New Zealand captain Ardie Savea expressed his pride after the All Blacks demolished Italy at the Rugby World Cup.

An opening defeat by France that put their quarter-final hopes in jeopardy was forgotten as they ran in 14 tries in Lyon, eventually winning 96-17.

Savea told ITV1: “Not just myself but all the boys that played tonight, to put that effort in, I’m very proud.

“We’ve got talent across the board. We hadn’t really clicked but tonight we played some free rugby and that’s how I want my boys to play. We put a lot into this week and we got the rewards tonight.”

Centre Jordie Barrett added: “It’s massively satisfying. We didn’t start the tournament the way we wanted to but we put a few things in place and a step in the right direction tonight.”

He is not getting carried away about the All Blacks’ chances in the tournament as a whole, though, saying: “We’re one day at a time. I know it sounds cliche but we nailed our preparation for this game.

“We’ve got Uruguay in front of us in six days’ time so we’re not going to treat our preparation any differently and anything further than that is a bonus.”

Italy now face the prospect of having to beat France to have any chance of reaching the last eight, and fly-half Tommaso Allan felt his side contributed heavily to their downfall.

“When you give so many penalties away against New Zealand and they keep playing in your half, they’re going to keep scoring,” he said. “We lost all our scrums, lost all our line-outs really, so it’s just tough to start from that.

“We talked at half-time about trying to get some confidence for next week. We know it’s going to be as tough as this if not tougher. We’ve just got to stick together now. Start from scratch, don’t even think about this game, throw it in the bin.”

Mikel Arteta believes Basque food is the secret behind the success of a string of managers from the region.

The Arsenal manager is one of a number of coaches born in the area of northern Spain to make a name for himself on the touchline.

He will come up against another on Saturday in the shape of Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, a former childhood team-mate of Arteta.

Aston Villa’s Unai Emery was also born in the Basque Country – as were Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and former Wolves, Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui.

Now Arteta has discussed why he feels such a small area is responsible for creating such success.

“The food! We have the best food in the world. The best restaurants by square metre, the most beautiful city,” he said.

“It has to be linked to that — what we eat, the way we live. The quality of life in our city is incredible. I think it is related to our roots. The education, the passion about the game. You breathe it within the city. You breathe it everywhere you go.

“We played on the beach. You go there on a Saturday or Sunday and there are 300 kids playing on the beach.

“You sense that in the city. It is not just about now, because in the past they always produced coaches and good players. Somebody is doing the right thing.

“When I said the food I was not joking. It is the way they look after the city. The education, the people.

“Finding the quality and I am really really proud that I see a lot of people — not only in sport, in other industries as well — that manage to get out and promote our city in the right way.

“I think it’s the education that we get. It’s the level of coaching that we get, they really take care of the academy.

“You have seen Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Eibar all those teams do great work to raise talent and it’s not a coincidence that a lot of players have come through there.”

While Arteta and Iraola go way back, the Arsenal boss insists there will be no room for niceties come 3pm on Saturday.

“Very easy. You are in winning mode,” he replied when asked how easy it will be to put aside their friendship at the Vitality Stadium.

“Get the best for your team and get in the battle. Before and after is a different story, especially after, but during there is nothing there.

“He was really excited to come. He was really complimentary about the club and the support he was getting with players and staff. He was happy to be part of the league.

“We know each other really well. We played together, we had fantastic times together. We played together in Antiguoko, which is a team in San Sebastian – that’s the beauty of football that 30 years later we are here together in the Premier League as managers. I’m really happy for that.”

Pep Guardiola believes changes to gruelling playing schedules will only happen when players themselves take action.

The Manchester City boss pointed to the example of the Spain’s women’s team and the changes that have occurred at the country’s football federation after its now-former president Luis Rubiales kissed forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medal ceremony after they won the World Cup in August.

At his press conference ahead of City’s Premier League trip to Wolves on Saturday, Guardiola was asked about comments made by Burnley manager Vincent Kompany, his former captain, who said appearances within a season should be capped for top players.

Guardiola said: “I would say every idea that you reduce a little bit the amount of games for the players would be nice. But there’s not going to be change.

