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Tracker Wednesday's results Tehama MLB Athletics Colorado OAK — Inge 2-5, 3 RBI COL — Cuddyer 4-4, 3 RBI Houston Giants LATE Today's games AMERICAN LEGION San Mateo Father's Day Classic Red Bluff 6 p.m. MLB Athletics Colorado OAK — Parker, 2-3 COL — White, 2-4 Giants Houston HOU — Rodriguez, 5-4 SF — Zito, 5-3 Oklahoma City leads series 1-0 ABC PLAYOFFS Oklahoma City NBA San Antonio 6 p.m. On the tube CYCLING • 2 p.m. NBCSN — Tour de Suisse, stage 6, Wittnau to Bischofszell, Switzerland (same-day tape) GOLF • 9 a.m.ESPN — USGA, U.S. Open Championship, first round, part I, at San Francisco • Noon NBC — USGA, U.S. Open Championship, first round, at San Francisco • 2 p.m.ESPN — USGA, U.S. Open Championship, first round, part at San Francisco MLB • 5 p.m. MLB — Regional coverage, Arizona at Texas or Chicago White Sox at St. Louis SOCCER • 8:45 a.m. ESPN2 — UEFA, Euro 2012, group phase, Italy vs. Croat- ia, at Poznan, Poland • 11:30 a.m.ESPN2 — UEFA, Euro 2012, group phase, Spain vs. Ire- land, at Gdansk, Poland U.S. Open facts, figures Site: The Olympic Club (Lake Course) Length: 7,170 yards Par: 34-36—70 Cut: Top 60 and ties. Playoff, if neces- sary: 18 holes of stroke play on June 18. Field: 156 players Purse: TBA ($8 million in 2011) McIlroy shattered the U.S. Open scoring record during a soft week at Congressional. He went 35 holes before making his first bogey and became the first player to reach 13- under par until a dou- ble bogey to end his second round. No mat- ter. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland built an eight-shot lead going into the final round and closed with a 69 for a 16-under 268 and an eight-shot win. The 268 broke the 72- hole record by four shots. His 16 under was four better than the record Tiger Woods set at Pebble Beach in 2000. He set or tied seven scoring records for the week. on: Rory McIlroy Last year: Rory CSNB 12:45 p.m. 12:10 p.m. 10 8 Sports II, SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson often bring out the best in each other's games. Just don't expect any friendly conversations when golf's greatest running rival- ry resumes at the U.S. Open. Luckily, there's a guy in their group with a pink dri- ver and a green jacket to lighten the mood. Woods and Mickelson will play with Masters champion Bubba Watson for the first two rounds beginning Thursday at The Olympic Club. It will be the first time Woods and Mick- elson have been paired in the championship since Torrey Pines in 2008, when the USGA grouped players off the world ranking. In typical fashion, Woods brushed off any notion that his playing partners will affect how he plays. Mickel- son, meanwhile, couldn't stop gushing just thinking about all those giddy fans and camera clicks that will surround the ninth hole when he, Watson and the 14-time major champion tee off just after dawn. Leave it to one of golf's grandest stages to bring such contrasting personalities together. ''It's fabulous,'' Mickel- son said. ''First of all, I get excited to play with Tiger, I love it. I think we all do. He gets the best out of me. I think when it's time to tee off on Thursday I'll be ready to play.'' And Woods? ''I don't think we're going to talk about a lot,'' he said. ''This is a major cham- pionship. We've got work to do. Any extra motivation? No. I'm just trying to get out there and position myself for Sunday.'' The pair last played together about a two-hour drive down the California coast at Pebble Beach, where Mickelson whipped Woods and rallied to win in February. In the majors, Mickelson topped him in the And so the chase begins. Again. Defending champi- 1B Thursday June 14, 2012 Woods ready to renew rivalry we're in the same wave- length, neither of us will have a distinct advantage.'' Whatever pressure Mick- elson faces is overshadowed by that of his counterpart. Woods is still the most accomplished — and watched — golfer of his generation. His mastery at Muirfield Village two weeks ago — the 73rd victory of his PGA Tour career — makes him the betting favorite at Olympic Club to get his 15th major, first since the 2008 U.S. Open, and resume his quest of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. Then again, Woods' win at Bay Hill made him the pre-tournament rage at the Masters. He ended up in a tie for 40th, kicking his clubs and cussing all over Augusta National. One can only imagine what the tight, twisting fair- ways on the unleveled Lake Course could bring out of him this week. ''It's such a test playing in this championship,'' Woods said. ''I think this is one of those championships that I think the guys talk the least to one another because it's so difficult.'' At least one guy won't be MCT file photo Tiger Woods hasn't won a major in four years but he still concerns Phil Mickelson. final round of the 2009 Mas- ters won by Angel Cabrera, though Woods beat him soundly at Torrey Pines on his way to winning the U.S. Open. Mickelson has been on the wrong side of history at this tournament. A record five-time run- ner-up for the national championship, Mickelson has had more painful, exhausting — and perhaps embarrassing — moments taking on ''golf's toughest test'' than maybe any player with his resume. Chief among them: Mickelson entered the 18th at Winged Foot in 2006 with a one-shot lead. After a tee shot into the merchandise tents