7070088's blog: "123"

SAN DIEGO - The focus fell to golfs biggest stars, with fans crammed together a dozen deep in spots at Torrey Pines to see how Tiger Woods dealt with a tender knee and whether Phil Mickelson could overcome so much U. John Kuhn Jersey .S. Open heartache in his hometown. The lead belonged to the obscure. Kevin Streelman and Justin Hicks, neither among the top 600 in the world ranking, each shot 3-under 68 on Thursday to borrow the spotlight and take a one-shot lead in the opening round of a U.S. Open that showed a slightly softer side. They were among 11 players who broke par at Torrey Pines, after only two were in red numbers after the first round last year. Woods and Mickelson were not among them, then or now. The worlds No. 1 player grimaced and pursed his lips, unable to disguise his pain. No, it wasnt his left knee that had cartilage cleaned out during a surgery two months ago. It was a three-putt to close out his 1-over 72, leaving him four shots out of the lead and one shot behind Mickelson, who shot 71 without a driver in the bag. Woods expected soreness in his knee. He didnt expect his first double bogey in 416 holes. "To make two double bogeys and a three-putt and only be four back, thats a great position to be in, because I know I can clean that up tomorrow," Woods said after his first competitive round since the Masters. Streelman might not be a household name, but Woods knows him. The 29-year-old PGA Tour rookie is known best for getting into the Buick Invitational as the third alternate in January and playing with Woods in the final group on the weekend. He was No. 1,354 in the world back then, all the way up to No. 608 now. But he was back in his glory Thursday, saving par from everywhere and making enough birdies for a dream start to this major. "Its been an incredible run on the PGA Tour thus far," he said. "I dont think what happened today has quite sunk in." Hicks played at the Buick Invitational, too - but it wasnt the same guy whose name was atop the leaderboard of the U.S. Open. Turns out theres another Justin Hicks, a club pro in San Diego, who qualified for the PGA Tour event. He showed up in the gallery to watch Justin Hicks, the Nationwide Tour player, fire off six birdies on his opening nine and hold it together. "A lot of weird stuff going on out there today," Hicks said. That includes the star pairing of Woods and Mickelson that brought enormous crowds outside the ropes and more than 100 media inside the ropes. Woods made his first double bogey since September, worked his way onto the leaderboard and then made another. Mickelson, the guy who carried two drivers in his bag at the Masters when he won his first major, didnt have any in his bag for the U.S. Open. He still managed to reach both par 5s on the back in two, both times settling for birdie on his way to a 71. "I felt like with the fairways being firm like they were today, all I needed was a 3-wood," Mickelson said. Stranger still was the eclectic mix of players who managed to break par. Hicks is No. 722 in the world ranking, Streelman No. 608. Right behind them was Eric Axley (No. 503), who has bittersweet memories of this place. His caddie, Steve DuPlantis, was killed by a car while crossing the street at the Buick Invitational. He shot 69 and was tied with Stuart Appleby, Rocco Mediate and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. Playing in his fifth U.S. Open, it was the first time Ogilvy had broken par. Two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els was in the group at 70, although he stumbled slightly coming in. Someone mentioned that it was his best golf in a U.S. Open in three years. "But saying that, its been virtually impossible to break par the last few U.S. Opens," Els said. "I havent shot an under-par score since TPC. So that means Im doing something right." Not everyone did. Defending champion Angel Cabrera didnt make birdie until the 13th hole and shot 79. Sergio Garcia, hopeful his victory in The Players Championship would carry him toward that first major, shot 41 on the front and salvaged a 76. Twenty players failed to break 80. Jon Mills of Oshawa, Ont., and Ian Leggatt of Cambridge, Ont., shared the lead over the Canadian contingent with a 1-over 72. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., carded a 73, David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., fired a 76 and Montreals Yohann Benson stumbled to an opening-round 83. Stephen Ames of Calgary finished his day with a 3-over 74 and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., ended the round with a 77. Woods and Mickelson each looked like they could have gone either way, and both wound up in the hunt. Woods often talks about getting back into the flow after a long layoff, and that didnt take long. He hooked his opening tee shot, chopped out of the rough, then hit a wedge that bounded over the green, leading to double bogey and plenty of murmurs. "Getting into the flow of the round, it helps when you hit six shots on the first hole," he said. It was his first double bogey since the opening round of the BMW Championship last September. "I figured youre going to make bogeys out here," Woods said. "I just happened to make two on the very first hole." The plan was to get back to par, which is where everyone wants to be at a U.S. Open, and Woods got there with a 5-iron from a fairway bunker to two feet on the tough fourth hole along the bluffs, a tee shot that slowly rolled down the ridge to five feet on the par-3 eighth, and two powerful swings on the 612-yard ninth to the collar of a bunker, from where he chipped to three feet for birdie. As for the knee? There was no question it was hurting, especially when he took a huge cut from the rough on No. 12 and went