“There is only one solution to change something – the players decide for themselves, (to say), ‘Stop, we have to change something’. And after, FIFA and UEFA will maybe react a little bit.

“This business, the show must go on. Without Pep? Keep going. But without the players, the show will not go on, that’s for sure. So it depends on them, they decide if they accept.

“Look what happened in Spain with the women’s team. The players decided they had to change something and they changed it. They did it. The best legacy they have done is that.

“The women’s team in Spain did it. I don’t know (if), in world football, the men’s, they are able to do it.”

He added: “When we have a break it has to be a proper break. This is my point of view.

“I always use the example of the NBA. They play 80 games in a few months but then have three or four months off. You can regenerate. Then after, full (on).

“The problem here is it is full (on) and after we have three weeks off. For me it’s a lot. But it’s my personal opinion.

“I don’t want to influence, because I’m not going to influence anyone. I think it has to be the players. If the players want to change something, they are the only ones who can do it.”

Saturday’s match at Molineux could see Matheus Nunes face his old club after leaving Wolves to join City last month.

It was reported at the time that Nunes had stopped training with the midlands outfit ahead of the move, but Guardiola said on Friday: “When I spoke to him…he said to me, ‘I never, never, ever said I’m not going to train’.”

On the reception Nunes might receive from the crowd on Saturday, Guardiola added: “Hopefully he is strong to accept the situation.”

Guardiola was also asked for his thoughts on the allegations surrounding his old club Barcelona.

In March, Spanish prosecutors filed a complaint and UEFA announced it was opening an investigation into Barca after it was reported the club had made payments to companies owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s referees committee, between 2001 and 2018.

Police on Thursday searched the headquarters of the committee in relation to the case. Barcelona deny any wrongdoing.

Guardiola, who was Barcelona boss from 2008 to 2012, said: “Wait and see…let the justice, the process (run).

“So far what I heard…I didn’t see or read, because I’m out of that, but I didn’t see Barcelona really, really, really, really pay a referee to take a benefit. I didn’t see that, I didn’t read it.

“That’s why I want to wait before have an opinion, because Barcelona is going to defend what they have to do, and we will see.

“What I’m pretty sure is when Barcelona won, it was because they were better than the opponents. That I’m pretty convinced about right now – in our day.

“We won because we were far better than our rivals. And when they were not, they don’t win, they lose. But justice will decide what really happened.”

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has acknowledged Liverpool’s trophy-laden era during the 1970s’ and 1980s’ planted the seeds for him to become a manager.

Postecoglou has made no secret of his childhood love for Liverpool and recalled on several occasions how he used to watch matches in the early hours of the morning in Australia with his dad Jim.

Kenny Dalglish was an early hero for the 58-year-old and he believes watching the teams of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley win European Cups helped shape his pathway to a coaching career that has seen him manage across the globe.

“I was just consumed by football,” Postecoglou reflected ahead of Saturday’s visit of Liverpool.

“I’ve said before, it wasn’t just playing the game. My infatuation was with all the game, I wanted to read about it all and yeah I was fascinated by the culture at a club like Liverpool.

“The Boot Room, Shankly, Paisley, and Ronnie Moran, all those guys because I just loved reading about it. Just as I was interested reading about Sir Alex (Ferguson) or Jock Stein.

“It seemed that even at a young age I had a real fascination with managers and people of influence within the game because I loved the game.

“We all as kids have something we love and takes us away from the world we were in and that was my world. I just loved reading about the history of football clubs and the great people within them.

“Certainly Liverpool at the time there was always a unique story there about this mythical boot room where all the magic happened. For me it was almost like reading fairytales all the time.

“Obviously that has an influence, yeah it does because that’s where all the seeds are planted, my love for the game.”

Dalglish would have been the Liverpool player on Postecoglou’s wall as a child, but he was quick to point out that is no longer the case.

He added: “I was mad about Kenny Dalglish. Everything was about Dalglish for me, whether that was Celtic or Liverpool. I was a mad Kenny fan.

