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ARDMORE, Pa. Adam Lallana Liverpool Jersey . -- The affection was genuine. Even better was beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff. So when Lee Trevino got his hands on that U.S. Open trophy in 1971, the guy who never lacked for one-liners gushed, "I love Merion, and I dont even know her last name." For this generation of stars, Merion is more like a blind date. No other course with four U.S. Opens had to wait such a long time -- 32 years -- for another chance to test the worlds best players. Even with Tiger Woods back to No. 1 and winning at a ridiculous rate, so much of the talk at this major championship has been about Merion. For years, it was considered too small to handle such a big tournament and the big hitters with their modern equipment. And with soft greens from more than 6 inches of rain in the last week, the question is whether the course will yield the kind of scores rarely seen at the toughest test in golf. On Thursday, the mystery of Merion will start to unfold. "Its been how long, 32 years? And with all the technology since then?" Steve Stricker said as he headed to the first tee Wednesday for one last practice round. "Someone asked me the other day about someone shooting a 62. And what I wanted to say was, Youre crazy. But you just dont know. We dont know whats going to happen. And in a way, thats kind of cool." Not so cool was the weather expected for the opening round. Merion already took a beating last Friday when more than 3 inches of rain sent water over the edges of some bunkers and left small streams on fairways and greens. More rain on Monday caused the course to be closed three times. The forecast called for increasing clouds, gusts and showers Thursday morning, with stronger storms likely to arrive around noon. "Sure, we want it firm and fast," USGA vice-president Thomas OToole said Wednesday. "We happen to play a sport thats played outdoors. We received significant rain over the last week, and some tell us that well have even more significant rain tomorrow. So its not a perfect world. Its not a perfect game. But we take what were dealt with." Whether a golf course is big or small, soft greens typically are a recipe for low scores. Then again, Merion is not a typical golf course. It measures 6,996 yards on the scorecard -- the shortest of any major championship in nine years -- and has a stretch of seven ........... in the middle that are short even by yesterdays standards. Compare those ........... with the scorecard from when Ben Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion, and four of those ........... were actually longer by a few yards in Hogans day. Players typically reach for the wedge to chip out of the rough around the greens at the U.S. Open. At Merion, they could be hitting wedge into the green for their second shot on at least six ............ Thats what has caused all the clamour about low scores. And with the rain, its reminiscent of how Congressional was vulnerable two years ago, when Rory McIlroy shattered U.S. Open scoring records at 16-under 268. "Ive been reading about how many scoring records are going to be broken," Nick Watney said. "Ive been around here once. And I think thats insane. Its funny to me. People look at the yardage and think its going to be easy. Even if its soft, the greens are sloped. The rough is thick. OK, well have wedges into some of the greens, but that doesnt mean you make birdie on all those ............ Theres enough tough ........... to counteract that." Even so, the winning score has gone down in each of the four previous U.S. Opens at Merion, from Olin Dutra at 13-over par in 1934 to David Graham winning at 7-under in 1981, the last time this major championship was here. "Where did David Graham shoot 7-under? From there?" Nick Watney asked as he pointed the end of his driver to a spot some 30 yards from where he was standing. "Because he didnt do it from here." Watney was standing in the middle of the putting green. He took three steps to his right and was standing on the 14th tee. As an example of longer ........... being made more difficult, a new tee on the 464-yard ..................... is where members practice putting. The biggest fear with rain on the horizon is what will happen the rest of the week. The forecast is reasonable after Thursday, but in soft conditions, balls start to pick up clumps of mud as the sun starts to dry the course. And while players often are allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway in muddy conditions on the PGA Tour, they dont do that at the U.S. Open. Remember, the USGA famously referred to the local rule as "lift, clean and cheat." "We wouldnt be adopting that rule this week," OToole said. It all begins with Cliff Kresge hitting the opening shot of the 113th U.S. Open at 6:45 a.m. Thursday -- weather permitting, of course. Woods, McIlroy and Masters champion Adam Scott play Thursday afternoon in the power grouping of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world. Sergio Garcia plays on the opposite side of the draw, teeing off Thursday morning. So does Phil Mickelson, who left Philadelphia on Monday when the weather was bad to practice in San Diego. He planned on being home, anyway, so he could watch his oldest daughter