Open door slams on trio

Lowry tied 21st on two-under, two strokes outside a five-man play-off for the final two berths. The Clara man hit one-under-par rounds of 69 and 68 on Sunningdale Old and New courses.

Lawrie was two-over for his 36 holes after shooting 72 and 69, while McGinley was one of more than two dozen players to withdraw after their first round, deciding not to risk stress on his dodgy knees in Irish Open week after opening with a 75.

But victory at Royal Portrush would see McGinley through on the seven-tournament 'Open Mini-Order of Merit', which concludes on Sunday - third place in the Irish Open would probably be good enough. Failing that, a top-five finish at the French or Scottish Opens could be just the ticket for the Irish trio.

Cléirigh Buttner in World Junior team

ATHLETICS: Ireland have named a 15-strong team for the World Junior Championships in Barcelona on July 10-15. Among them are world youth walk champion Kate Veale and Síofra Cleirigh Buttner who, at 16, ran the second fastest 800m time (2:04.82) by an Irish woman this season.

The boys include Mark English, who set an Irish junior 800m record of 1:45.77 this year, and Karl Griffin, a European Youth Olympic medallist last year.

MLB: NY Yankees 7 Cleveland 1, Philadelphia 8 Pittsburgh 3, Boston 6 Toronto 9 , Miami 7 St Louis 8 (10 innings), Cincinnati 3 Milwaukee 1, Chicago Cubs 6 NY Mets 1, Houston 7 San Diego 8 (10 innings), Texas 2 Detroit 8 , Kansas City 8 Tampa Bay 0, Minnesota 4 Chicago White Sox 1, Colorado 4 Washington 2, Seattle 0 Oakland 1 , San Francisco 8 LA Dodgers 0.