“It was just about that time when I was what 12, 13 and you know we look for heroes in our lives. He was it for me, scoring in European Cup finals and the way he played.

“Like any kid, I had the posters up on my wall, so Liverpool was my team, but you grow up, things change. I used to love Happy Days back then too, but I don’t have pictures of the Fonz on my wall today either!”

Postecoglou has plenty of respect for this current Liverpool team and their manager Jurgen Klopp, who will pose a huge test to the Australian’s lengthy unbeaten home record in league matches.

You have to go back to 2020, when Postecoglou was in charge of Yokohama, for the last time he lost a home league fixture – when Kashima won in the J1 League.

A dramatic stoppage-time turnaround against Sheffield United a fortnight ago made it 50 home league matches without defeat for the former Celtic boss, but he knows Liverpool will test that run.

“Over those 50 games I’ve had some big tests, I’ve had some good teams, to be fair,” Postecoglou admitted.

“I put a lot of stock in home form because that’s the time where you can give your supporters, who you know are going to be the majority in the stadium, that feeling you want to give them, of experiencing their team winning a game of football.

“I put a lot of stock in that. It’s 50 games against all types of opposition, different types of circumstances.

“There would have been games in there where we were down to 10 men, there would have been games where we would have been down. Well, two weeks ago in the 95th minute.

“There are always tests to go for that long. I’ve probably been lucky along the way too.”

New Zealand lit the touchpaper on their Rugby World Cup campaign with a 14-try hammering of Italy.

Defeat by France had left the All Blacks at risk of missing out on the quarter-finals but there appears no chance of that after a 96-17 romp in Lyon.

Aaron Smith scored a hat-trick of tries in the first half while lock Sam Whitelock came off the bench in the second half to overtake Richie McCaw as the most-capped All Black in Test history with his 149th appearance.

Italy would have dumped New Zealand out of the competition with a win but that never looked remotely on the cards from the moment in the sixth minute when Beauden Barrett launched a perfect cross-field kick for Will Jordan, who performed a leaping touchdown in the corner.

Tommaso Allan got Italy on the board early with a penalty but the rest of the first half was a horror show as Smith crossed three times, Ardie Savea twice and Mark Telea once, with the line-out proving particularly profitable.

Richie Mo’unga converted all seven first-half tries and nine in total, missing only his 10th attempt before being substituted.

Trailing 49-3 at half-time, Italy came out strongly for the second half and scored their first try in the 48th minute, Ange Capuozzo showing his speed in the corner.

But the All Blacks went straight down the other end and crossed again, Brodie Retallick applying the finish touch after Scott Barrett had charged down an attempted clearance.

Cam Roigard was denied a try after he was deemed to have made a double movement but moments later Dalton Papali’i notched the All Blacks’ ninth score.

They were approaching a century as Dane Coles twice, Damian McKenzie, Jordan and Anton Lienert-Brown all scythed through the Italian defence.

The final word went to Italy through Montanna Ioane’s try but this was emphatically the All Blacks’ night.

Ben Earl may be taking his debut World Cup by storm but Maro Itoje insists his England team-mate raised eyebrows when he first arrived at Saracens.

Earl has emerged as one of England’s top performers during their canter into the quarter-finals with a group game to spare and he is competing with Billy Vunipola to start at number eight against Samoa on Saturday week.

The dynamic back row was repeatedly overlooked by Eddie Jones despite being crowned Premiership Player of the season in 2022 and even under Steve Borthwick his 2023 Six Nations was cut short, with instructions to work on aspects of his game.

It was not until the World Cup warm-up fixture against Wales at Twickenham last month that he was finally picked in the starting XV – three-and-a-half years after making his Test debut off the bench.

Now his reputation is soaring through his potent carrying, impact in attack and spirited on-field celebrations – a far cry from the 18-year-old Itoje first encountered in 2016.

“When Ben came to Saracens I thought ‘who the hell is this guy?’ He probably didn’t give the best first impression!” Itoje said.

“He was a young guy from Tonbridge and he had this floppy, public school hair. He was very sure of himself!

