US Open: Five things to know

Five things you need to know on the eve of the US Open:

 

 

 

1. Back on track?
Defending champion Rory McIlroy arrives at Olympic Club off a seventh-place showing last week in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. McIlroy’s Memphis showing might not have pleased him — he made double-bogey on the final hole after hitting his tee shot into the water — but 71 strong holes were a nice consolation, considering he missed his previous three cuts (including one in Europe). McIlroy finished three shots behind winner Dustin Johnson at TPC Southwind.
“It was important for me,” McIlroy said. “That was the whole reason to go to Memphis last week, was to try to get some competitive golf and to feel like I shot a couple of good scores. And I saw some really positive signs out there.
“I definitely feel more comfortable about my game going into this week (than) if I hadn’t have played.”

2. Three of a kind
McIlroy will tee off at 1:29 p.m. PT Thursday. He’s paired with Luke Donald and Lee Westwood in a grouping of the world’s top three players. It’s an impressive collection of talent but probably not the group that will garner the most attention during the Open’s first round.
No, most eyes will be on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, who tee off at 7:33 a.m. PT. Woods, seeking his first major since the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, is coming off a victory at Memorial. As we saw at Augusta, he’s still unpredictable as he undergoes swing changes with Sean Foley. Mickelson is seeking his first Open title after a record five runners-up, most recently in 2009. Watson, the Masters champion, said, “It’s going to be like Sunday at the Masters, huge galleries.”

Watson is still adjusting to life as a father and major champion, but there’s one aspect of Olympic Club that suits his game:
“You have to curve it more off the tees here than any other golf course that we play,” Woods said. 

3. Rough start
Don’t be upset if your favorite player gets off to a poor start at Olympic Club. The course’s first six holes make for a brutal opening stretch. Watson played those holes 2 over in a practice round. “And I made some good par putts,” he said
“If you can get through there (at even par), it’s like you’re shooting well under par, almost like you birdied all the holes,” Watson added. “If I shot 2 over every single day in the four days, I’d be pretty happy.”
Olympic Club’s first hole, a par 5 in the first four US Opens at Olympic, will play as a 520-yard par 4. No. 2 is an uphill 428-yard, par 4 with a fairway that narrows at 270 yards, forcing many players to lay back off the tee. That’s followed by a 247-yard par 3 with a green well-protected by bunkers. The fourth hole is an uphill 438-yard, par 4 with a fairway that slopes severely from left-to-right, making it difficult for tee shots to stay in the short grass. The fifth and sixth holes are par 4s of 498 and 489 yards, respectively.

Whether we root for or against him, we watch Tiger Woods. Jason Whitlock knows why.

“I’ve heard that first six come up a few times,” Steve Stricker said. “But I kind of chuckle because they’re all pretty good.”



4. What a finish
Players will have a chance to end their rounds on a high note, though. Nos. 16 and 17 are Olympic Club’s only par 5s, and the 18th is a 344-yard par 4 with a green whose slope has been softened since the 1998 debacle. Players have an opportunity to pick up a couple birdies on this closing trio.
“It gives you a chance to finish off a round,” Woods said. “You’re trying to make a bunch of pars throughout most of the day, and then all of a sudden you’ve got to change gears.
“If you hit two good shots into 16, you’re going to have a wedge in there, which you should make birdie. Same thing on 17. And same thing on 18. You have three holes back to back either you’re chipping, you’re wedging, so you’re going to have to make some birdies there, absolutely.”
This is a US Open, though, so there are no easy holes. The 16th has been lengthened to 670 yards, making it the longest par 5 in US Open history. Watson, the PGA Tour’s leader in driving distance, said he still had 60 yards remaining to 16 after hitting driver-driver. Mickelson said he has yet to have an approach shorter than 200 yards into the 16th.

Experience The Olympic Club, host of the 2012 U.S. Open.

Players who drive in the rough on the severe dogleg-left will struggle to reach the green in three.
“I believe that you play 15 holes of really tough, tough golf,” Mickelson said. “And you finally get your first par 5 and it’s the toughest hole on the course.”


5. Kuchar's return
Matt Kuchar returns to Olympic Club, where 14 years ago he was a grinning amateur who charmed fans and contended for a major. He finished tied for 14th at the 1998 Open at Olympic, the year after he won the US Amateur. Kuchar is back this year after contending at the year’s first major and winning the largest title of his career, The Players Championship.
“That still amazes me to be 14 years ago,” Kuchar said. “I remember finishing rounds of golf and just being flat-out exhausted.”
Kuchar, who’s 25th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and 10th in greens in regulation, has a good recent Open record. He was 14th last year and sixth in 2010.

