• Masters triumph completes McIlroy’s career grand slam
• Victory secures lifetime exemption at Augusta National

Rory McIlroy has warned the members of Augusta National they will have to “wheel me out of here when I am 90 years old” after finally ending his wait to win the Masters. In doing so, McIlroy became just the sixth golfer in history to complete a career grand slam.

McIlroy has warned his fellow professionals that he already feels perfectly placed for more major wins after adding number five to his CV.

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High-profile football agent is out to make his mark in the new Flat season that starts in earnest at Newmarket on Tuesday

For more than a quarter of a millennium – 254 years, to precise – Tuesday’s Craven meeting has been the moment when British Flat racing emerges from its long winter hibernation at the start of a new season. The first Classics are less than a month away and the Derby and Royal Ascot not too far behind. It is a time for optimism, anticipation and, for Newmarket in particular, a renewed sense of purpose, as the Suffolk town, where Charles II founded the first racing stable in the mid-17th century, prepares for the seven-month campaign on turf.

It is much the same blend of hope and expectation that grips football fans. The pre-season is complete, the new signings – and perhaps a new manager, too – are bedding themselves in and it is time to find out how they all measure up to the competition. For one of racing’s more recent arrivals in the top flight, there is the added pressure of needing to justify a huge off-season splurge in the market in an attempt to compete with the traditional heavyweights.

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Can you imagine starring in Mamma Mia! for 10 years? Or The Lion King for 17? Or Blood Brothers for 26? Theatre’s epic endurance performers reveal how they keep the magic alive night after night

‘I thought I’d do a year and leave,” says Sara Poyzer, who played mother Donna in the Abba musical Mamma Mia! “But the things I gained outweighed the things I lost.” She ended up staying in the part for an entire decade, even performing in front of two Abba members and at the show’s 20th anniversary, before leaving in January 2024.

Among all the glitzy new openings in London’s West End, there are a sturdy cohort of shows that seem to have just always been there. Audiences still seem to be delighted by The Lion King, now in its 26th year, and other long-running hits – but what’s it like for the actors like Poyzer, who play the same part seven or eight times a week, year after year? Does it become a groundhog day on the boards? And how do they keep their performances – and the shows – fresh?

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Saffron Cordery says too many staff are worn out and suffering low morale, while Dr Geoffrey Searle reflects on years of ‘efficiency savings’. Plus one reader on the stress their daughter is facing as a newly qualified doctor

NHS trusts are right behind government ambitions to shift more care of patients from hospitals to the community and to do more to prevent ill health in the first place ( Editorial, 8 March ). But nobody should be under any illusion that this is going to happen overnight. Despite the recent budget boost for the NHS, finances for hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services are stretched to the limit.

People are the backbone of the NHS, but growing demand and workloads, vacancies and financial pressures have left far too many staff feeling worn out and suffering low morale. This has driven up the rate of people leaving the health service. Worries about staffing cuts as trusts try to balance their books are going to make an already tough situation even harder for overstretched frontline teams.

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Dr Robert Harrison says that instead of banning devices, we should be teaching students how to navigate online spaces and disinformation

It is incredibly disappointing to read that so many schools in England have implemented an outright ban on phone use ( More than 90% of schools in England ban mobile phone use, survey shows, 10 April ). While student engagement and the addiction to phones and social media certainly need to be addressed, schools are more likely to support students’ development if they teach them how to use technology in ways that are healthy, purposeful and life-enhancing. A balanced, nuanced approach to phone use can still promote social interaction for children of all ages and encourage learning beyond the classroom.

All students should be equipped to access quality information and transfer knowledge quicker in their pursuit of independent learning. If phones or tablets can help achieve that goal, maybe we should not be so quick to dismiss them in schools.

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Discovery that clinics have been breaking rules raises genetic risks in such a small, densely populated country

At least 85 sperm donors in the Netherlands have fathered 25 or more children, the national gynaecology and obstetrics organisation has said, after a new registration system showed fertility clinics have been breaking existing rules on sperm donation for decades.

The NVOG said on Monday that some clinics had deliberately used sperm batches more than 25 times, exchanged sperm without the necessary paperwork or donors’ knowledge, and allowed the same donors to donate sperm at multiple clinics.

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Facebook parent faces threats of illegal social media monopoly after spending billions to acquire two platforms

Facebook parent Meta Platforms faces a high-stakes trial in Washington starting on Monday on claims it built an illegal social media monopoly by spending billions of dollars to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp , in a case where US antitrust enforcers seek to unwind the deals.

The acquisitions more than a decade ago aimed to eliminate nascent competitors who could threaten Facebook ’s status as the go-to social media platform for users to connect with friends and family, the US Federal Trade Commission claims. It filed the case in 2020 during Donald Trump ’s first term.

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Steve and Dave Jolliffe plan to open first Poolhouse in London next year

Pool sharks could soon be playing a digitally enhanced version of the bar-room sport, after the British founders of the competitive leisure venues Topgolf and Puttshack raised $34m (£25m) to turn the game hi-tech.

The venture is the latest attempt to offer a technological twist on traditional competitive pastimes alongside food and drink to attract younger audiences who want more than a pint in the pub.

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• Manager wants Villa Park to be ‘a fortress’ on Tuesday
• Villa trail French champions 3-1 from first leg in Paris

Unai Emery urged his Aston Villa players to “write history” by recording a memorable comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Villa must overturn a two-goal deficit after a first-leg defeat in France and the Villa manager doubled down on his belief that Villa can cause a shock, with Emery adamant the “fortress” atmosphere at Villa Park on Tuesday can help his side find a winning formula.

Emery said PSG’s 3-1 lead does not alter the task at hand. “I have experiences coming back from results, positively and negatively,” he said. “Now it is something different, we want to write here the history with Aston Villa. Last year [we played] in the Conference League and this year in the Champions League and [now] hopefully for a long time in Europe. My experiences before were different … sometimes losing away and winning at home, sometimes losing at home and winning away. More winning than losing … but I had some negative experiences as well.”

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