With no live television coverage of this week's US PGA Championship, Philip Reid explains how you can see the tournament on TV. As for the golf itself, Rory McIlroy gets his quest for a fifth career Major under way alongside Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas, and he says he's happy to keep putting himself in striking distance. McIlroy's season has been one of great consistency, eight top-10 finishes in 18 tournaments. The elephant in the room is that he has only managed one win (in the Arnold Palmer Invitational) with a string of runner-up finishes.
Thomas Barr last night qualified for Thursday's 400m hurdles final at the European athletics championships in Berlin, and despite running a little short of his season best and being placed in lane eight for the final, he is upbeat about his medal chances; "Just go for it, really hard, the first 200m particular. It will be difficult, not having anyone to gauge, but it will force me to put on the blinkers and just go for it." Marcus Lawler (200m Heats), Leon Reid and hopefully Lawler again in the 200m semi-final, and Emma Mitchell in the 10,000m final make up the Irish in action today.
In his column this morning, Darragh Ó Sé is questioning the Galway footballers' mindset ahead of their semi-final against Dublin this weekend. "As for this lunatic idea that the place to catch Dublin is an All-Ireland semi-final, that's pure phone-in stuff," he explains, warning that Kevin Walsh can't just click his fingers and fix his players' attitude following their dismal showing against Monaghan.
Seán Moran writes this week about Eamonn Fitzmaurice's exit as Kerry senior football manager, explaining why public vitriol towards managers and players is totally unacceptable (subscriber only); "It's true that social media has contributed to a coarsening of public comment with its instant access and anonymity but the old-style misanthropy of sitting down and writing down abusive thoughts to send to amateur sportsmen, whether young players or not-so-young coaches, remains shocking."
Manchester United have turned down a bid from Catalan giants Barcelona for Paul Pogba after the La Liga club offered €50 million plus players Yerry Mina and André Gomes for the Frenchman.
Meanwhile Johnny Sexton will captain Leinster for the upcoming campaign, with fellow Ireland international Rhys Ruddock his vice-captain.
