Day warms to the task of defending his title in Florida

MIKE Prendergast is set to follow Bernard Jackman out of Grenoble, agreeing to join Pro D2 leaders Oyonnax as their attack coach next season. The former Munster scrum-half was appointed caretaker Grenoble boss, along with Aaron Dundon, until the end of the current Top 14 campaign following Jackman’s exit on Monday. FORMER Team Sky rider Josh Edmondson says he broke cycling’s rules on injections and became addicted to the painkiller Tramadol while riding for the British outfit and they didn’t reveal it. Sky, who have always maintained a no-needle stance, say there was no cover up after he was reported by a team-mate. DEFENDING champion Jason Day coped with ‘brutally chilly’ temperatures to finish three strokes behind early first-round leader Emiliano Grillo at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Thursday. In the first staging of the event since the September death of Palmer, Day adjusted to the conditions — it was only a few degrees above freezing when he teed off an hour after sunrise — well enough to shoot two-under-par 70. While Day is using this week as part of his buildup for next month’s Masters, Danny Willett’s preparation for his title defence at Augusta National suffered a setback when he pulled out shortly before his tee time because of illness. Rory McIlroy (above) was well down the field after an opening round 74, with fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell two shots better off after a level-par 72.