Tiger Woods is "awake and responsive" after undergoing significant surgery on multiple right leg fractures following a car crash in California yesterday. News broke last night the 15-time Major winner had been injured when his vehicle came off the road and rolled over an embankment near LA. Woods was extricated from the car by emergency services and LA county sheriff Alex Villanueva has said there was no evidence of impairment from alcohol or drugs in Woods's system. Woods is no stranger to surgery during a career marked with multiple knee and back injuries and this morning Philip Reid writes that there must now be serious question marks over the former world No1's chances of playing competitively again. Meanwhile, Malachy Clerkin writes that the response to the news last night showed just how big the Woods draw is and how there are few other sportspeople in the world who would garner such attention. "That's been the way of it ever since his first appearance in a professional golf tournament this week 29 years ago," he writes.
Moving on to rugby and this morning Gordon D'Arcy writes that Ireland's meeting with Italy in Rome this Saturday has a real crossroads feeling to it. Andy Farrell's men go into the match on the back of losses to Wales and France and badly in need of a confidence-boosting performance. "The current playbook – essentially, Mike Catt's attacking philosophy – has yet to be learned by this Irish squad despite plenty of time on and off the field since December 2019. The exam results do not lie," D'Arcy writes. Meanwhile, Johnny Sexton dropped a hint yesterday that the 2023 Rugby World Cup may be a bridge too far for him but the Ireland captain then later rowed back on that, saying it was just a "throwaway comment". "The poor fella must be weary of being asked about his future, but this is not to say he won't be offered another one-year deal on foot of that one, or that he won't yet play through until the 2023 World Cup. Only time will tell," writes Gerry Thornley.
On to soccer and Chelsea took a valuable 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 match with Atlético Madrid last night thanks to an acrobatic overhead kick from Olivier Giroud. The French striker scored the only goal of the game in Budapest as Thomas Tuchel's side were repeatedly repelled by the very defence-minded Atlético. In the night's other game, Bayern Munich all but booked their quarter-final spot with a 4-1 away win over Lazio. This evening Manchester City face Borussia Mönchengladbach in a game which Pep Guardiola feels confident about given that the Spanish manager says his side have been superior to the teams that have knocked them out in previous seasons. Meanwhile, in Scotland, Neil Lennon's tenure as Celtic manager has ended. It was reported on Tuesday night that he was set to be relieved of his duties following the loss to bottom-of-the-table Ross County on Sunday and that news was confirmed by the club in the last few minutes.
In GAA Seán Moran writes this morning that departing GAA president John Horan has done a stellar job in a year like no other. "Despite the media scrapes and his self-description on being elected in 2017 that he "wasn't renowned for my speeches", he would prove a very effective communicator on behalf of the GAA in the turmoil that unfolded a year ago," he writes.
