Chances to reach an All-Ireland final don't come around too often for small counties. For some they're almost commonplace but for the likes of Monaghan they could be once in a generation. Or even two generations. Malachy O'Rourke's side got that chance on Sunday when they met Tyrone but it was a chance that passed them by which, according to Jim McGuinness in his column this morning, was because they failed to stick to what they were good at. "You can't wish your way to an All-Ireland final. You have to play your way to it. That's where Monaghan fell short. Sunday was a gilt-edged and maybe a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get to the All-Ireland final. And they didn't take it," he writes. Meanwhile, the GAA are keeping an open mind as to why attendances are at the third-lowest they have been in the last 10 years for football with Dublin's semi-final win over Galway on Saturday a particularly poor showing of just over 54,000.
On to golf and, although it was Brooks Koepka who sealed the US PGA Championship at Bellerive on Sunday, it's the Tiger Woods train that continues to gain momentum after his thrilling final day run. Woods was noticeably excited after his runner-up place in St Louis and waited after he finished his round to congratulate Koepka, something that would have been completely incomprehensible for the Woods of old. But this is a new Tiger and one for whom second place is no longer first loser. Meanwhile, the show goes on for Shane Lowry, but possibly only for one more week in America. The Offalyman jumped to 139 in the FedEx Cup rankings thanks to his strong finish at Bellerive but he still has a fair bit of work to do at this week's Wyndham Championship if he is to get inside the top-125 and keep his card. This week's tournament is the last counting tournament to earn your card for next year and represents the last chance saloon for Lowry, Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Séamus Power who, at 123rd, is the only Irishman inside the number.
In soccer Manchester United are confident that goalkeeper David de Gea is close to agreeing a new deal at the club with the Spaniard's long running flirtation with Real Madrid supposedly ended by their capture of Thibaut Courtois. De Gea is looking at a significant increase on his €200,000 a week salary to remain at the club where he has been since 2011. Meanhwile, the opening of Tottenham's new stadium has been pushed back indefinitely due to safety concerns, meaning that at least two Premier League games, as well as a lucrative NFL fixture, have been moved to Wembley where Spurs are believed to have paid a sum for its use until the end of the year.
Moving on to gymnastics and Ireland's new found pommel horse hero – Rhys McClenaghan – has the potential to go on and become a golden boy at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, paving the way for Irish gymnastics. Now resident in Dublin, the teenager moved from his home in Belfast about a month ago to train in the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown and so far it has paid off with his gold medal at the European Championships on Sunday signalling Ireland's first ever European medal in the sport.
In athletics, Ireland will head for next year's World Championships in Doha with a renewed vigour after a successful campaign in Berlin last week where Thomas Barr claimed bronze while Ciara Mageean came agonisingly close and Leon Reid showed his sprinting potential. Couple it with Shane Ryan's bronze in the pool, the O'Donovan brothers silver in rowing and McClenaghan's gold on the pommel horse and there are certainly reasons to be cheerful.