graduate from the eighth-grade. Mickelson was scheduled to arrive about 4:15 a.m. Thursday, just three hours before his tee time. Stricker called Merion the "longest short course Ive ever played." Graeme McDowell is another guy who isnt buying into the fear over low scoring. "Everyone is saying that its going to be 62s and 63s on this golf course, which I kind of disagree with at the minute," McDowell said. "I think 10 or 11 of these golf ........... are as tough as any U.S. Open Ive seen." The lowest score in major championship history is 63, and it has happened only four times in the U.S. Open -- Johnny Miller at Oakmont in 1973 on a soggy course, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf on the same day at Baltusrol in 1980 during a .. week, and Vijay Singh on a rain-softened course at Olympia Fields in 2003. "Youve got more birdie opportunities than ever," Ernie Els said. "Im playing my 21st U.S. Open, so Ive seen a lot of trouble out there. But this is one where you can get on a run. You can make some 3s. Thats not a number thats really familiar in the U.S. Open. But as I say, you start missing shots, the rough is as bad as Ive ever seen it." James Milner Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Cameron Brannagan Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he .........., you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. http://www.footballliverpoolstore.com/W ... ol-Jersey/ . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. CHICAGO -- Tom Ricketts was walking back to the owners meetings Wednesday when he was stopped by a few people on the street, eager to congratulate him on the Chicago Cubs World Series title.Such is life for Ricketts these days. It has been two weeks since the franchise won its first championship since 1908, and the party is still going strong.Its great. I mean the teams a member of the family for a lot of folks, Ricketts said, and the fact that we had this kind of success after all these years of not quite getting there is just magical for this whole city.Ricketts will be acknowledged by his fellow owners for the title at some point during the meetings, but otherwise its pretty much business as usual. Asked whether he might be handed a few more bar tabs as a result of the historic championship, a grinning Ricketts responded: Well see tonight.Among the steak dinners, drinks and hallway chatter at The Drake in downtown Chicago, the dominant item on the owners agenda is baseballs collective bargaining agreement, which expires Dec. 1. Negotiators for owners and players have been meeting since spring training.Baseball has not had a work stoppage since 1994-95, and Commissioner Rob Manfred appears confident there will be an agreement by December.I trust the commissioner, trust the commissioners office, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said. Theyre going to do a great job, and everybodys been working hard. Thats about all I could add.Some of the major issues include the owners desire for a draft of international amateur players, the luxury-tax threshold and whether there will be changes to the draft-pick compensation system for premier free agents.The uncertainty surrounding the CBA could affect free agency and trade talks, but Steinbrenner made it sound as if the Yankees are pretty set about their plans no matter what happens with the labor talks.I dont think its going to impact it much as far as where were going to be, Steinbrennner said. Sheyi Ojo Liverpool Jersey. I mean weve got money coming off the payroll for the first time in a few years, and were going to put a decent portion of it back into the club, like we always do. How much remains to be seen, depending on what our needs are and whats available.The Yankees traded slugger Carlos Beltran and relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman in a rare pre-deadline sell-off on their way to an 84-78 record and a fourth-place finish in the AL East. Steinbrenner reiterated his desire to get under the luxury-tax threshold, wherever it lands with the new agreement, but he mentioned upgrading the bullpen as a priority.That could lead to a reunion with Chapman, who saved 20 games for the Yankees before helping the Cubs win the World Series.Look, anytime you can get a guy thats already proven he can play in New York ... its a tough place to play and if you can get a guy thats proven he can play there, then thats a plus, Steinbrenner said.Everyone is chasing the Cubs after they won a major league-best 103 games and the franchises third championship. But winter also is the season for stadium renovations, and the Yankees and Cubs are both working on construction projects.Yankee Stadium is getting more social gathering places, and the club also is enhancing its facility in Tampa, Florida. Wrigley Field is getting what Ricketts called a home plate club of premium seats, similar to other stadiums, but nothing as dramatic as when the jumbo videoboards were added to the iconic ballpark for 2015.Now it really is primarily about rebuilding the park and adding bathrooms and adding points of sale and doing all the little things to make it not only the park you would want to watch a game in, but one that serves as then like a modern park, Ricketts said.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '