Rory McIlroy finds it hard to foresee any player shooting 59 or under at The Open Championship on the challenging Old Course that Tiger Woods says 'still stands the test of time'.

With a fair forecast in Scotland and the big-hitting stars descending on the final major of the year, many are expecting low scores across the weekend at the 150th Open.

The lowest round ever shot at a men's major was carded by Branden Grace, who managed 62 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

McIlroy, the 2014 champion, shares the lowest round (63) at The Open at St Andrews alongside Paul Broadhurst, but does not envisage any player carding a sub-60 round.

"Fifty-nine is 13 under par round this golf course. There are 7,300 yards," said McIlroy, who has finished no lower than eighth at the first three majors in 2022.

"It's got greens that are running at 10-and-a-half to 11 [considered medium speed], it's got fairways where the ball is bouncing 50 yards if it's hit and more if it catches the downslope.

"I'll tell you what if someone shoots that [13 under] I will be the first person on the 18th green to shake their hand because they have played outstanding golf."

Woods is no stranger to success at St Andrews, where two of his three Claret Jugs have come, sitting in an exclusive club with Bob Martin, JH Taylor, James Braid and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win two Opens at the home of golf.

The American, who has battled injury struggles and retirement fears to feature at what could be his final St Andrews Open, echoed the sentiments of McIlroy as he outlined the challenges ahead.

"Even with the advancements in technology, this golf course still stands the test of time," Woods said. 

"It's still very difficult, and it's obviously weather dependent. You get the winds like we did today, it's a helluva test.

"On 10, I hit a six-iron from 120 yards. It was blowing so hard. So you just don't get – you just don't have opportunities to hit shots like that anywhere else.

"Then again, if you get a calm day on this golf course, you can see some players probably have four to five eagle putts. It is weather dependent.

"The fairways, I think right now, are faster than the greens. So it's funny, when you hit some of the chip shots and some of the bump-and-runs, you have to allow more speed early, then play for breaks when they hit the green.

"Again, with the amount of slope that's on these greens, if they get them too fast, it's unplayable when the wind gets up.

"We saw that when Louis [Oosthuizen] won. We had a wind-out. We don't want that to happen. And it's understandable why they're a little bit on the slower side."

Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan wants to see the French government apologise for the chaos prior to the Champions League final.

An enquiry carried out by the French senate found that the issues at the Stade de France on May 28 - which resulted in kick-off being delayed - were caused by "a string of dysfunctions".

The French government initially accused Liverpool fans, who were sprayed with tear gas and complained of being subjected to heavy-handed policing, of being at fault for having fake tickets and arriving at the ground late.

Two senate committees launched an investigation to discover what happened prior to Real Madrid's 1-0 win and concluded that Liverpool fans were not to blame.

Following the publication of that report, Liverpool chief Hogan has asked for an apology from the French government as a whole.

He told Liverpool's official website: "I would say I was incredibly encouraged to see one of the senators specifically apologise to the Liverpool fans and to the Real Madrid fans for what happened on the night.

"I would ask that the French government do the same. Not just to the fans of Liverpool and Real Madrid but to both clubs, who have had reputational issues coming out of the final and we would hope they would extend an apology where one is deserved."

UEFA previously launched an independent investigation, and Hogan hopes the findings of the senate's report will play a part in their findings.

"I would hope and certainly we would expect that this review would play a part in the UEFA independent investigation as well," he said.

"That panel obviously is just getting going in that process and we would certainly hope that Dr Tiago Rodrigues and the panel would use the senate's findings as a critical part of their research and investigation into the events around the final at the Stade de France."

Of the report as a whole, Hogan said: "From our perspective, we just think that goes back to what we talked about immediately after the event and the fact there were a number of accusations, frankly, put out there immediately after the event and in fact blaming fans for what happened on that night.

"I think what we're seeing from the senate clearly shows that is not the case. And finally, they have clearly gone through a process here over the course of the last several weeks, spoken with a number of individuals, a number of different stakeholders, so we would welcome and support the 15 recommendations that came out of the report."

Kevin De Bruyne led the Manchester City players wishing Raheem Sterling well after the winger completed his move to Chelsea.

With City having bolstered their fearsome attack with the additions of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, Sterling has joined Gabriel Jesus in heading for pastures new – both men moving to London.

Whereas Jesus has gone to Arsenal, Sterling has made for the west side of the capital, joining Chelsea in a deal reportedly worth £45million.

The England forward has signed a five-year deal with Chelsea, who were in need of another attacker after loaning Romelu Lukaku back to Inter less than a year after his return to Stamford Bridge for a club-record fee.

Sterling scored 17 goals in all competitions for Pep Guardiola's team last season, a tally only bettered by Riyad Mahrez (24) and De Bruyne (19), who was among those City players to use their social media channels to congratulate the 27-year-old.

"We came seven years ago together to this club to win trophies together and play good football and we achieved that," De Bruyne posted on Instagram.

"Was a pleasure to play with you. Wishing you all the best in future bro @sterling7."

Sterling replied: "Was a pleasure bro."

Jack Grealish, City's record signing, posted a good luck message to his fellow England international to his Instagram story.

Riyad Mahrez wrote "countless memories, will miss you brother" on his Instagram story, while Aymeric Laporte also uploaded a post.

Sterling leaves City having made at least 46 appearances in each of his seven seasons at the club, scoring a total of 91 Premier League goals.

The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday, despite sitting in a playoff position in the American League

Toronto entered the day with a 46-42 record and a half-game lead on the Seattle Mariners for the third and final wild-card spot in the AL. Bench coach John Schneider has been named the interim manager for the rest of the season. 

The Blue Jays gave Montoyo his first MLB managerial job after John Gibbons was let go following the 2018 season. Toronto went 67-95 under Montoyo in 2019, then reached the wild-card round in 2020 after going 32-28 during the pandemic-shortened season. 

Montoyo finished third in AL Manager of the Year voting in 2020, then guided the Blue Jays to a 91-71 record last season – the team's most wins since 2015. However, Toronto missed an AL wild-card spot by just one game. 

The Blue Jays signed Montoyo to a contract extension through 2023 days before this season started, but seeing their wild-card chances dwindling due to a current 2-9 stretch that has coincided with an eight-game winning streak for Seattle led to his departure on Wednesday. 

The 56-year-old Montoyo finished with a 236-236 record in the regular season with Toronto. 

Evander Kane re-signed with the Edmonton Oilers on a four-year, $20.5 million contract shortly before the start of NHL free agency, having resurrected a career in the midst of turmoil after joining the team midway through the 2021-22 season.

Kane, who totalled 35 goals in 58 games with Edmonton when including the playoffs, announced his decision in a Twitter post late on Tuesday.

The 13-year veteran forward signed with the Oilers in January following an ugly departure from the San Jose Sharks, who terminated his contract earlier that month for violating COVID-19 protocols while playing in the American Hockey League.

Kane did not play a game for the Sharks last season due to a handful of off-field issues. The 30-year-old began the campaign away from the team as the NHL investigated accusations from his ex-wife that he assaulted her and wagered on league games, and he also served a 21-game suspension for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccine card to the Sharks and the NHL.

The NHL announced in October that it could not corroborate the domestic assault claims and said it found no evidence that Kane gambled on league games.

"Throughout the last 12 months, there have been lots of road blocks, tons of adversity and many tough days," Kane wrote. "I'm grateful for the tremendous amount of support from family, friends, team-mates and others who have helped me stay strong through these difficult times.

"I want to thank the Edmonton Oilers for giving me the opportunity to REMIND people who I am as a player and person."

A two-time 30-goal scorer, Kane rediscovered his touch by producing 22 goals and 17 assists in 43 regular-season games with Edmonton. He was even better in the postseason, tallying 13 goals and four assists in 15 games to help the Oilers advance to their first Western Conference final since 2006.

"A big part of my decision to stay in Edmonton was because of the opportunity given to me only seven months ago but also the chance to be a part of a championship team," he said.

"I want to win, and I believe after signing this deal we will be able to add the right pieces along with myself to accomplish that goal, a championship."

Selected by the Atlanta Thrashers with the fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft, Kane has compiled 286 goals and 259 assists in 812 career regular-season games. The Vancouver native is one of seven players to have scored 20 or more goals in each of the past seven seasons.

Suzuki have confirmed they will depart MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season after reaching an early release agreement with promoters Dorna.

The Japanese manufacturer previously indicated their intent to seek a withdrawal from the sport, citing economic difficulties behind their decision.

 Suzuki had been contracted to MotoGP through to 2026, having previously returned to the premier class in 2015 afterling quitting in 2011.

They have now been handed an early termination following negotiations, president Toshihiro Suzuki confirmed.

The company will also exit the World Endurance Championship - which includes the Le Mans 24 Hour race - at the end of the current campaign.

Suzuki last won the MotoGP title in 2020, their first for 20 decades, with Spanish rider Joan Mir crowned champion.

They will support both Mir and his team-mate Alex Rins - eighth and ninth in the standings respectively until the end of the season, with the pair currently eighth and ninth in the standings re

Jonas Vingegaard's attack paid off in style as the Dane took the lead in the Tour de France, severely denting Tadej Pogacar's hopes.

Wednesday's 152kilometre route through the Alps looked set to be crucial in the general classification standings, though few would have predicted this outcome up the Col du Granon.

Pogacar seemed in complete control of the GC and was expected to maintain his advantage, such is his proficiency up the slopes.

Yet led by Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert, Jumbo-Visma attacked early and lured Pogacar and his fellow UAE Team Emirates riders into responding.

Those early moves seemed to have backfired, with Pogacar and team-mate Rafal Majka looking strong heading onto the final climb, but it all fell apart for the two-time reigning champion when Vingegaard sensed a weakness and lodged a brilliantly timed attack 5km out from the finish, leaving the yellow jersey in his wake.

Geraint Thomas soon followed suit, making his own dent in the GC standings, as for the first time in his career Pogacar showed real vulnerability. 

While Pogacar floundered, Vingegaard wrapped up a sensational ride by overtaking Romain Bardet, who is up to second in the GC, and Nairo Quintana to seal his maiden Grand Tour stage triumph.

Thomas pushed over in fourth, with David Gaudu and Adam Yates getting up to the summit before Pogacar – his yellow jersey unzipped and flapping – limped across the line, close to three minutes behind Vingegaard.

"It's really incredible, it's hard for me to put words on," said Vingegaard, whose lead over Pogacar in the GC standings is well over two minutes. "This is what I dreamt of, always, a stage in the Tour. Now the yellow jersey, incredible.

"We made the plan from the start of the day, you can see what it was, we wanted to make it a super hard race in my favour, the favour of Primoz. I took a lot of time today, but I'd never have done that without my team-mates, they were all incredibly strong today.

"On the last climb I was thinking if I don't try, I'm not going to win. Second place is a nice result, but I had this last year, now I want to try to go for the victory." 

Van der Poel calls it quits

One of the big names at this year's tour, Mathieu van der Poel, has failed to really get going and he called it a day on stage 11, abandoning the race. It has been a frustrating stint for the Dutchman, who impressed on his Tour de France debut last year. He was dropped on the Lacets de Montvernier, after initially getting involved in the early breakaway.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 4:18:02
2. Nairo Quintana (Team Arkea–Samsic) +0:59
3. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +1:10
4. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38
5. David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ) +2:04

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS 

General Classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 41:29:59
2. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +2:16
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) +2:22

Points Classification

1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 304
2. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 155
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) 148

King of the Mountains

1. Simon Geschke (Cofidis) 43
2. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) 35
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 30

Darren Clarke believes he has "a few more decent days left on the golf course" after revealing he turned down the offer of joining the LIV Golf Invitational.

Clarke, who won The Open in 2011, is competing at St Andrews this week in the season's final major.

It marks the 150th anniversary of The Open Championship, golf's oldest major.

Yet the lingering dispute over LIV Golf - the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour - continues to cast a shadow over the sport.

Clarke has now revealed he was approached to take up a broadcast role for LIV Golf, an option that the Northern Irishman was keen to explore.

However, his desire to continue playing on the PGA Tour meant he had to turn it down.

"I could still have gone and done it but it would have basically meant me retiring from playing professional golf. I wasn't ready to do that just yet," Clarke said, as quoted by BBC Sport.

"Unfortunately I asked for permission to do it and it was denied, [I am] not allowed to do it as part of my PGA Tour membership.

"I respect that decision. I would love to have gone and done it and played both but they decided in their rules and regulations that it wasn't viable for me to do so.

"I want to play. Hopefully I've got a few more decent days left on the golf course and I wasn't ready to hang the clubs up just yet."

While Clarke understands why golfers would take up the chance to play on the lucrative tour, he believes it is fair that there are consequences for those decisions.

"I can understand why the guys have done it. That's fine, they get paid a lot of money to go and join the LIV tour," the 53-year-old added.

"It's a different question if you ask should those guys be allowed to play. It's like asking should Liverpool be allowed to play in the Premier League and go play in LaLiga at the same time?

"As [DP World Tour chief executive] Keith Pelley said, every action comes with consequences. So if you want to go and do this, then you can't do that.

"It's not my position to say what's right and what's wrong but at the moment the rules are that those guys are ineligible to play."

Frank Lampard is adamant Anthony Gordon will not be leaving Everton despite reported interest from Tottenham and Newcastle United.

Gordon provided a bright spark for Everton under both Rafael Benitez and Lampard last term, as the Toffees secured Premier League survival with one game to spare.

Along with Richarlison and Jordan Pickford, Gordon was a standout performer under Lampard, who took charge in January following Benitez's dismissal.

No Everton player featured in more league games than Gordon last term, with the winger scoring four goals and setting up a further two, while only Demarai Gray (42) and Alex Iwobi (36) created more chances than the 21-year-old's tally of 35.

With Richarlison having been sold to Tottenham for a deal reportedly worth an initial £50million, with a further £10m in add-ons, Everton – who needed a big sale to ease their financial difficulties – are down a key performer from last season, with the Brazil forward having scored 10 goals, including crucial strikes against Leicester City, Chelsea and Crystal Palace in the run-in. 

Yet there is also interest in Gordon, with Spurs having reportedly looked at the possibility of signing the England youth international alongside Richarlison and Newcastle said to have made enquiries.

But with Gordon having taken the number 10 shirt ahead of the upcoming season, Lampard insists the youngster is staying put.

"He's worked for it, you have to earn the number 10," Lampard told Everton's website. "With the 10, it has a bit of magic to it, a bit of flare and Anthony's got that, but he's got it in his own style.

"I don't want him to be doing pirouettes on the halfway line, we need him doing what he was doing last year, plus goals and assists, which Anthony is so hungry to do.

"He's earned it, absolutely. A link to the crowd, a link to the fans, a local boy – he gives everything, a great talent.

"He's going nowhere, he's our player. That was a hugely important thing for me, he's the sort of player we want to build to go forward with and I'm delighted that he's got his number 10 but now I want him to continue to earn it."

Another player linked with a move away from Everton has been Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose late winner against Palace sealed their safety.

The forward had an injury-hit campaign and managed just five goals, but Lampard is eager to see the England international back at peak fitness.

"I couldn't have been happier for a player to score that goal that goes down in Everton history. You get goosebumps when you think about it, it's just an amazing goal," Lampard added.

"I saw Dominic in my time at the club striving, doing everything to be fit. The powerhouse that we saw in the last games of the season – that's Dominic. Great lad, great talent, a dream to work with. A fully fit Dominic is something for us to get excited about this season."

An enquiry carried out by the French Senate found chaotic scenes before the Champions League final were caused by "a string of dysfunctions" in the organisation of the event, rather than Liverpool supporters.

The kick-off for the showdown between the Reds and Real Madrid at the Stade de France on May 28 was delayed due to alarming scenes outside the stadium in Paris.

The French government initially accused Liverpool fans, who were sprayed with tear gas and complained of being subjected to heavy-handed policing, of being at fault for having fake tickets and arriving at the ground late.

Paris police chief Didier Lallement apologised to supporters for the use of tear gas and his wrong estimation of the number of fake tickets that were in circulation.

Two Senate committees launched an investigation to discover what happened prior to Madrid's 1-0 win and concluded that Liverpool fans were not to blame.

The report stated: "It is unfair to have wanted to make supporters of the Liverpool team bear the responsibility for the disturbances that occurred, as the Minister of the Interior did to divert attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowds present and to curb the action of several hundred violent and co-ordinated offenders."

"The systems put in place had major shortcomings with regard to the intelligence [absence of hooligans but presence of delinquents in large numbers], the transport routes for supporters [removal of a drop-off route at the surroundings of the stadium] and insufficient communication.

"It is not only in the execution that problems arose. Upstream, the crisis scenarios were insufficiently worked on and did not demonstrate the necessary flexibility in the face of so many unanticipated events."

The report's co-chairman, Laurent Lafon added: "The gravity of what happened at the Stade de France shows that there are many decisions to be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again at the Rugby World Cup or the Olympic Games."

He continued: "There was a need to communicate clearly about transporting the fans from the train station between the chief of police, the French Football Federation, and the train operators but this didn't happen.

"We recommend communicating with football supporters more and improving the attractiveness of the area around the Stade de France so that people are willing to arrive early.

"We want the authorities' view of football supporters to change, that is a strong recommendation that we are making."