“He’s always been a nice guy, but you just thought ‘who the hell’s this guy?’ But he’s been great and he’s worked at his game.

“He hasn’t had a linear path. He’s had bumps, peaks and troughs along the way and he’s grown and grown and grown into the player that he is today.

“Some of the stuff he’s doing for England now we’ve been seeing for a while at Saracens. And he’s only 25, so he’s only going to get better.

“He’s got great physical attributes but he’s also very attentive, he wants to learn and he wants to improve.

“Through his journey you’ve seen the toughness and the ruggedness to his spirit that he’s kept on persevering.

“No doubt he would have been a bit gutted because he would have thought he was playing really well and was deserving of a place, but for whatever reason he wasn’t getting a look-in.

“But he’s stayed consistent with his performances and he’s always had a great mindset and attitude.

“If you’re consistent over a period of time, even when the proverbial tunnel looks dark, there is light there and he’s shown that. We’re only just beginning to see the fruits of his labour.”

The United States failed to win a single match as Europe equalled the biggest day-one lead in the modern format of the Ryder Cup.

Since the Great Britain and Ireland team was expanded to Europe in 1979, a margin of 6 1/2 points to 1 1/2 had only before been achieved in 2004 – and even then, the beaten Americans managed one foursomes win.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how Friday’s success compares and what it could mean.

Europe won all four of the morning foursomes, only their fourth ever session whitewash with the others coming on Friday afternoons in 1987, 1989 and 2018.

Another win followed in the afternoon from Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, 5&3 over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, with none of the five home wins reaching the 18th hole.

When the other games did get there, though, it was to Europe’s benefit – Viktor Hovland’s dead-weight birdie putt halved the top match, Jon Rahm rattled in his second eagle in three holes and Justin Rose brilliantly closed out another half.

Europe’s previous 4-0 sessions came after a 2-2 share of the Friday morning in 1987 and overturned 3-1 deficits on the other two occasions.

That 6-2 margin in 1987 was matched in 1999, Europe winning 2 1/2 points in the Friday morning foursomes and 3 1/2 in the afternoon fourballs, and by the Americans with a pair of 3-1 wins in 2021.

But the only precedent for a team scoring 6 1/2 points on day one comes from 2004, when Europe won three of the morning fourballs with an additional half-point from Paul McGinley and current captain Luke Donald.

Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas finally got the USA on the board but Europe won the remaining three foursomes on their way to an eventual 18 1/2 9 1/2 win – a European record which was matched two years later.

The USA’s 19-9 win two years ago is the only bigger margin in a Europe-United States contest though after Europe’s 6-2 opening days, they won only 15-13 in 1987 and lost the contest in 1999.

From the American perspective, what is needed is a comeback to top one of the Ryder Cup’s most memorable contests – largely for unwanted reasons.

The 1999 contest in Brookline is chiefly noted for the controversy on the final day, with Justin Leonard’s long putt at the 17th sparking wild American celebrations even as Europe’s Jose Maria Olazabal still had a putt for a half to keep the match alive.

Colin Montgomerie reported that he suffered such abuse that his father left the course, Mark James alleged that a fan spat at his wife and Europe vice-captain Sam Torrance singled out Tom Lehman’s conduct as “disgusting”, with Lehman later apologising for his and his team’s behaviour.

A dramatic contest, though, deserves to be remembered for the golf that was played. Wins for Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie followed by Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik gave Europe the early initiative, with Jeff Maggert and Hal Sutton pulling back a first American win and the other match on Friday morning halved.

A half for Montgomerie and Lawrie and wins for Garcia and Parnevik, Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez and then Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood made it 6-2 and each of Saturday’s sessions were shared 2-2, leaving Europe 10-6 up heading into the singles.

American players won the first seven matches to finish before Padraig Harrington and Lawrie stopped the rot. Jim Furyk beat Garcia, though, to make it 14-12 and Olazabal’s miss after the commotion at the 17th meant an eventual 14 1/2 13 1/2 home win.

Kent maintained their Division One status in the LV= Insurance County Championship after a dramatic final day of the season which saw Middlesex relegated instead.

