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McIlroy wins Canadian Open; Four won’t go into three in hurling round-robins

Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Rory McIlroy smiles after making a birdie during the final round of the Canadian Open. Photograph: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
Rory McIlroy smiles after making a birdie during the final round of the Canadian Open. Photograph: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
Mon Jun 10 2019 - 07:36

Rory McIlroy was at his magnificent best winning the Canadian Open last night after a closing round 61 for 22-under-par 258, and it was a fantastic tournament all round for the Irish. Shane Lowry finished second - which earned him a $820,000 payday and moved him from 119th up to 65th in cementing his quest to make the FedEx Cup playoffs - and Graeme McDowell also booked his ticket to play in the 148th British Open at Royal Portrush next month. Read Philip Reid's report here.

Galway opened up the Leinster hurling round-robin even further with a one point win over Kilkenny at Nowlan Park on Sunday. In Munster, Limerick's impressive win over Clare kept their summer alive, with that round-robin series also going to the final day with four teams in contention for three positions. Dublin made light work off Kildare in one Leinster football semi-final and they'll face Meath in the final, after the Royals beat Laois in the other. Cavan seen off Armagh at the second time of asking to reach a first Ulster final since 2001, and in the qualifiers Monaghan got back to winning ways against Fermanagh. The round two qualifier draw takes place this morning, here's all you need to know about that.

Tonight, Ireland look to continue their positive start to the Euro 2020 qualification campaign with a win over Gibraltar at the Aviva. Manager Mick McCarthy has made it abundantly clear that he is disinclined to meddle too much with a winning team, with Callum Robinson the best placed to come into the XI if there is to be a change. Last night Portugal won the inaugural Nations League with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands, while earlier England won the third place play-off on penalties against Switzerland. According to Ken Early in his column this morning though, England's attempts to play like Manchester City are doomed.

Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix for Mercedes in controversial fashion on Sunday after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line first but was given a five-second penalty. The furious German was demoted to second after being slapped with the penalty for a dangerous re-entry after running off the track, and when Vettel was told of the decision the four-time world champion exploded, venting his anger over the team radio.