We can only imagine Rory McIlroy’s relief this week at not being peppered with questions along the lines of: ‘Will you ever win the Masters?’ As Philip Reid heard him say on Tuesday, “the story as it relates to me is ... what do I still want to achieve in the game? And there’s still a lot that I want to do.” Starting, perhaps, with becoming just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters?
Shane Lowry, meanwhile, would quite like to become the second Irish man to triumph at Augusta. The ultimate dream? His buddy McIlroy placing the green jacket on his shoulders. While he will play in his 11th Masters this week, Tom McKibbin is making his debut in the tournament, the 23-year-old describing his initial impression of Augusta as a “pinch me moment”.
Lowry will be the first Irish golfer in action on Thursday when he tees off at 2.43pm (Irish time) – you can see all the tee times here – and having plenty of experience around the place, he won’t have to read our guide to the hardest holes on the course. And they all have such unthreatening names too, like Flowering Peach and Yellow Jasmine.
In rugby, Gordon D’Arcy looks at Munster’s current plight, on and off the field, their exit from the European Challenge Cup last weekend, allied to their financial woes, making these “sobering” times for the club. They have a “storied history”, he writes, but “they are currently clinging to memories”.
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Leinster have the memory of last season’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat to “fuel” them as they prepare for their “biggest game of the season by a distance” – Saturday’s quarter-final against Sale Sharks. Gerry Thornley hears from forwards coach Robin McBryde.
Montpellier stand between Connacht and a first European semi-final since 2010, Linley MacKenzie talking to their forwards coach John Muldoon ahead of their Challenge Cup quarter-final, while Michael Sadlier brings news from the Ulster camp in the build-up to Friday’s last eight game in the same competition, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle their opponents in Belfast.
In Gaelic games, Ian O’Riordan hears from Wicklow’s Kevin Quinn as his county prepares for Sunday’s Leinster championship opener against Carlow, while Gordon Manning previews the heavyweight clash of Tyrone and Armagh in the preliminary round of the Ulster championship.
Armagh’s preparations were “somewhat discommoded” when they had to abandon a planned training camp in Carton House because the facilities there were set up for soccer in advance of Manchester United’s arrival this week. United have, of course, taken a break from European competition this season, unlike Arsenal and Bayern Munich who won the first legs of their Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night.
And in swimming, Ian previews the Irish Open Championships, Daniel Wiffen beginning his campaign in today’s 1,500m, one of four freestyle events he’ll take part in over the next five days.
TV Watch: Sky Sports’ coverage of the build-up to the Masters continues today with the Par 3 contest in Augusta (from 2pm), and at 7.35pm this evening TG4 has the Munster under-20 hurling championship meeting of Limerick and Clare. At 8pm, take your pick from two Champions League quarter-final first legs – PSG v Liverpool (RTÉ 2, Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1) and Barcelona v Atletico Madrid (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 2).