Kent had to settle for a draw from their game with Lancashire at Canterbury and then faced an agonising 80-minute wait for news from Trent Bridge, where a Middlesex win over Nottinghamshire would have consigned Jack Leaning’s side to Division Two.

There had looked to be only one outcome as Nottinghamshire, having been set a target of 207 in a generous 58 overs by Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones, progressed to 64 without loss and then 106 for one.

But on a dry, turning pitch on a sunny afternoon, spinners Jayant Yadav, Josh De Caires and Sam Robson – who finished with a career-best four for 46 with his leg spin – reduced the home side to 157 for seven and suddenly a great escape looked on.

However, Matt Montgomery (34 not out) held the tail together to drag Nottinghamshire across the line at eight down, with 16 balls to spare, and left Kent celebrating survival despite being frustrated by dogged Lancashire resistance.

Third-placed Hampshire became just the second team to beat Surrey across their back-to-back title-winning campaigns.

Only Lancashire had beaten Surrey in 2022 and 2023 in red-ball cricket, winning once in either campaign.

But Liam Dawson took his season tally to 49 wickets by claiming two of the four scalps needed to secure victory at the Ageas Bowl, with Surrey only scoring 20 of the 73 required to lose by 52 runs before 11am.

Despite the defeat, Surrey were presented with the Division One trophy by England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson.

Warwickshire and Somerset’s rain-hit clash ended in an expected draw.

The Division One contest was officially abandoned just after lunch on the final day when, with the sun shining, the umpires ruled that areas of the field remained unsafe.

Somerset had been 90 for two in the second innings, a lead of 32. The result saw Warwickshire end the campaign in fourth with Somerset seventh.

In Division Two, Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 helped Yorkshire chase down a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom for only the second time in their history.

Yorkshire’s fourth-highest successful run chase was achieved with relative comfort in the end, with six wickets in hand and three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.

With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two.

As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.

Sussex took just 45 minutes to complete a 339-run victory that condemned Gloucestershire to a winless season and bottom spot.

The hosts took only 9.5 overs to achieve a third victory of the campaign after Gloucestershire resumed on 113 for five, needing another 400 runs.

Durham sealed an emphatic victory over Leicestershire by an innings and 141 runs to end their title-winning campaign on a high.

The home side required 10 wickets to secure their seventh victory of the campaign at Seat Unique Riverside and took only 42.5 overs to tear through the Leicestershire batting line-up.

The Durham bowlers shared the wickets around as Vishwa Fernando and Matt Parkinson claimed three apiece, while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine and Jonathan Bushnell also struck.

The hosts took 24 points from the contest, ending the term with a mammoth total of 233.

Leus Du Plooy’s last game for Derbyshire ended in a draw despite another Luis Reece century as their side came up four wickets short after setting Glamorgan a target of 384 to win on the final day in 70 overs.

Derbyshire had eight fielders around the bat in the chase for wickets but eventually called time one over short at 5.37pm as the game petered out into a draw with Glamorgan on 135 for six. Derbyshire finished sixth in the table and Glamorgan fifth.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

“Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

“We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

“We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

Celtic have received a major boost after Japan midfielder Reo Hatate signed a new five-year contract.

The 25-year-old has scored 14 goals in 71 appearances since joining in January 2022.

Manager Brendan Rodgers told Celtic’s website he was delighted with Hatate’s decision to extend his stay.

“I have had some great discussions with him in recent weeks, I know he loves the club and our supporters and how ambitious he is to bring more success to the club,” Rodgers added.

“Reo has already shown us what a talent he is, making a great contribution to the team since he has joined Celtic.

“He is a huge talent, an exciting young player with great attributes and someone who can change a game.

“I know he is the type of man and player, though, who doesn’t want to rest. He is hungry to improve every day and achieve more and more to be the very best he can be – and Celtic is a great place for him to do this.

“We go forward now together with real confidence and I really look forward to continuing our work with him and the rest of the squad as we face all our challenges ahead.”

Hatate added: “I have had the best welcome ever since I joined the club and I want to thank all our fans for the great support they continue to give to us all.”