The PGA Tour is back and Justin Rose shares the Charles Schwab Challenge lead with Harold Varner III after a bogey-free round of seven-under-par 63 in Texas. Old habits proved hard to break as players did their best to maintain social distancing protocols, and Philip Reid explains: "Bryson DeChambeau had bulked into something akin to the Hulk; Graeme McDowell had lost his belly, while Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka had acquired fashionable moustaches. But it was the silence that shouted the loudest. No applause, no roars." World number one Rory McIlroy described his two under par first round as "uneventful". British Open champion Shane Lowry opened with a one-over-par 71 in a round in which he managed only one birdie, while McDowell finished strongly with birdies on the sixth and eighth holes to sign for a one-under-par 69. McIlroy tees off for his second round at 1.56pm (Irish time), McDowell starts at 6.44pm, and Lowry's round begins at 7.28pm.
The FAI will continue efforts over the weekend to get clubs to buy into their proposals to have the Airtricity League restarted after failing in an 11th hour attempt to persuade the FAI's board to provide €2.5 million in backing for the plan. Spain's La Liga kicked back into action last night as Sevilla enjoyed a 2-0 home win over city rivals Real Betis. In the first La Liga game since the season was halted three months ago by the Covid-19 pandemic, Sevilla dominated the derby in an empty and eerily quiet Sanchez Pizjuan which would usually be teeming with colour and noise for the occasion. This evening Granada host Getafe before Valencia take on Levante at 9pm (Irish time). Preparations for the English Premier League's restart next week continued on Thursday as league leaders and European and world champions Liverpool cruised to a 6-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in a friendly behind closed doors at Anfield.
With the sporting stage to itself, Friday's Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas, and other big races over the coming weeks, have been described as a "huge opportunity" for horse racing to sell itself. Five races from the Curragh are included in ITV4's racing coverage from 4.30pm to 7pm which will include the big race at 6.40pm. RTÉ2 will cover from 6pm to 8pm in the first sign of increased coverage of the sport by the national broadcaster which will include new hour-long evening programmes every Friday, Saturday and Sunday up to mid-July.
Meanwhile the Government is sending letters to the UK's minister for sport and to broadcasters Sky and BT to express "our outrage" about "absolutely unacceptable" involvement of crime boss Daniel Kinahan in the brokering of a high-profile boxing match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. As Johnny Watterson explains however: "The boxing world doesn't care about Kinahan's background." The US Open will join Wimbledon on the 2020 tennis scrapheap unless key players and other stakeholders can be persuaded over the weekend that it will be safe to travel to New York in late August, and reports that seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is to undergo stem cell surgery within days are inaccurate, it is understood.