left him a decent lie, he tried to carve a 3-iron around the tree, didn't pull it off and made double bogey to finish one shot behind. ''What an idiot I am,'' he famously said afterward. Mickelson is embracing his latest chance to end the drought against his longtime rival. rounds of PGA Tour events. With Woods staring at his every shot, he has promised that won't happen at the start of the 112th U.S. Open. Perhaps playing with The only real hiccups in his game that he would dis- close is feeling ''mentally lethargic'' in the first two Woods can cure whatever ails him. ''The one player I'm most concerned about if I play my best golf that may have a chance to beat me is Tiger,'' he said. ''And the fact that we are on the same wavelength, I'm always in favor of. Sometimes we'll get a huge advantage in tee times, based on weather conditions or whatnot. If quiet. Watson enters the group as perhaps the most over- looked Masters champion at the U.S. Open in recent his- tory. The shot-shaping mas- ter, not an immediate fan of Olympic Club's tree-lined fairways and tiny greens, will have a front-row look when all the action begins — and he's more than excit- ed about the pressure not being on him. Together, his playing partners have 113 PGA Tour victories and 18 majors. ''It's going to be like Sunday at the Masters,'' Watson said. ''Huge gal- leries ... two legends.'' One U.S. Open at stake. USADAcharges Armstrong Raiders QB Pryor looks to build on truncated season AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Anti-Dop- ing Agency is bringing doping charges against seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, threatening to strip his victories in the storied cycling race. Armstrong could face a lifetime ban from the sport if he is found to have used performance- enhancing drugs. The move USADA immediately bans him from compet- ing in triathlons, which he turned to after he retired from cycling last year. by Last time at Olympic Club: Lee Janzen overcame a five-shot deficit against Payne Stewart and closed with a 2-under 68 for a two-shot victo- ry. Janzen got a huge break in the final round when his ball, stuck in a tree on the fifth hole, was dislodged as Janzen was headed back to the tee to play his third shot. It was his second U.S. Open title. Follow us on Twitter: @TehamaSports Armstrong, in a statement Wednesday, dismissed any doping allegations as ''base- less'' and ''motivated by spite'' and noted they came just months after federal prosecu- tors closed a two-year criminal investigation against the cyclist with- out bringing an indict- ment. USADA were first reported by the Wash- ington Post. USADA's letter to Armstrong informing him of the charges also said the agency was bringing doping charges against Johan Bruyneel, manager of Armstrong's winning teams; team doctors Pedro Celaya and Luis Garcia del Moral; team trainer Pepe Marti, and con- The charges by MCT file photo Lance Armstrong could be stripped of his victories. sulting doctor Michele Ferrari. copy of which was obtained by The Associ- ated Press, accuses Armstrong of using and promoting the use of the blood booster EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, human growth hormone and The USADA letter, a anti-inflammatory steroids. The letter doesn't cite specific examples, but says the charges are based on evidence gathered in an investigation of Arm- strong's teams, includ- ing witnesses who aren't named in the let- See CHARGES, page 2B Terrelle Pryor's rookie year in the NFL amount- ed to a false start. The former Ohio State star quarterback entered the league late through the supplemen- tal draft, served a five- game suspension for infractions from college and then got on the field for only one aborted play for the Oakland Raiders last season. That's why this off- season has been so cru- cial for Pryor, who is finally getting the pro- fessional coaching and practice time he sorely missed during his rookie year. ''I didn't know any- thing last year, nothing at all,'' Pryor said. ''I knew some of the stuff going into games and stuff like that but not like starting from Day 1 here right now when the new coaches came in. On the other hand, I came in last year at the end of camp and every- thing was already put in. I couldn't ask the coach, the offensive coordina- tor. We didn't even have a quarterbacks coach so I couldn't even learn anything from that standpoint.'' ALAMEDA (AP) — Pryor got very little out of a rookie season that was doomed from the start. He didn't decide to leave Ohio State until after the NFL draft following an inves- tigation into the team's memorabilia-for-cash scandal that cost coach Jim Tressel his job. Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed Pryor into the supplemental draft but ruled he must serve the five-game sus- pension he would have faced in college. The Raiders used a third- round pick on Aug. 22 to select Pryor and signed him three days later, making him the final player every draft- ed by late owner Al Davis. would call him a couple of times a week before his death last October, reminding Pryor that he believed in him. While Pryor is currently bat- tling Matt Leinart for the job backing up Car- son Palmer, he hopes to one day prove Davis right. ''The last pick may not mean anything,'' he said. ''But to me, you know, it kind of felt like Pryor said Davis See PRYOR, page 2B