When Shane Lowry was growing up, his dream was to play for Offaly in an All-Ireland football final. When Rory McIlroy was growing up, his dream was to play for Manchester United, although that would be more akin to a nightmare this weather. Instead, the pair have to settle for playing (again) for Europe in the Ryder Cup, but when Philip Reid heard from them on Thursday, they seemed quite up for it.
Ahead of the start today of the 45th Ryder Cup, Philip also dropped in to hear Bryson DeChambeau’s thoughts on the challenges the next three days will present, the “gladiator golfer” a bit up for it himself. And Philip previews today’s foursomes, with Viktor Hovland among the Europeans in action. If you see the Norwegian staring at the sky at any point, he’ll probably be looking for UFOs.
In rugby, Ian Dury and the Blockheads get a mention in John O’Sullivan’s preview of the provincial rugby season, in which he is plucky enough to make predictions and pick out players to watch. Who has reasons to be cheerful?
In football, Gavin Cummiskey whipped out his calculator to bring us the League of Ireland title race permutations. The most straightforward one of them all: if Shamrock Rovers beat Bohemians tonight and Drogheda beat Derry City, Rovers will have their fifth title in six seasons – with five games to spare.
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Gordon Manning, meanwhile, looks ahead to Sunday’s NFL tussle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings at – checks notes – Croke Park, and in athletics, Sonia O’Sullivan reflects on a memorable World Championships for Kate O’Connor and Cian McPhillips.
In horse racing, Brian O’Connor looks at the sport’s bloated fixture list, with 391 Irish meetings scheduled for 2026. “That number of meetings,” he writes, demonstrates how “Irish racing has gone down the financial rabbit hole of servicing the gambling industry”.
TV Watch: Sky Sports Golf teed off its coverage of day one of the Ryder Cup at noon, and they won’t be done until near midnight. Coverage of the Listowel festival on TG4 started at 1.55pm, while this evening, Leinster and Ulster start their URC campaigns - Leinster play Stormers at 6pm (TG4 and Premier Sports) and Ulster take on the Dragons at 8.05 (Premier Sports).
