The Morning Sports Briefing

Golf: British Open

Heavy rain has forced the suspension of play before the first group even managed to finish the first hole on the second day of the 144th Open Championship at St Andrews. Persistent rain throughout the early hours got worse just as Jaco van Zyl, Mark Calcavecchia and Marcel Siem teed off at 6.32am. That saved Pádraig Harrington who'd been due to tee-off 40 minutes later. Scroll through the images up top to see just how bad conditions are looking.

Big-hitting American Dustin Johnson tops the leaderboard after hitting an opening seven-under-par 65 yesterday; hugely impressive for many reasons, not least for the fact that his nemesis from Chambers Bay had, in a mischievous act by the R&A, been grouped with him. This time, though, Jordan Spieth was not the centre of attention, even if the winner of the season's first two Majors finished just two shots adrift of his fellow-American.

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A view of the scoreboard on the flooded 18th hole fairway as rains falls prior to the second round of the 144th Open Championship at The Old Course. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

“I’ve played enough golf with him to where I believe in my skill set that I can still trump that crazy ability that he has,” said Spieth.

There wasno joy for compatriot Tiger Woods though, he had signed for an opening round 76 – the same mark as old-timer Tom Watson, competing in his last Open. "Just try and grind it out," he said. "I've got to just fight, fight through it."

Soccer: Europa League

A second half brace from Odd Ballklubb striker Olivier Occean effectively ended Shamrock Rovers chances of Europa League progression last night at a wet Tallaght Stadium.

New signing Damien Duff watched on from the stands as the Moldovans went away with two crucial away goals.

UCD go into their second leg in a better place after a 1-0 away defeat against Slovan Bratislava. There was unkind, late heartbreak in Slovakia as they came within minutes of holding their fancied opponents to a remarkable scoreless draw.

GAA: Championship

Kerry and Cork named their teams last night for Saturday's Munster final replay, and while Cork go unchanged the All-Ireland champions have introduced a few new bodies, or rather re-introduced. Aidan O'Mahony is in at full-back, with Anthony Maher coming into midfield moving Bryan Sheehan to 11. Still no place for the Gooch but Paul Galvin does return to the bench. In the drawn game both teams did play as selected.

Last night Limerick prevailed in an epic Munster Under-21 hurling semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds, beating Tipperary 3-16 to 3-14.

Tipperary senior footballer Colin O’Riordan was to the fore for his team as they fought back having trailed Limerick by a dozen points in the first half.

Cycling: Tour de France

Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey in a thunderstorm yesterday although Joaquim Rodriguez won the stage to Plateau de Beille, while Nicholas Roche was best of the Irish.

After the stage Froome had to deny the allegations that Team Sky are using ketones, a radical fat-burning agent, which he said he “had to google” when asked about it.

Meanwhile in athletics; Athletics Ireland and the Irish Sports Council have confirmed sprinter Steven Colvert has committed an anti-doping rule violation and has been banned from competing for two years.

What to watch out for:

If the action at St Andrews does resume, we'll have all the updates on our Live Blog while BBC coverage is from 9am.

BBC 2, 9am-8pm

Ireland's latest T20 cricket match is live on Sky at 2.15pm following Nepal v Papua New Guinea.

Sky Sports 3 from 9.30am

While Bohemians take on Sligo Rovers in the League of Ireland at 8.05pm

Setanta from 7.55pm