Funkerstation » land man Stuart Meaker asked: Why

ARDMORE, Pa. -- Even for Phil Mickelson, his path to the top of the leaderboard Thursday in the U.S. Open was unconventional. He travelled about 2,400 miles in the air and 7,000 yards on the ground. He took a short nap on his private jet from San Diego and another one during a rain delay when he found a secluded corner of the library room in the Merion clubhouse. He carried five wedges but no driver. Some 17 hours later, Mickelson had a 3-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead and match his best opening round in the U.S. Open. Luke Donald is actually ahead of Mickelson at 4-under but he only managed to finish13 holes on Thursday before play was suspended for the day due to darkness, making one last birdie before leaving the course. If you missed the days action you can catch the highlight show tonight on TSN2 at Midnight et/9pm pt. First round coverage will resume Friday morning on TSN at 8:30 am et/5:30 am pt. TSN.ca will deliver live streaming of the 11th and 18th holes, along with a daily marquee group. TSN Digital platforms will also feature up-to-the-minute news, daily highlights, as well as Bob Weeks popular golf blog. Weeks will also answer fan questions on Twitter through @bobatscoregolf, while TSN.ca will feature tweets from Weeks, Jim Nelford, the USGA, and the official Twitter feed of the U.S. Open. Every round is also available on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto and TEAM 1410 in Vancouver, and the third and final rounds can be heard on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal and TEAM 1200 in Ottawa. Mickelson returned from his daughters eighth-grade graduation about 3 1/2 hours before his tee time. He three-putted his first hole for a bogey and didnt give back a shot the rest of the day at Merion, which proved plenty tough by yielding only one other round under par to the 78 players who completed the first round. Because of two rain delays, the first round wont be completed until Friday morning. Mickelson wont have to tee it up again for another 24 hours. Enough time to fly back to San Diego? "I dont want to push it, no," Mickelson said with a tired smile. Tiger Woods faced a tougher road. He appeared to hurt his left hand after trying to gouge out of the deep rough on the opening hole. He grimaced and shook his left wrist again after hitting a 5-wood out of the rough on the fifth hole. He already had three bogeys though five holes before starting to make up ground with a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 sixth hole. Woods, however, failed to take advantage on the short stretch of holes in the middle of the round, and he was shaking his hand again after shots out of the rough on the 10th and twice on the 11th. He was 2-over for his round and had a 4-foot par putt on the 11th when play was stopped for the day. "Ive got a lot of holes to play tomorrow," Woods said. "And, hopefully, I can play a little better than I did today." The first round was to resume at 7:15 a.m. Friday, and the forecast called for drier weather for the rest of the week. Masters champion Adam Scott, playing with Woods and Rory McIlroy, was 3-under through 11 holes, while defending U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson was 2-under through eight holes. McIlroy shot even par. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 2-over 72. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 75. Calgarys Ryan Yip is another shot back. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished his round with a 78. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., never even got to tee off. Lee Westwood got the full Merion experience. He was 3-under when his approach on the 12th hit the wicker basket -- the signature at Merion, replacing traditional flags -- and bounced off the green, leading to a double bogey. For Mickelson, this could be the start of yet another chance to win the major championship he wants so dearly. Or maybe hes setting himself up for more heartache. He already has been a runner-up a record five times in the U.S. Open. "If Im able -- and I believe I will -- if Im able to ultimately win a U.S. Open, I would say that its great," Mickelson said. "Because I will have had ... a win and five seconds. But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking." Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, the only other player from the morning wave to break par, picked up birdies on the short seventh and eighth holes for a 69. Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, Tim Clark, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Jerry Kelly were the only others who at least matched par at 70. Clark and Kelly were at 2 under deep in their rounds until running into trouble, which isnt hard to do in the U.S. Open, especially at Merion. Clark took a double bogey-bogey stretch in the middle of his back nine. Kelly was one shot behind Mickelson until a double bogey on the 18th hole. "Its a lot tougher than they say it is," Schwartzel said. It doesnt take much -- just two holes for Sergio Garcia, who found Merion far more daunting than the few wisecracks from the gallery. Garcia received mostly warm applause, with some barely audible boos from the grandstand when he started his round on No. 11. It was his first time competing in America since his public spat with Woods took a bad turn when he jokingly said he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open and serve fried chicken. "There were a couple here and there," Garcia said about some jeers. "But I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that almost all of them were behind me and that was nice to see." They saw him hit his tee shot out of bounds on No. 14 right before the first rain delay, leading to double bogey. Then, he hooked his next shot out of bounds and hit a bunker shot over the green on his way to a quadruple-bogey 8 at No. 15. Despite being 6-over on those two holes, he rallied for a 73. Mickelson, meanwhile, looked as though he could play this golf course in his sleep. And he nearly did. With two holes remaining, he hit 5-iron into 30 feet on the 237-yard ninth hole and told caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay that he was starting to hit the ball. Despite the constant smiling, Mickelson is intense inside the ropes, and Mackay told him to stop thinking about his swing, his next shot, the course or anything else related to golf during the walk