Coming in to Irish Open week most of the talk from a home perspective was about Shane Lowry and, even though he isn't there, Rory McIlroy. And while Lowry did deliver with an opening 66 at Lahinch to sit at four under par, it was the old grand master, the man with three Major titles to his name, who set the pace. On Thursday Pádraig Harrington gave us a glimpse of the past and the sort of play which has him correctly considered as one of Ireland's greatest ever sportspeople. On a perfect day in Lahinch, Harrington carded eight birdies and just a single bogey on the way to an opening round of 63 to lead by two at seven under par going into the second day. Now aged 48 and with a Ryder Cup captaincy occupying the majority of his time, Harrington is still able to weave that old magic and he did so yesterday in what was a masterclass of links golf. This morning he gets underway at 8.30am and from 10am you can follow his fortunes – as well as Lowry and everyone else in the afternoon – on our liveblog. Speaking of Lowry it was he who got the crowds going early on with his round of 66 before which he admitted feeling somewhat anxious and nervous, knowing the weight of expectation that is on him on home soil. And it was also a good day for another Irishman who slipped under the radar a little in the afternoon as Harrington set the course alight. Since turning pro Cormac Sharvin hasn't had the best of times but this week could well be a turning point for the 26-year-old who joined Lowry in the top-10 with a 66 of his own.
Moving on to hurling and Jackie Tyrrell writes in his column this morning that Limerick have proved the masters of timing and rotation in what is a changed hurling landscape. With more games than ever to play before reaching the All-Ireland final, John Kiely has had to be very shrewd in how he used his players, something that wasn't quite as much of an issue in previous times. "It's a different hurling landscape these days. It now takes seven or eight games to win an All-Ireland. We used to win them after half that number. I can understand John Kiely's point of view. You can't flog the horses, especially thoroughbreds," he writes. This weekend sees the meetings of Dublin and Laois and Westmeath and Cork to complete the quarter-final lineups in the hurling championship. A key man for the Dubs so far this year has been 36-year-old Conal Keaney and yesterday fellow teammate David Treacy said that the veteran would expect nothing less of himself. "If he wasn't prepared to be at that level he wouldn't have come back. He always has that in him. What he also has is he'd hate for me to talk about him like that. He just does what he does," he said.
Heading for Wimbledon now and last night it was Rafael Nadal who came out on top in the grudge match against Nick Kyrgios on centre court. In the first set there was one of the usual outbursts from Kyrgios where he lambasted the umpire but after that he settled down and put it up to the Spaniard. Johnny Watterson was there to take it all in. Earlier on Serena Williams had found herself in a spot of bother after losing the first set to 18-year-old Kaja Juvan but the American fought back to move safely through.
In soccer Derry City will look to end Dundalk's winning run this evening after what Declan Devine has described as a 'ludicrous' schedule which included trips to Cork and Dublin the space of four days last week. Yesterday Frank Lampard was officially confirmed as the new Chelsea manager, marking his return to Stamford Bridge where he spent 13 years as a player. However, romantics aside, the scale of the task facing the former midfielder is looking sizeable.
