Golf: USPGA
The last Major of the season has finally arrived today - we'll have to wait until 7.20pm (Irish time) to see Rory McIlroy's USPGA championship defence get underway though. The World No1 will play the first two rounds alongside Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson. The young pretender to his World No1 crown and the man who took ownership of the Claret Jug last month in his absence. You can see full groupings and tee times for the first two rounds here.
McIlroy, back from his ankle injury lay-off, says that Spieth is the man to beat. Who is the best player in the world?
“If you were to go by this year, you have to say Jordan. I would say if you go over the last two years, it’s probably a toss up between Jordan and myself . . . it’s all a matter of opinion at this point,” said McIlroy, who has been world number one in the official rankings for 52 straight weeks.
Meanwhile Shane Lowry, another Irish man going into this afternoon's opening round which expectations at an all-time high, has been talking in his Irish Times column this morning about last week's fantastic WGC-Bridgestone Invitational win in Ohio.
"I've never been as nervous on a golf course as I was on that 18th tee... Golf is a funny game. I hadn't felt great with my game in the run-up to the Bridgestone. We'd travelled from London – where one of Wendy's close friends had got married – and arrived in Akron on the Monday night. I played 18 holes on Tuesday and nine holes on Wednesday and, being honest, I wasn't really confident going into the week."
GAA: Championship
At the Tyrone press night last night Mickey Harte would not be drawn on the situation surrounding Tiernan McCann's eight-week ban handed down by the CCCC, other than to confirm that the county board would be appealing the proposal. "If I gave my opinion on that, it wouldn't be seen as objective. I would leave that to independent observers to judge."
In this week's GAA statistics column the focus is on the Galway hurlers, Anthony Cunningham's side have managed almost 40 per cent of their overall championship aggregate via one 10 minute period in each of their games.
The question is can these scoring binges, or purple patches, get them past the big boys Tipperary or Kilkenny. It’s unlikely.
Boxing
Andy Lee's WBO World Middleweight title fight against Billy Joe Saunders has been moved from Thomond Park to Manchester after a statement released by joint promoters Adam Booth and Frank Warren on Wednesday night confirmed that the Limerick fighter was suffering from a virus.
The fight, which was meant to take place on Saturday September 19th, has been moved back three weeks to October 10th and will form the main attraction of a bill at the 21,000 Manchester Arena.
Rugby: World Cup
It's been almost three years since Michael Bent came on as a replacement in Ireland's victory over Wales last Saturday in Cardiff having won the first two of three caps in the 2012 November Test series. It's been a rollercoaster ride from those highs, to initially struggling to adapt to the demands of provincial rugby, and now back again;
“It’s massively proud for me. Last week sending messages back to my family to let them know that I had been selected to sit on the bench and had the opportunity to come on, they were absolutely delighted for me.
“It was a very proud moment for me. Just being here and being involved with the team every day, it makes me very proud and I’m just happy to be here.”
There's also a great read from Dave Hannigan this morning, on swimmer Michael Phelps - the most decorated Olympian of all time has had to overcome his addiction problems and is now targeting more gold medals in Rio.
What to watch out for:
The US PGA Open is on live this afternoon in time to catch up with Rory McIlroy as he starts his first round in Wisconsin.
Sky Sports 4 from 7pm-1am
English League Cup first round tonight between Doncaster Rovers and Leeds, kick-off 7.45pm.
Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm
