Rory McIlroy hung tough. In a second round of the Memorial tournament where windy conditions accentuated the challenge of one of the hardest courses on the PGA Tour schedule, a second round 71 for a midway total of three-under-par enabled him to remain very much in the mix headed into the weekend. READ MOREDescribing the wind as “really tricky,” McIlroy described the challenge that faced players in the wind. Anything under par I think is a good score, but, yeah, very hard to go low,” he said. Séamus Power was one of those who had a tough old time of it, only to show his grit on the way home.

Gareth Southgate laments England’s lack of character during Iceland defeatBy Phil Casey, PAEngland boss Gareth Southgate accused his players of failing to show enough character as they slumped to a 1-0 loss to Iceland at Wembley. The home side’s last match before Euro 2024 ended in boos at the final whistle after Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s goal was enough to give Iceland a shock win. “We learned a lot and we know the performance wasn’t good enough,” Southgate told Channel 4. “Equally we needed the game; there’s a lot of players that we’re managing their minutes and it was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character. Southgate expects John Stones, on the ground, to recover from his ankle injury (Mike Egerton/PA) Photo by Mike Egerton“We’ll be ready,” he added.

The investment firm Baillie Gifford has had long associations with Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Hay book festival, but in the past fortnight both have terminated their sponsorship agreements. It remains to be seen what happens to the Cheltenham and Cambridge literary festivals. Also in the potential firing line is the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize, awarded to the best nonfiction book of the year. Clearly a compelling case can be made that climate catastrophe is more important than a literary festival. A subject worth thrashing out at a literary festival near you, if it happens.

The first Dublin candidates to be elected in the local elections were James Geoghegan of Fine Gael and Hazel Chu of the Green Party. Video: Bryan O'Brien

Cunniffe may be on way back to County HallWITH only ten of the 47 Tuam Local Electoral Area boxes tallied, the initial indications are that former Councillor Shaun Cunniffe is in with a strong chance of making a return to County Hall. Cunniffe, who decided to join Independent Ireland, has been polling strongly in the boxes in his home town. It’s understood that he has nearly doubled his ground in the town compared to his 2019 tally performance. Fianna Fáil’s Donagh Killilea is also looking to have gained in the town boxes. All of the nine town boxes area tallied with Cunniffe getting over a quarter of the first preferences.

Elections: Early indications show tough day for Sinn Féin, smaller losses for Fine Gael, Fianna FáilJames CoxIt's still early days as counting in the local and European elections continues, but early indications show a tough day for Sinn Féin with signs of a drop in support since the general election. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will lose seats too, but the losses may be smaller than expected. In terms of Europe, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil look on course to claim a seat in each constituency. Sinn Féin should do the same, but it could be tighter for the party. Counting has been under way for the local and European elections since 9am.

Could it have to do with the credit card dispute she filed? I filed a credit card dispute with my bank, but my bank denied my request. So, why didn’t Traveluro refund your hotel? Sometimes a refund to your credit card can take up to two billing cycles, which is more than two months. If you lose patience and file a credit card dispute, it doesn’t just stop the refund process.

Saturday sport: Kilkenny beat Dublin to retain Leinster hurling crown for fifth time in a rowGaelic gamesKilkenny are Leinster senior hurling champions for the fifth year in a row. The victory guarantees the Faithful County a place in the Leinster championship next season. The Limerick native won her semi final. RugbyLeinster are into the United Rugby Championship semi finals. Leinster will now go to Pretoria in South Africa for the semi final to face the Bulls, who beat Benetton by 30-23 earlier.

Mark HackettHackett concedes defeatCllr Mark Hackett has admitted that he will not retain his seat on Offaly County Council and has admitted he is “deeply disappointed” to have garnered just 2.7% of the vote with 96% of boxes in the Edenderry Electoral Area tallied. “People blamed us for the end of turf cutting, and it was also said that the Greens would end up making children walk to school and that's not the case at all,” said Cllr Hackett. “There are gates that need hanging and loads of other jobs to be done, so I'll be looking forward to being a full-time farmer again. He is also looking forward to getting fit again. “I am very disappointed, but nobody died,” Cllr Hackett said, adding that his wife, Pippa, is also disappointed.

Swifties gather at Murrayfield ahead of first UK date on Eras tourHundreds of fans are gathering at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh as Taylor Swift prepares to perform the first of three Scottish dates on her Eras tour.

Fernando Alonso tops second practice during chaotic day in MontrealBy Scott Hunt, PA, MontrealFernando Alonso was fastest in second practice after Lando Norris topped the opening session on a day when rain dominated at the Canadian Grand Prix. Eager to get some running in after a wet first session, the drivers were out immediately for FP2 on slick tyres as light rain fell. Everyone has to be on top form.”A groundhog – regular visitors to the Canadian Grand Prix – was narrowly avoided by Leclerc as Lewis Hamilton slammed on the brakes behind. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in practice at the Canadian Grand Prix (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP) Photo by Jacques BoissinotGeorge Russell was second for Mercedes ahead of Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll. Friday’s second running was slightly calmer than the chaotic opening session.

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Carlos Alcaraz reaches first French Open final after defeating Jannik SinnerBy Andy Sims, PA, ParisCarlos Alcaraz twice came from a set down to sink Jannik Sinner and reach his first French Open final. US Open, this one, and I hope to play many, many more matches like this one against Jannik – but it was one of the toughest matches, for sure.”Alcaraz celebrates reaching his first French Open final. Jannik Sinner needed medical attention during the semi-final. However, two bad Sinner misses while serving at 4-5 in the fourth gave Alcaraz a set point which he took with a blistering cross-court winner. For Sinner it was a first defeat in 13 grand slam matches, having won the Australian Open in January, and he admitted it will be hard to watch the final.

C&C Group's shares plunged after its chief executive quit following the revelations of a string of accounting errors. Chief executive Patrick McMahon was finance boss at the time of the 'discrepancies', before stepping up to become chief executive in May last year. The update came alongside the group publishing its unaudited annual results that showed revenues fell 2 per cent to £1.4billion. Ad agency Brave Bison has until Monday to announce whether it wants to make a firm offer to buy its rival The Mission Group or walk away. Shares fell 2.6 per cent, or 3.75p, to 142p.

Ireland win 4x400 mixed final at European ChampionshipsMichael BoltonIt was gold for Ireland at the European Championships as the 4x400 mixed relay team won the final. Christopher O'Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley ran a time of 3:09.92. Adeleke then took over, before Barr gave it to Mawdsley with Ireland in second, as she guided Ireland to victory. Ireland came into the championships in form after the World Relays, where they finished in another national record of 3:11.53. Ireland broke the national record with a time of 3:09:92, O’Donnell running 46.09, Adeleke 49.53, Barr 44.90 and Mawdsley 49.40.