Nationals vs. Blue Jays: Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Moore power Washington to sixth straight win

The delirious charm of this Washington Nationals season reached a new high Wednesday afternoon. It is not enough for them to continue their rampage through the two toughest divisions in baseball. They did it as Stephen Strasburg chucked aspirin tablets past the Toronto Blue Jays, as a Southern-fried, country-strong rookie came off the bench and blasted two home runs.



On the sun-drenched diamond inside Rogers Centre, the Nationals completed the first perfect, six-game road trip in franchise history with a 6-2 thumping of the Blue Jays that sealed their second straight sweep. Tyler Moore launched the first two home runs of his major league career and drove in five runs. Strasburg struck out eight over six innings, becoming the first major leaguer this year to reach 100 strikeouts.

The Nationals have played their last 23 games against the National League and American League East divisions, the two most rugged in baseball. They have attacked the stretch not as something to survive, but as a means to take control the NL East. The Nationals have gone 15-8 in those games and, as of late Wednesday afternoon, they lead the pack by 4 ½ games and the last-place Philadelphia Phillies by 10.
With Adam LaRoche nursing a sore right foot he had fouled a ball off of Tuesday night, the Nationals turned to Moore, the 25-year-old Mississippian who had slugged 62 homers over the past two seasons in the minor leagues. A natural first baseman, Moore had played only outfield in his short major league tenure. “Do you still have your glove?” Manager Davey Johnson asked before the game.
In his first stint in the major leagues, Moore appeared in only 12 games over a month and went 3 for 19 with seven strikeouts. He cherished the experience, but he did not mind when the Nationals optioned him back to Syracuse on May 28 – he would actually get to play again.
One week later, third-string catcher Carlos Maldonado strained his back and the Nationals needed Moore again. He played in every game last weekend in Boston and knocked three hits, including his first career double.
Wednesday, Moore gave himself a memory. He crushed a two-RBI double to left-center field in the second inning off starter Kyle Drabek, which gave Strasburg a 2-0 lead. After the Blue Jays tied the game in the third inning, Moore struck again. He clobbered a two-run homer to left field, the first of his career.



Moore came to bat for the third time in sixth inning. He took three straight balls from left-handed reliever Aaron Laffey, and then one called strike and two foul balls worked the count full. Laffey tried a changeup, and Moore annihilated it into the seats in center field. Moore had gone 28 at-bats without a homer, and then he hit two in a row.
By himself, Moore had given Strasburg ample support. Four days after throwing 119 pitches, Strasburg showed no effects from the highest pitch count of his career, aside from Johnson pulling him after only 89 pitches.
Strasburg’s fastball sat consistently at 94 to 96 miles per hour in the opening innings, and by the sixth he was hitting 97. He produced awkward swings and embarrassing moments with his offspeed pitches, like when Yunel Escobar nearly twirled out of the batter’s box to avoid a curveball that curled over the plate for a strike. Or how he struck out Colby Rasmus three times on 12 pitches, five of which he swung at and missed.
Strasburg hit trouble in the third, when a double by Rajai Davis and a solo homer by Jose Bautista scored two runs. After Bautista’s drive to left, Strasburg retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced. He extended his league lead in strikeouts and actually raised his ERA, from 2.41 to 2.45.
After the sixth inning, pitching coach Steve McCatty approached Strasburg and told him he was finished. Strasburg glared straight ahead, fuming, as McCatty explained. Johnson has frequently pulled Strasburg an inning earlier than usual, in order to conserve Strasburg under his team-instituted innings limit.
The Nationals’ bullpen cleaned up the final three innings. Strasburg could sit in the dugout, part of the hottest team in baseball, perhaps the best story in the major leagues.

Miami Heat bench needs to tap its reserves

It got even shorter when forward James Jones couldn't play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday because of a migraine headache, not told to news reporters before the game. And it got shorter still when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave limited minutes to reserve forward Mike Miller and reserve center Joel Anthony in the 105-94 loss to the Thunder.

 

 

"I'm going to have to see who's really available," Spoelstra said. "Going into this game we were going to try to keep a tight rotation — maybe not as tight as it was — and give this our best shot. But I'll probably try to go a little bit deeper in Game 2."

For the fourth consecutive game since returning from a lower abdominal strain, forward Chris Bosh came off the bench. He scored 10 points in 34 minutes. It would seem he would return to starting in Game 2.

Miller played 10 minutes and had two points. Anthony played two minutes and had no points. Guard Norris Cole, who gave the Heat solid minutes in some games against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, didn't play at all.

"We'll have a day of rest, (and) guys will be ready to go on Thursday," Spoelstra said, suggesting Jones will be ready for Game 2 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).

It's not the first time Spoelstra has reduced bench minutes — it happened in the second half of Game 7 against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Bosh played 31 minutes off the bench in that game, and four other reserves (Miller, Cole, Jones and forward Juwan Howard) combined for eight minutes, 57 seconds.

 

 

The lack of bench play puts stress on the starters, who logged significant minutes. Forward LeBron James played 46 minutes in Tuesday's loss, guard Dwyane Wade 42 and forward Shane Battier 42.

"We know we have to have more production, for sure," James said. "We're going to have to have more guys in there to give me and DWade a rest. And Shane. Shane played a lot of minutes.

"But Spo will figure that out. We'll be more conscious about it, just trying to get a minute or two here or there so we can finish strong, but I don't think it was much of a problem."

David Stern calls NBA conspiracies “cheap thrills” on Jim Rome show

NBA Commissioner David Stern and radio host Jim Rome traded shots on Rome’s show Thursday, with Rome asking Stern if this years NBA Draft lottery was fixed and Stern responding by asking Rome, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”


Stern said to Rome, “shame on you for asking” but Rome said that asking the question is fair because it’s on everyone’s minds. If the No. 1 pick went to Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats, Stern said people would’ve been asking whether the commissioner is looking out for Jordan, who Stern calls a “good friend.”
The two sides continued to argue, and Rome said he took offense to Stern calling these questions “cheap thrills.”
In the interview, which can be heard in its entirety on TheBigLead.com, Rome also addressed comments made by Charles Barkley, who recently said “the worst thing that happened to the world, the entire world, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, is AAU basketball.” Barkley said he never played against Michael Jordan until he arrived to the NBA, but players of more recent generations play against each other as early as 16-years-old or younger.
Stern said that although Barkley needs to be “more nuanced,” the commissioner admitted that he’s right and went so far as to say “there needs to be a reformulation of whats going on” and that as commissioner, people should hold him responsible for bringing change to competition at the high school level.

WBO assigns five judges to re-score Pacquiao-Bradley fight

The World Boxing Organization on Wednesday announced it has assigned five judges to re-score Manny Pacquiao's controversial loss by decision to Palm Springs' Timothy Bradley in an effort to convince state commissions to widen the pool of judges for major fights.



Although many at ringside for Saturday's fight gave Pacquiao between nine and 11 rounds, judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross scored the bout 115-113 (seven rounds to five) in Bradley's favor, and a third Nevada judge, Jerry Roth, had it 115-113 for Pacquiao in the WBO welterweight title contest.
WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel said five judges, from New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico, will re-score the bout and submit their work confidentially to the WBO, with the scores to be gathered by Monday.
Valcarcel said that armed with that information, he will submit to the Assn. of Boxing Commissions by its July meeting a request that state commissions such as Nevada's work more diligently to bring in judges from outside their states for fights of the magnitude of a world title contest.
Before the Pacquiao-Bradley judges were assigned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Valcarcel said he submitted a list of 20 judges from elsewhere who could be assigned to the bout. None were chosen.
"We're asking the ABC to make recommendations how a sanctioning body like ours can work better with a state commission, to use this experience to have better scoring in the future," Valcarcel said.
Valcarcel said he is not considering stripping the WBO belt from Bradley, and will not order a mandatory rematch, because Pacquiao's contract stipulates he would get a rematch if he lost the bout. In promoting the fight, Bradley had printed up a poster and ticket hyping Bradley-Pacquiao II on Nov. 10.
"This wasn't Bradley's fault, and we're not saying there was any evidence of fraud or corruption here," Valcarcel said. "That's outside the scope of what we're doing."
He said he's also not questioning the integrity of Ford or Ross.
"There are excellent judges available internationally, and they should be considered," Valcarcel said. "We've done it here in Puerto Rico, bringing in judges from Nevada."

Companies start to pay or increase dividends

Caterpillar and Target, among others, are raising quarterly dividends for shareholders while Dell said earlier this week it would begin paying a dividend, a first for the computer mak

It's a sign that companies have been able to amass cash since the financial crisis of 2008 and are feeling flush enough to share the money with shareholders.

Caterpillar is raising its quarterly cash dividend 13%, biggest%age increase in the dividend since the financial crisis hit in the fall of 2008.

Caterpillar (CAT) said Wednesday that its board approved a 6-cent increase to put the quarterly cash dividend at 52 cents a share, up from 46 cents.

The new dividend will be payable on Aug. 20 to stockholders of record at the close of business July 20.

In August 2008, the Peoria, Ill., heavy machinery manufacturer increased its dividend 16.7%.

Despite the latest dividend hike, shares of Caterpillar fell $1.91, or 2.19%, to $85.14 .

Target said Wednesday its board approved the increase of its quarterly dividend by 6 cents, or 20%, to 36 cents.

The Minneapolis-based retailer will pay the dividend Sept. 10 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 15.

Target (TGT) has paid a dividend every quarter since going public in 1967.

The announcement was made ahead of its annual shareholders' meeting, which will take place on Wednesday at a new store in Chicago.

Like most retailers, Target has had the challenge of trying to find ways of luring cautious U.S. shoppers into stores amid a flood of mixed economic news that has them scrutinizing every purchase. The job and housing markets are still shaky, but falling gas prices have given consumers hope.

