue to swirl around whether he has retired or not. Writing in his column this morning, Ciarán Muprhy says that we should be thankful for such a man who still wants to keep a few secrets.
On to rugby and it's a defining clash between Ireland under-20s and England this evening in Cardiff as Richie Murphy's side look to take a big step towards defending their title. "It would be churlish to ignore or dismiss other Tests in the next fortnight, but the winner here will take a significant stride towards a title that is Ireland's prerogative to defend," writes John O'Sullivan. For the senior team, a meeting with Japan beckons this weekend and Japanese forwards coach Tony Brown believes that, even without their Lions and some rested frontliners, Ireland will pose a greater challenger on home soil than they did at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Moving on to our women in sport pages and Sonia O'Sullivan writes this morning of the preparation for US Olympic athletes in the searing Oregon heatwave where temperatures have reached 46 degrees while Joanne O'Riordan writes that Leona Maguire is showing just how bright the future of Irish women's golf is.
Finally to soccer and Jonathan Liew writes this morning that England's win over Germany was rooted in them finally mastering the midfield - something that will be a key factor if they are to go on and perhaps lift the trophy on Sunday week.
