So we have arrived at that point in the professional golf schedule that generated so much consternation months ago, even going back to 2015.

No Stephen Curry? No LeBron James? No problem. Despite missing the game’s two best players, the US men’s basketball team are still the slam dunk favorite to return home from the Rio Olympics with the gold medal.

‘I feel good, my training’s gone well, I’m in a good place mentally and physically’

THE backpackers who got naked on the sacred mountain in Borneo aren’t a great advert for the phenomenon we call ‘gap year’.

It is the “stupid little things” that both drive Donncha O’Connor forward and hold him back.

Keeping up with the World Cup on your smartphone on holidays has just got cheaper.

Martin Kaymer birdied three of the last five holes to jump out ahead of Graeme McDowell as the clear leader of the US Open going into Friday's second round at Pinehurst.

Brazilian police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse striking workers inside a subway station, adding to fears that labour troubles could disrupt the World Cup when it opens in six days.

SAMBA SADNESS

Kerry SFC final

99 of the world’s top 100 were today among the field contesting the US PGA Championship, but world number two Phil Mickelson was almost not among them.

FOR the first time in half a decade, Ireland now has choices in terms of overall budget strategy.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke hailed “a kind of revolution” as the football world prepared for today’s introduction of goal-line technology.

Rory McIlroy managed only eight holes today before play at the Barclays Singapore Open was called off in mid-afternoon because of a thunderstorm.

Anyone ever heard of the omnium?

The Sky Bet York Stakes (3.10) is one of the features on a modest Saturday afternoon’s racing but it provides a great opportunity for the Luca Cumani-trained Afsare to make the breakthrough in Group company.

When it comes to the phenomenon that is Katie Taylor, the key word is perspective.

Dublin 2-13 Meath 1-13

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has dismissed talk that he will be forced to retire from football due to his long-standing illness.

Alan Brogan looks genuinely gobsmacked when it’s put to him that he has a 100% record in Leinster finals.

Fernando Alonso ended Ferrari's long wait for a pole by grabbing top spot on the grid for tomorrow's British Grand Prix at the end of a rain-hit qualifying session this afternoon.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo be crowned king of Europe by claiming the tournament’s Golden Boot?

Next month’s Irish Open has received another major boost with the confirmation that US PGA champion Keegan Bradley will be in the field at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Douglas have surged to the top of the county football league in a perfect build up to next weekend’s championship action.

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Werder Bremen midfielder Marko Marin.

Facing deepening Western criticism, Ukraine’s president today ordered a thorough probe into the alleged beating by prison officials of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Rupert Murdoch faces a two-day grilling under oath at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards this week.

Alberto Contador was today banned for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory following his positive test for clenbuterol.

David McCarthy came close to breaking the US collegiate record for the mile with victory in the Boston University Terrier Invite Meet on Saturday (3:55.75).

Neil Robertson overcame a fightback from Mark Williams and a problem with his cue tip to book his place in the semi-finals of the BGC Masters at Alexandra Palace today.

The Ospreys have announced they will fine wing Kristian Phillips for using terminology on Twitter “likely to be construed as homophobic”.

IRELAND’S Michael Hoey and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood stormed clear of a host of big names, sharing the second-round lead at the Dunhill Links Championship yesterday.

IT seems unlikely but it could be argued that Cavan’s momentous Ulster U21 championship win in April was first formulated on the rock-hardplaying fields and in the bohemian bars of the west coast of America last summer.

CORK manager Conor Counihan has revealed that three of his 2010 All-Ireland winning team are currently unemployed.

Some 400 retail stores will be closed here by the end of the month, according to new figures from Retail Excellence Ireland.

THE increasingly lucrative “Gulf Swing” on the European Tour begins Thursday with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

BUSINESS conditions at the end of this year have steadied, but experiences vary significantly depending on the sector of the economy involved.

Managers sweating over the debilitating effects of emigration on their panels have been handed a ray of hope with agovernment initiative could deliver as many as 200 coaching jobs to out of work GAA players.

DOUBLE British Rally Champion Keith Cronin has shelved his progress to the next level of the sport due to a lack of opportunities.

MUNSTER’S leaders in technology have been celebrated for their contribution to the technology sector in an award ceremony for those who are driving success in the area.

COUNTRY versus a continent?

Tipperary lead the nominations list for the 2010 GAA Vodafone All-Star Hurling team with 14 of the Premier County's All-Ireland winning side making the shortlist.

Malaysia’s Islamic authorities are evicting unmarried Muslim civil servants from government-owned housing if they are caught with their partners alone in a private place, it was reported today.