Target, which mixes stylish clothes and trendy decor under the same roof as toothpaste and cereal, recently has had success drawing customers into stores with two growth initiatives. It has been offering a larger selection of food, and it launched a program in 2010 that gives shoppers a 5% discount when they pay with Target-branded credit and debit cards.

The retailer, which operates 1,763 stores across the U.S., reported last month that its first-quarter profit rose 1.2% to $697 million, or $1.04 per share, in the quarter ended April 28. Excluding costs associated with its expansion into Canada next year, the per-share results would have been $1.11. Revenue rose 5.9% to $16.86 billion.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 5.3%, strongest performance in six years for that period. The measure is considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

Based on the better-than-expected results, Target raised its full-year profit guidance last month by 5 cents. Target now expects to earn $4.60 to $4.80 per share.

In afternoon trading, Target shares rose 20 cents to $58.36, the high end of its 52-week per share range of $45.28 to $59.40.

Dell (DELL) said it plans to pay a dividend beginning in its fiscal third quarter, becoming the latest technology company looking to boost shareholder value and attract a new group of investors.

The Round Rock, Tex., company said its first-ever dividend would begin at a rate of 8 cents share. That results in a yield of 2.7% and costs the company about $560 million a year.

Shares, down 23% over the past 12 months through Tuesday's close, climbed 2.5% to $12.27 after hours.

Analysts say the move could open Dell up to a new class of investor, while also potentially boosting its share price. Dell has also bought back stock at a rapid rate, reducing its share count by nearly 14% over the past four years. The company had 1.75 billion shares of common stock outstanding as of May 24.

Dell's move comes as the company has been attempting to remake its business model in the face of soft sales of personal computers. It announced Wednesday that it plans more than $2 billion in cost cuts over the next three years. It has attempted to boost both revenue and profits by acquiring higher-margin businesses, including data storage, security and networking technologies. Since 2009, the company has acquired about a dozen companies, many of which over the past year.

Obama has lost some of his popularity abroad, Pew poll finds

The global glow has faded for President Obama since he took office, owing largely to disappointment with his foreign policies, a new poll from the Pew Research Center has found.



The spring poll included thousands of people across Europe, the Middle East and a scattering of countries in Asia and the Americas, including China, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.
Although Obama is still much more popular than President George W. Bush was across much of the world, especially in Western Europe, his popularity has slipped in the last three years. The biggest drops were seen in China, where the president's popularity fell from 62% to 38%, and in Mexico, where it dropped from 55% to 42%.
In many countries, disappointment with Obama appears to be tied to frustration with the United States acting on its own: Three years ago, 45% of people polled said they expected that Obama would consider their countries' interests. Only 27% now say they believe that Obama has done so. Also, 45% said they thought Obama would seek international approval for using military force. Now only 29% say they think he has done so.
The idea that the U.S. throws its weight around without consulting other countries has persisted. In most of the countries in the survey, more than half of the people polled said the U.S. considers their interests "not too much" or "not at all."That feeling was strongest in Spain and Egypt, where 82% and 80%, respectively, expressed it.
Using drones to combat militants in countries such as Pakistan or Yemen was also deeply unpopular in most of the countries surveyed -- a stark contrast to the U.S., where 62% of respondents approved. In 17 out of 20 countries, more than half of respondents said disapproved of drone strikes. (The question was not asked in Pakistan or Yemen.) Drones were most fervently opposed in Greece (90%) and Egypt (92%.) Despite expressing disappointment with Obama, people in many European countries largely said they wanted to see the president Obama reelected, especially in France and Germany, the poll found.
Similarly, although opinions of the U.S. have dimmed somewhat since Obama was first elected, respondents in most countries still see the U.S. and its people positively, according to the survey. Japan, in particular, has been a fan of the United States since Americans helped tsunami recovery efforts, with 72% of Japanese respondents saying they hold good opinions of the U.S., and 80% favoring its people.
But feelings were very different in largely Muslim countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, where the poll found that strong majorities opposed Obama's reelection. Far fewer saw the U.S. positively: Only 12% in Jordan and Pakistan said they held that view.
Besides the insight provided into global views of Obama and the U.S., the poll also delved into opinions on other world leaders and issues:
-- China is seen by many as the leading economic power in the world, with 42% of respondents giving China that label, compared with 36% naming the U.S. That's a big change from four years ago, when 22% named China and 45% named the U.S.
-- German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seen positively in Germany and across much of Europe, with popularity ratings of 70% and 58% in France and Britain, respectively. But feelings about her are much more sour in Southern Europe, especially in Greece, where only 7% said they have confidence in her.
-- Russian President Vladimir Putin gets poor reviews across Europe, but his support is markedly stronger in Russia (69%) and in China (50%).