The Morning Sports Briefing

Golf: Fifth Major

Rory McIlroy will get the chance to get one over on the young pretender to his World Number One status, as he tees of with Jordan Speith in today's Players Championship.

McIlroy says that the proposed new rivalry with the youngster who denied him a career Grand Slam at last month’s Masters isn’t one which affects him.

“Last year it was Rickie, this year it’s Jordan, might be someone else, could have been Tiger... there have been four or five rivalries over the past year. It doesn’t really do anything for me.”

Shane Lowry is also in action today and he feels that the key to the PGA’s flagship event, dubbed the Fifth Major, is patience.

Lowry reckons he's been hard done by of late but he likes Sawgrass and he's relishing that 17th hole.

Soccer: Champions League

Pep Guardiola's return to Barcelona was an unhappy one last night, beaten 3-0 by the monster he created his Bayern Munich team were entirely outplayed in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Lionel Messi was the catalyst with two late goals and an assist for a 3-0 win. Bayern have had to come back from deficit's in all of their knockout games to date, but neither were against a team of near the calibre of Barcelona.

The big news this morning though is the insinuation that the English Football Association tried to impose an unofficial quota system on the number of black players an England manager should be allowed to use during Graham Taylor's reign, according to a new book about racism within the sport.

Rugby: Pro12

Ulster go into this weekend's Pro12 clash with Munster still unbeaten at home; the impressive newly developed Kingspan Stadium a fitting statement of the province's ambition.

The increased capacity has turned Ulster’s new home into an even more imposing venue.

Ahead of that game Munster's South African prop BJ Botha says he's looking forward to taking on his former Ulster team-mates.

GAA: Croke Park

Every year there’s the same debate, why do Dublin get to play all of their Leinster Championship games in Croke Park, a home venue for them.

Well the reason of course is the huge revenue that’s raised by exploiting the Dubs’ support, and that doesn’t look like changing anytime soon. Despite the league showing how vulnerable Jim Gavin’s team can be on the road.

The Dublin manager's reason for why Croke Park offers little advantage to his team is an, interesting one; "There may be a bit more of an advantage for a team, too, that gets to spend a little bit more time together on the day – they get a chance to talk and to see how players are feeling rather than just meeting and going to Croke Park."

Cricket: Meet the new boss

Ireland's new cricket coach John Bracewell will take an observational role for Friday's ODI against England but the Kiwi is relishing the chance to lead Ireland's bid for test status.

What to watch out for:

The Players Championship is live on Sky from 6pm, McIlroy and Spieth will tee off at 1.39pm, Harrington and McDowell little less than an hour earlier with Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia among those getting underway later in the evening.

Sky Sports 4 from 6pm-midnight

Europa League action tonight with the first legs of the two semi finals. Fiorentina visit reigning champions Sevilla as Rafael Benitez's Napoli host Dnipro.

Sevilla v Fiorentina - 3e from 7.30pm

Napoli v Dnipro - Setanta from 7.55pm