after his tee shot on the 18th hole, a drive so long and straight that he had only 7-iron for his second shot. "Its a little sore" was about all Woods offered after his round, adding that he felt similar pain during his practice rounds. But he was back to playing golf, continuing his pursuit of the 18 professional majors won by Jack Nicklaus, and what really made him sore was dropping shots with careless mistakes. The worst came on the 14th, when he was just short of the green in two and stubbed a pitch that didnt clear the collar of thick rough framing a bunker. That double bogey put him over par, and he never got it back. "Those two 6s, I didnt take care of both par 5s on the back nine," Woods said, going over his round. "As I said, plenty of holes to go. Were all going to make mistakes out here." Mickelson made his share, starting with a three-putt bogey on No. 5 for the first of three straight bogeys. He was four behind Woods through 12 holes, tied with him two holes later after a two-putt birdie on the 13th and a beautiful approach to three feet on the 14th. Each birdied revved up the gallery even more, the cheers evenly divided for Woods, a six-time winner of the Buick Invitational, and Mickelson, who grew up in San Diego. "It was pretty interesting to tee off at 8 oclock and have this many people out here," Mickelson said. They saw just about everything but the guys leading the tournament.  Authentic Aaron Rodgers Jersey . The referees are Paul Devorski, Mark Joannette, Dennis LaRue, Bill McCreary, Dan OHalloran, Chris Rooney and Brad Watson. The linesmen include Shane Heyer, Jean Morin, Brian Murphy, Thor Nelson, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Ahmad Bradshaw Youth Jersey . The revision will create a smoking ban on all indoor public spaces starting January 1, 2011, as proposed by the World Health Organization in its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that came into effect in 2005. Aaron Rodgers Youth Jersey . Gorzelanny (7-7) scattered seven hits and one run, fanning nine with two walks to get the win for Chicago, which snapped an eight-game home losing streak. The north siders hadnt won in the Friendly Confines since August 4 against Milwaukee. We put him in the rotation and hes gotten progressively better as the season has gone on, Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. Delanie Walker Jersey . - The Jacksonville Jaguars have been searching for Jimmy Smiths replacement for years. Greg Jennings Youth Jersey . The sales value soared to 12.6 billion yuan (US$1.84 billion) in May, 26 percent higher than the April figure, said a statement on the ministrys website. Related readings: Rural economies may break invisible shackles of hukou China audits rural cooperative medical care system China cuts taxes on rural financing Rural home appliance subsidy boosts sales 5 folds Sales volume topped 5. (Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Bucks look to put an end to their six-game road losing streak when they invade the nations capital to take on the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center. Milwaukee hasnt won on the road since a 116-110 overtime win at Toronto on Jan. 28 and is only 8-22 away from Brew City this season. The Bucks just went 1-3 on a four-game homestand and capped the trek with Sundays 89-83 loss versus the Boston Celtics. Brandon Jennings finished with 23 points, six boards and five assists, while Luc Mbah a Moute had 19 points and seven boards for Milwaukee, which suffered its 12th loss in 16 games. The whole game, we felt like we hung in there, we did a good job of hanging in there with them, but I feel like we shot ourselves in the foot, turning the ball over and not executing when we needed to at a crucial moment of the game, Mbah a Moute said. That really cost us. Mbah a Moute is averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in his last two games and Jennings is posting 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals so far this month (3 games). John Salmons had 11 points in the loss to Boston and is 11 rebounds shy of 2,000 and nine steals from 600 for his career. The Bucks are still pushing for a postseason spot in the East and sit 3 1/2 games behind Indiana for the eighth and final berth in the conference. Andrew Bogut is questionable for Tuesdays game with a rib injury and has missed three straight games. Authentic Ahmad Bradshaw Jersey. Washington will begin a three-game homestand tonight versus the Bucks, Clippers and Thunder, and is 15-17 in DC this season. The Wizards are coming off Sundays 113-102 road loss against the Detroit Pistons, as rookie John Wall finished with a game-high 24 points and handed out seven assists in defeat. Nick Young and Andray Blatche scored 21 points apiece for Washington, which fell to 1-29 as the guest this season and has dropped eight of nine games overall. We didnt get any stops down the stretch tonight is what it boiled down to, Acting Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. [Detroit] hurt us with the (Prince) and Stuckey pick-and-roll and kind of hurt us every which way. Wizards head coach Flip Saunders missed the game in order to attend his mothers wake and funeral. He should be on the sidelines for tonights game. Kay Saunders, 90, died last Friday in suburban Cleveland. Wall is averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in his last 10 games, while Blatche is averaging 18.4 points, 8.4 boards and 3.4 assists over his previous seven contests. Blatche has scored 20-plus points in three straight games. Rashard Lewis (knee) is questionable for Tuesday. The Bucks and Wizards have beaten each other once this season, with each team prevailing as the host. Young is averaging 23.5 points in those two games. ' ' '