to the green. Lefty rolled in the right-to-left breaking putt for another birdie. "Being able to tune in and tune out was kind of nice the last hole or two," Mickelson said. "Its been a long day." The only other time Mickelson opened with a 67 in the U.S. Open was in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2, and his oldest daughter was part of that story, too. Mickelson carried a pager with him that week because his wife was due with their first child. He finished one shot behind when the late Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the last hole, and Amanda was born the next day. Mickelson was always going to be home before the U.S. Open because Amanda, who turns 14 next week, was chosen to be a featured speaker at her graduation. He left Merion on Monday, a day earlier than planned, when more heavy rain washed out most of the practice round. Besides, Mickelson felt like he knew the course well enough from his scouting trip last week. "She told me that its fine. Stay, its the U.S. Open. I know how much you care about it. And I told her that I want to be there," Mickelson said. "I dont want to miss her speech. I dont want to miss her graduation. She spent nine years at that school. And shes worked very hard and Im very proud of her." The ceremony was at 6 p.m. PDT. Mickelson was on the plane two hours later, landing in Philadelphia about 3:30 a.m. He had a few hours of sleep on the plane, and then played five holes before the rain delay. He found a few cushions for a makeshift bed in the clubhouse library. Despite his four birdies, including a 25-foot putt that fell on its last turn at No. 1, Mickelson saved his round with some crucial pars. He missed the par-3 third green to the right, in fluffy grass down the hill, and hit a flop shot that landed on the collar and stopped 5 feet from the cup. He caught a break when his tee shot went into the hazard left of the fifth fairway, about a foot away from dropping into the small stream. He got that out, hit wedge to 8 feet and made a difficult right-to-left putt. And on the next hole, he swung hard to generate height and spin out of the bunker, the only way to get the ball close. He made an 8-footer for par. Mickelson hit 9-iron to 2 feet on the seventh hole for birdie, and holed that 30-foot putt on the ninth. And then, it was time to rest. "He had a crazy 24 hours," said Keegan Bradley, playing alongside Mickelson and Steve Stricker. "Sometimes that helps, not thinking about it." Upcoming U.S. Open coverage on TSN. Friday, June 14• 8:30am et – Conclusion of First Round • 3pm et – Second Round• 5pm et – Second Round• Midnight ET – First/Second Round Highlight Show (TSN2) Saturday, June 15• 11am et – Third Round Preview Show • Noon et – Third Round • Midnight et – Third Round Highlight Show Sunday, June 16• 11am et – Final Round Preview Show • Noon et – Final Round • Midnight et – Final Round Highlight ShowBrandon Kintzler Jersey . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. 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Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons.Leading names from the world of cricket have condemned the West Indies U19 teams decision to Mankad their way into the quarter-finals of the World Cup.The West Indies qualified for the knockout stage after defeating Zimbabwe by two runs on Tuesday in hugely controversial circumstances at Chittagong.Needing 227 to win. Zimbabwe began the 50th over on 224-9 but, as he ran in to deliver the first ball, West Indies seamer Keemo Paul flicked off the bails at the bowlers end in an attempt to run out (or mankad) the non-striker. Richard Ngarava was run out by a matter of inches Having confirmed that West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer wanted to appeal, the umpires referred the decision to the third umpire and TV replays showed that Richard Ngaravas bat was just inches out of the crease.The West Indies celebrated jubilantly when the decision was given but the Zimbabweans were upset and the dismissal has ignited a debate about whether Pauls actions were within the spirit of cricket.Hetmyer said: Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Weve seen this in cricket before. Its probably not in the spirit of the game but were happy to have won.Joseph is the leader of the attack, and he stood up for us today. Im proud of him. Michael Holding gives his take on West Indies dramatic two-run win over Zimbabwe through a disputed run-out at the start of the final over. Zimbabwe skipper Brandon Mavuta was visibly upset after the match, although he said he had no comment on the final decision.And Zimbabwe manager Admire Marodza said: It is too early to comment but we are trying to get emotions under control in the dressing room. Everyone is disappointed at the loss.Rules are rules, we cant change them and we cant change what happenedd.dddddddddddd A run-out is a run-out. I dont think it is anything to protest about.Reaction on Twitter was generally critical of the West Indies, England one-day captain Eoin Morgan writing: Disgraceful behaviour in the U19CWC. WIs should be embarrassed!! Eoin Morgan was among the players who criticised the Mankad on Twitter And England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said: Cant believe what Ive just seen! Embarrassing!Former Zimbabwe star Brendan Taylor added: Disgraceful! Just remember this great game has a funny way in biting you in the back side.However, other players pointed out that West Indies had acted entirely within the rules.Surrey and England man Stuart Meaker asked: Why bring in a law that allows it and then say its not in the spirit? Isnt it poor sportsmanship that hes stealing a run? Nasser Hussain gives his thoughts on West Indies dramatic two-run win over Zimbabwe through a disputed run-out at the start of the final over. Former England head coach Peter Moores told Sky Sports News HQ: I dont think you can blame the bowler or the batter.You can blame the batter because he left the crease but the bowler has played to the rules. I am not sure on the rule regarding whether you have to warn the batsman but for me that is a big part of it.If somebody is creeping too far and it is getting very tight, the bowler is within his rights to say: Listen, if you keep going like that, I am going to Mankad. If you just do it, yes, it is within the law I think, but it seems a bit tough.Also See:Under 19 World Cup fixtures/resultsTeam guideUnder 19 World Cup on SkyLive cricket on Sky ' ' '