USA fought back from two goals down to earn a battling 2-2 draw with Slovenia and keep their FIFA World Cup hopes alive in an exciting Group C clash at Ellis Park.

Matjaz Kek’s men looked on course for a second straight win in the section when they took a 2-0 lead into the break through Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic but the Americans hit back as Landon Donovan narrowed the deficit before Michael Bradley equalised eight minutes from time. The result left Slovenia top of Group C with four points ahead of England’s meeting with Algeria later in the day, and ensured the Americans remain undefeated with two draws ahead of their third game against the Algerians.

An exciting contest opened with Birsa blasting Slovenia into an early lead. There were just 13 minutes on the clock when the midfielder collected the ball some 25 yards from goal and left Tim Howard rooted to the spot with an expertly guided strike to the goalkeeper’s left. Bradley’s men sought a response and came close when midfielder Francisco Torres fired in a free-kick from out wide that drew a fingertip save from Samir Handanovic. Donovan then looked set to tap in Clint Dempsey’s low cross only for Slovenia defender Miso Brecko to get a decisive touch to clear the ball.

Slovenia looked to be in dreamland in the 42nd minute when Ljubijankic doubled their lead. Milivoje Novakovic played a defence-splitting pass through to Ljubijankic who, with the Americans appealing in vain for offside, slipped the ball coolly past Howard. Yet Donovan threw the Americans a lifeline three minutes after the restart when Bostjan Cesar failed to deal with a ball down the right touchline, allowing the LA Galaxy man a free run into the box. Cutting in from the right, Donovan lashed a superb shot high above Handanovic at the near post.

With the Slovenia defence struggling to cope with the power and aerial strength of the imposing Jozy Altidore, Bradley’s men kept the pressure on and the coach’s son grabbed the US the point their efforts deserved – a father-and-son first in the FIFA World Cup. Altidore nodded a high ball down into the path of the onrushing Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder and he fired emphatically into the roof of the net. The Americans might even have won the game only for referee Koman Coulibaly to rule out a goal from Maurice Edu, who volleyed home Donovan’s free-kick from the right. There was still time for Novakovic to threaten with a header at the other end but his effort was held comfortably by Howard.

Other Information

• Stadium: Ellis Park Stadium
• Attendance:
• Match Time: 14:00 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Koman Coulibaly
• Man of the Match: Landon Donovan
• Top Scorer: Valter Birsa (1),  Zlatan Ljubijankic (1), Michael Bradley (1), Landon Donovan
• Score: Slovenia (2), United States (2)

Roster

• Slovenia Squad
• United States Squad

Algeria held England to a goalless draw in the Group C encounter in Cape Town, leaving both sides still with a chance of qualification for the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup™. Although most of the play was dominated by England, it was the north Africans, 22 places below Fabio Capello’s men in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, who were the happier of the two teams at the final whistle

All the talk pre-match surrounded Capello’s starting XI, with the Italian selecting David James in favour of Robert Green, the keeper culpable for Clint Dempsey’s equaliser against USA. Out too went James Milner for the fit-again Gareth Barry, while Jamie Carragher deputised for the injured Ledley King. The early signs were encouraging for England who began pressing from the first whistle. Their passing certainly looked crisper than during last Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Rustenburg and they created several good chances during a first half, that while ending goalless, had plenty of entertainment value.

England captain Steven Gerrard had the game’s first real opportunity when he almost caught Rais Mbolhi out with a dipping shot. Then Emile Heskey rose highest from Barry’s inswinging corner from the right, but failed to direct his header on target. The patient build-up, all too infrequent in the Three Lions’ last performance, was proving beneficial. Yet it was by no means one-way traffic. Algeria fired their first warning shot when Karim Ziani’s cross found Hassan Yebda, whose back-header landed comfortably into the grasp of James. Karim Matmour and Ziani also had attempts on goal during a point midway through the opening 45 minutes as the Desert Foxes enjoyed a territorial advantage.

England came to life again thanks to the prompting of Wayne Rooney, who dropped deeper to increase his influence. A move begun by the Manchester United man saw Aaron Lennon find Frank Lampard who forced Mbolhi into a scrambling one-handed save from 12 yards. Barry and Rooney both tested the keeper on the stroke of half time, but Algeria had more than earned parity at the break.

Only some sublime defending from Madjid Bougherra denied Gerrard a clear scoring opportunity after the interval, when Rooney’s intelligent flick-on seemed destined to set up the Liverpool midfielder. As time ticked on, though, England’s frustrations at those missed opportunities grew, never more so than when Gerrard himself passed the ball straight at an Algeria defender, with Rooney and Lampard lurking in the box.

That said, it took a last-gasp intervention from Rafik Halliche to prevent England from taking the lead. Gerrard fed Heskey in the box and with the striker’s shot apparently destined to hit the target or at least present Rooney with the simplest of tap-ins, the defender’s outstretched leg deflected the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner, taken by Lampard, Gerrard’s bullet header was claimed at the first attempt by Mbolhi. England were knocking at the door, but just not finding an answer. Either that, or they were finding the door firmly closed in their face by Bougherra, who was simply outstanding at the heart of the defence.

But the England fans, who made up the majority of the crowd at the Green Point stadium cared little of the merits of the opposition and showed their frustration by booing a wayward Lampard effort and again when the full-time whistle went. Capello, on the occasion of his 64th birthday, left the arena with his head bowed, as did the majority of the England players. It all comes down to the final group matches with England playing current section leaders Slovenia in Port Elizabeth and USA facing Algeria in Pretoria.

Other Information

• Stadium: Green Point Stadium
• Attendance: 64,100
• Match Time: 18:30 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Ravshan Irmatov
• Man of the Match : Ashley Cole
• Top Scorer:
• Score: England (0), Algeria (0)

Roster

• England Squad
• Algeria Squad

A 38th-minute Milan Jovanovic goal proved enough for Serbia to edge a Germany side that played the entire second half at a numerical disadvantage and missed a penalty. Joachim Low’s charges had the majority of the possession and chances at Port Elizabeth Stadium, but Miroslav Klose’s dismissal and Lukas Podolski’s failure to beat Vladimir Stojkovic from 12 yards proved costly for a Germany team beaten in a FIFA World Cup™ group game for the first time since 1986.

The result means that Germany, who remain top of Group D on goal difference, Ghana and Serbia all now have three points, while Australia are yet to get off the mark. The Black Stars and the Socceroos will play their second game in Rustenburg tomorrow.

Germany quickly found their rhythm following kick-off, but it was Serbia who had the first meaningful attempt on goal, Zdravko Kuzmanovic executing a firm, low drive from the edge of the box that went two yards wide. The Germans responded instantly, stringing a series of passes together to work the ball out to Mesut Oezil, on the right. The Werder Bremen playmaker duly dinked it through to Sami Khedira, who was promisingly positioned inside the area but unable to keep his volley down. Podolski was next to try his luck, reacting first to Nemanja Vidic’s clearance and sending a thumping volley narrowly wide of Vladimir Stojkovic’s upright.

Serbia then enjoyed a fruitful five-minute spell. Krasic neatly set up Milos Ninkovic, who volleyed over from inside the area. Then Ninkovic skipped around Arne Friedrich and was felled as he approached the Germany penalty area but Radomir Antic’s side wasted the consequent free-kick. The Serbia defence was standing firm against the three-time world champions –  Neven Subotic made one crucial challenge on Khedira, while a Vidic interception denied Klose a run on goal.

Klose did have the ball in the net on the half-hour mark but had strayed marginally offside. The Germany forward’s afternoon reached an early end eight minutes before half-time, however, when following an earlier booking, he received a second yellow card for bringing down Dejan Stankovic from behind, and was duly sent off. Serbia capitalised immediately. Krasic outstripped his marker down the right, got to the byline, and crossed to the back post, where Zigic was hovering. The towering striker nodded the ball back across goal and into the path of Jovanovic, who took it on his chest and fired acrobatically past Manuel Neuer from five yards.

Germany, a man and a goal down, pushed forward and came agonisingly close to restoring parity on the stroke of half-time. From an Oezil corner, Stojkovic could only punch the ball into the path of Khedira, who thumped it against the crossbar from 12 yards. From the rebound, Thomas Mueller produced an overhead kick but Kolarov was intelligently positioned on the line and managed to hook the ball to safety.

Germany raced out of the blocks following the restart. Bastian Schweinsteiger almost went through on goal, but Vidic made a sliding challenge to avert the danger. Oezil then slid Podolski in only for the Cologne ace to power his shot into the side-netting from eight yards. Poldi had a far better opportunity to put his side back on level terms on the hour mark. Vidic unnecessarily handled Arne Friedrich’s cross inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot, handing the Manchester United centre-back a yellow card. Podolski tried to pass the ball into the bottom corner, but Stojkovic flung himself down to his left and pulled off a great save.

The game flowed from end to end in the remaining 30 minutes. The inventive Krasic worked an opening for himself and forced Neuer into a good save, while the same player also crossed for Zigic, whose header struck the crossbar. Germany’s best opportunities fell to Podolski. Oezil and Mueller combined to free him down the left of the penalty area but he scuffed his shot. He tried again with four minutes remaining but failed to get a good connection on his ten-yard effort. It was not Podolski’s – or Germany’s – afternoon. Serbia, who pipped France to first place in their qualifying group, had once again served notice of their ability to hang with the heavyweights.

Other Information

• Stadium: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
• Attendance: 38,294
• Match Time: 11:30 GMT, June 18, 2010
• Official(s): Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Referee)
• Man of the Match : Milan Jovanovic
• Top Scorer: Milan Jovanovic (1)
• Score: Germany (0), Serbia (1)

Roster

• Germany Squad
• Serbia Squad

Shaun Micheel sunk several clutch putts on his way to a 2-under 69 at the U.S. Open Thursday, earning him a share of the lead alongside side Paul Casey and Brendon De Jonge.

Meanwhile, the big names misfired at Pebble Beach as the U.S. Open proved to be as tough as ever.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson didn’t make a single birdie between them, the first time that’s ever happened with the world’s best two players in the same tournament. Some of the strongest rounds, and sometimes the best shots, didn’t hold up on a course that was unforgiving.

“There’s a long way to go,” Woods said after opening with a 74, five shots out of the lead and one better than Mickelson’s 75. “Just keep plugging along and see where I come Sunday afternoon.”

It doesn’t figure to get any easier—not for Woods, Mickelson, or even the leaders. Even in relatively gentle conditions, only nine players managed to break par.

One thing seemed as clear as the blue sky over the Monterey Peninsula: That 12-under par by Woods a decade ago is safe. If one round was any indication, anything under par might be good enough to win this U.S. Open.

“I’m not thinking about what kind of score might win this golf tournament,” Ian Poulter said after a hard-earned 70. “I’m just happy to go out there and play as good as I possibly can. But I will tell you the golf course is difficult. There’s not going to be many good scores on it today. And I can’t see it getting easier.”

De Jonge, a 29-year-old from Zimbabwe playing in his first U.S. Open, holed out with a wedge for eagle on the scary par-5 14th and hit it stiff on the par-3 17th for his round of 69. Casey, of England, got away with average iron play by taking only 23 putts.

The average score was 75.25. It was a round that helped put Woods’ 15-shot victory in 2000 into perspective. Except for his record score of 12-under par in the last U.S. Open at Pebble, the best anyone else managed was 3-over.

There will be no such runaway this week. After one round, Woods is already eight strokes behind his 2000 pace.

He hit every green Thursday in opening with eight pars—extending his streak to 34 holes without a bogey in a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach—but never gave himself many good looks at birdie. His day ended badly, with a three-putt bogey from the fringe on the 16th, missing an 8-foot birdie on the 17th and laying up in a bunker to take bogey on the 18th for a 3-over 74.

“I hit the ball well enough to shoot a good score,” Woods said. “These greens are just awful. They’re moving every which way.”

Woods never had that problem 10 years ago, making everything inside 8 feet. He is a different player now, playing this U.S. Open under far different circumstances with the turmoil in his personal life. And this golf course has rarely looked so tough in relatively calm conditions.

Mickelson, already with a record five runner-up finishes in this major, hit two balls in the ocean, took two shots to get out of one bunker and missed a half-dozen birdie putts inside 12 feet.

It was his highest opening round in the U.S. Open since 1997, though he was not entirely discouraged.

“There’s no way under par is going to win here, I don’t believe,” Mickelson said. “I think over par will win. Because of that, I’m right there. But I need to play well. I need to putt well, score well. I’ve just got to get sharp on the greens.”

Mike Weir chipped in for a bonus birdie on the 16th to reach 3-under, only to bogey the final two holes and settle for a 70, leaving him in a group of international players that included Poulter of England, 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, K.J. Choi of South Korea, Alex Cejka of Germany and Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Argentina, who had Visa trouble even getting into the country for his first U.S. Open.

Dustin Johnson, the back-to-back winner of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February when the turf is soggy and only two rounds are played at Pebble, was among those at even-par 71. His round was derailed by a four-putt double bogey on the 14th.

That was only one of several miscues:

• Aaron Baddeley thought he had an ace on the 17th when his shot caught the lip. He four-putted for a double bogey.
• John Rollins was tied for the lead at 2 under when he put his tee shot into the rough at the far end of the hourglass green. He shanked his chip toward the 18th tee, left his third shot in the gnarly rough and wound up with a triple bogey.
• Morgan Hoffmann of Oklahoma State was at even par, a remarkable performance for a college kid in his first U.S. Open. But he hit two balls into the ocean on the 18th—the first one on a ricochet off the tree in the middle of the fairway—and took a quadruple-bogey 9.

“My favorite hole on the golf course,” Hoffmann said. “I was looking forward to it all day.”

Lee Westwood, the No. 3 player in the world who has a second and two tied-for-thirds in the last three majors, had a 74. He played with Woods and Ernie Els, who had a 73.

At first glance, the course seemed benign, especially with only a freshening breeze that picks up along the coastal holes. But it looked frightening with a club in hand. The fairways were particularly fast, the greens so firm that balls would bounce as high as six feet in the air upon landing.

“It looks like it’s wide-open fairway, but in the teeing ground … you look right, look left, either way is very tough,” Choi said. “And you can’t stop in the bouncing, so you’re very scared on the tee shot.”

Micheel managed best on the greens, and he was helped by his own sense of perspective.

His mother, Donna, was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. Micheel, a surprise PGA champion at Oak Hill in 2003, had to cope with low testosterone that has slowed him in recent years and cost him his full PGA Tour card for this year.

He choked up during his TV interview when speaking of his mother in Memphis, Tenn. The cancer was diagnosed in her lung, and since has spread to her brain, liver and spine. He doesn’t expect her to live beyond the summer, and she could not get out to the course last week in Memphis when Micheel tied for fourth.

“It’s nice because I’m playing for somebody else,” Micheel said. “It’s always been about me, me, me. What am I going to shoot? It doesn’t matter to me. I love my mom. What do you say?”

For everyone else, Pebble Beach—more specifically, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach—is enough to get their attention.

Defending champion Lucas Glover bogeyed his first two holes and ground out a 73. Not so fortunate were the 15 players who failed to break 80, and a few former U.S. Open champions who barely did.

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 winner, played an eight-hole stretch in 8-over in the middle of his round and shot 79. Tom Watson, the 60-year-old who won at Pebble in 1982 and is playing this week on a special exemption, still managed to show his famous gap-tooth smile despite a 78.

“Pebble had its teeth out today,” said Watson, the only player to compete in all five U.S. Opens on the seaside course.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington rallied for a 73 while playing with Mickelson.

“Our scores say a lot about the U.S. Open,” Harrington said. “You get good golf courses like this … set up reasonable in a regular event, guys would shoot regular scores. But in this event, everybody gets a bit more tense.”

Source

The Los Angeles Lakers have won their 16th NBA championship, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 83-79 Thursday night in Game 7 of the NBA finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 23 points despite 6-of-24 shooting while winning his fifth title with the Lakers, who repeated as NBA champions for the first time since winning three straight from 2000-02.

Ron Artest added 20 points for the Lakers, who shot terribly while trailing for most of the first 3½ quarters. Yet they reclaimed the lead midway through the fourth quarter and hung on with big shots from Pau Gasol and Artest.

With their fifth title in 11 seasons, the Lakers moved one championship behind Boston’s 17 banners for the overall NBA lead.

Paul Pierce had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who just couldn’t finish the final quarter of a remarkable playoff run after a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Garnett added 17 points, but Boston flopped in two chances to clinch the series in Los Angeles after winning Game 5 back home.

After three quarters of mostly terrible offense, the Lakers tied it at 61 on Artest’s three-point play with 7:29 left. Bryant’s free throws 90 seconds later gave the Lakers their first lead of the second half, and the Lakers went up by five points before Bryant and Sasha Vujacic hit free throws in the final seconds to keep Los Angeles ahead.

The Lakers will relish this title because they took it from the Celtics, their greatest rivals, with fourth-quarter poise and defense. The teams have met in 12 NBA finals, but the Lakers won for just the third time.

Greece edged ten-man Nigeria 2-1 in a pulsating contest in Mangaung/Bloemfontein to revive their chances of reaching the Round of 16.

It all looked like being so different for the Super Eagles, who opened the scoring in the 16th minute through Kalu Uche, but a straight red card for Sani Kaita just after the half-hour swung the balance in the favour of the Europeans, who duly secured their first-ever victory in a FIFA World Cup™ match thanks to goals from Dimitrios Salpingidis and Vasileios Torosidis.

The result left Greece third in Group B, level on points with second-placed Korea Republic. Nigeria remain pointless and will now have to beat the South Koreans in their final first-phase outing to have any chance of advancing.

Uche’s goal was the first in the tournament to come direct from a free-kick, though his 35-yard effort from the left flank was intended centre.  Greece goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas was distracted by the run of Peter Odemwingie, though, and let the ball go past him untouched. The game changed in the 33rd minute, though, with Kaita’s sending-off for kicking out at Torosidis after the ball had run out on the sideline. Sensing the opportunity, Greece coach Otto Rehhagel brought on Georgios Samaras to increase their attacking options. The Europeans duly began to dominate the proceedings and split open the Nigeria defence soon after, but goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who impressed in their 1-0 loss to Argentina, denied an unmarked Salpingidis from ten yards.

Six minutes later, Enyeama was beaten, but midfielder Lukman Haruna saved Samaras’s flicked, close-range shot from crossing the line. However, Haruna was not so fortunate in the 44th minute as Konstantinos Katsouranis laid the ball off to Salpingidis, whose blast from 20 yards deflected off the young Monaco midfielder and into the back of the net.

The second half began where the first left off, and Georgios Karagounis found himself with a free header near the penalty spot, but the captain could not keep his attempt down. The two goalkeepers took turns playing hero then, with Tzorvas tipping over Uche’s delicate cross from the left side of the box when it seemed like it might sneak under his bar. Enyeama spared Joseph’s Yobo’s blushes after a poor clearance, with a diving save from Theofanis Gekas’s header in the 59th minute. From that chance, the west Africans broke back the other way immediately, and Yakuba Ayegbeni saw his shot denied spectacularly by the outstretched left hand of the Greece keeper. Half-time substitute Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi missed the rebound with the goal at his mercy.

Enyeama again showed all of his ability in denying Samaras’s header from a short corner after a stretched dive to his left, but the Hapoel Tel-Aviv man would have to take the blame for the Greek winner after he spilled Alexandros Tziolis’s long-range shot into the path of Torosidis, who finished calmly in the the 71st minute.

The game, however, remained wide open, and Enyeama, who has arguably been the goalkeeper of the tournament thus far and was named Budweiser Man of the Match today, made another top-drawer save from Karagounis six minutes after his mistake.

Nigeria, who have now gone seven FIFA World Cup matches without victory, will hope to beat Korea Republic on Tuesday in Durban, and hope Argentina beat Greece in Group B’s other remaining game.

Other Information

• Stadium: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa
• Attendance: 31,593
• Match Time: 14:00 GMT, June 17, 2010
• Official(s): Oscar Ruiz
• Man of the Match : Vincent Enyeama
• Top Scorer:  Kalu Uche (1), Dimitrios Salpingidis (1), Vasileios Torosidis (1)
• Score: Greece: (2), Nigeria (1)

Roster

• Greece Roster
• Nigeria Roster

The bright blue skies at Pebble Beach are almost always deceiving in June, mainly because they’re almost always accompanied by a brisk, humidity-sapping north wind.

Beautiful days like these can be rough on golfers, and can prompt statements like these from the leaders at the USGA: “This golf course will not get away from us.”

That USGA secretary Tom O’Toole felt the need to make that point Wednesday may have been the best sign of where things were on the eve of the U.S. Open. One of America’s most beautiful, memorable and, yes, occasionally devilish golf courses was teetering on the edge between challenging and something more difficult.

The forecast for the first round Thursday was more of the same: Mostly sunny, high around 60, northwest wind at around 11 mph.

“I think it’s the best U.S. Open setup that I’ve seen,” said Phil Mickelson, searching for the second leg of the 2010 Grand Slam and his first national championship. “I think the one area of concern I have is the greens. They’re so small and they’re so firm that, given that there’s not any forecast for rain, I’m certainly concerned that we could have 14 potential seventh holes at Shinnecock if we’re not careful.”

Shinnecock, as golf fans remember, was a low point for the USGA. The tiny, tilted seventh green got so baked out in the final round of the 2004 Open that course workers had to water it between groups. At Pebble, they watered liberally Tuesday night and planned on more on the eve of the tournament.

This is not the way the USGA usually likes to do things in the days leading up to its biggest event, but a debacle at Pebble Beach is not in anyone’s best interest.

“Fog will be the players’ friend,” said Roger Maltbie, a Pebble regular who now works for NBC Sports. “If we get sunny conditions with a bit of breeze, this will be a great championship. And I’d be very surprised if anyone breaks par.”

No crime there. The USGA prides itself on identifying its champion by putting him through the most thorough examination of the game he’ll see anywhere. But there is fair and there is unfair, and almost surely, there will be reaction on both sides once the first round is over.

“If the cloud cover passes and we get sunshine like we did today, then you’re going to have to work out exactly the number you’re going to want left and work out how far you’ve got to pitch it to finish with 40 yards of roll,” Ian Poulter said, describing something that sounds more like a British Open than a U.S. Open.

In an era in which courses have been lengthened, strengthened and Tiger-proofed to defend against technology and stronger, better players, the course that gave up a record 12-under-par to Woods in 2000 has undergone more subtle changes for the 2010 Open.

It has only been lengthened by 194 yards, the rough has only been grown to 3-4 inches in some places, and on most holes, the entries to the greens have been generously mowed to allow players to bump and run the ball onto the putting surface.

The tradeoff: On the edges of the seaside holes, fairways have been cropped so closely, they fall with no buffer, straight into the hazards, which in this case means the Pacific Ocean. New bunkers have been built, or brought back into play, and the greens—well, they are about as small as you’ll find in tournament golf.

“Even though it’s the shortest U.S. Open we play, it’s still—it’s getting awfully quick out there,” Woods said. “Just in the last couple days. And if they don’t put any water on these things, come Sunday, it’s going to be very interesting.”

This is the Pebble Beach’s fifth U.S. Open (On Wednesday, they announced a sixth will be played here in 2019) and, unlike other venues, this course always produces big-name champions. Woods, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Kite are the previous winners here—a surprising consistency for a tournament that produces surprises more often than the other majors.

“Pure ball strikers I think more than anything else,” Poulter said when asked what those winners had in common. “Very methodical players. Guys that understand the game probably better than anybody else, to be honest. They know what it takes to win.”

At the U.S. Open, the first 63 holes are more about not losing, especially if the sun is shining and the wind is blowing.

Watson said he was somewhat amazed standing on the par-5 sixth hole during practice, watching players hit irons and 3-woods into the area that fronts the huge hill that leads upward to the green. Control is the key when the red hazard line is actually drawn into the edge of the fairway.

“You just don’t hit it there,” Watson said. “I mean, they show it to you. It’s not blind. They say, `Don’t hit it there.’ That’s why the kids were hitting 3-woods and irons off the tee downwind. They can say, `Well, I can get this on in two and I don’t have to force the issue.”’

The course will play at only 7,040 yards, the shortest track for a U.S. Open in seven years. But in this case, short does not mean easy—sort of in the same way that sunny may not mean ideal.

“I think coming into the U.S. Open you are mentally preparing yourself for what you’re going to face,” said Rory McIlroy, who at 21 is ranked 10th in the world. “I know on Thursday I’m probably going to hit it in the rough a few times, I’m going to miss a few greens, but it’s how you deal with that, how you handle it, and hopefully you do your best and make the best of that situation and move on to the next.”

Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick in Argentina’s 4-1 win over South Korea at the World Cup on Thursday, a result that put the South Americans on the brink of qualifying for the next round from Group B.

Higuain scored his first goal in the 33rd minute with a far post header after Nicolas Burdisso flicked on a cross from Maxi Rodriguez. He added two second-half goals—in the 76th and 80th minutes—to put the result beyond doubt.

Argentina had gone ahead 1-0 in the 17th when Park Chu-young deflected a free kick from Lionel Messi into his own net.

After Higuain’s first goal, Lee Chung-yong pulled one back for South Korea by pouncing on a defensive mistake in first-half injury time.

With Messi playing in a slightly deeper role, Argentina lacked a cutting edge in the opening stages, its main threat coming down the left wing where Carlos Tevez was drifting into space and linking well with Gabriel Heinze and Angel Di Maria.

Higuain, who missed a string of chances against Nigeria, shot high over the bar in the eighth minute and Messi only showed occasional flashes of brilliance as he was man-marked and often found himself closed down by two or three opponents.

However, the South Korean tactics of targeting Messi, so influential in Argentina’s opening match, freed up Tevez, and the combative Manchester City striker was his team’s main inspiration in the first half.

South Korea came close to scoring in the 26th when Ki Sung-yong sent in a swerving shot from outside the box that just cleared the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Messi backheeled a free kick to Tevez, who sent a powerful shot just over the bar.

The match was played in a cold wind, and the South Koreans emerged with more confidence in the second half after they had pulled a goal back.

In the 58th, Yeom Ki-hun almost equalized following a flowing counterattack but put his shot just wide of the left-hand post.

Argentina coach Diego Maradona brought on striker Sergio Aguero in the closing stages, and with 14 minutes left Messi—increasingly breaking free of his markers—skipped past two challenges and shot against the post, but Higuain was on hand to tap in the third goal.

Four minutes later, Messi played in Aguero, who crossed for Higuain to head in the fourth.

Argentina leads Group B with six points from two games, while South Korea, which beat Greece 2-0 in its opening match, has three.

Lineups:

Argentina: Sergio Romero, Martin Demichelis, Gabriel Heinze, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain (Mario Bolatti, 82), Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez (Sergio Aguero, 75), Walter Samuel (Nicolas Burdisso, 23), Javier Mascherano, Jonas Gutierrez, Maxi Rodriguez.

South Korea: Jung Sung-ryong, Oh Beom-seok, Cho Yong-hyung, Park Ji-sung, Kim Jung-woo, Park Chu-young, Lee Young-pyo, Lee Jung-soo, Ki Sung-yong (Kim Nam-il, 46), Lee Chung-yong (Lee Dong-gook, 82), Yeom Ki-hun.

Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Ron Artest broke out of his funk with 15 in the 89-67 victory Tuesday night.

Pau Gasol was a constant presence with 17 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Lakers, which had faced elimination for the first time in the playoffs.

“We want to carry everything we did tonight to [Game 7], and then I think we’ll be in a very good place to win,” Gasol said. “When you bring the intensity we did tonight, good things are going to happen.”

Boston led 12-10 on Ray Allen’s three-pointer but never again. The Celtics had 31 points at the half, just one more than the NBA finals’ lowest ever, by Houston in 1981.

Game 7 is back at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Thursday.

“I thought we’d play better, obviously,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought we were ready. … We played an individual game tonight on both ends. We never gave ourselves an opportunity offensively, because we never trusted each other. Everybody was out to make their own place.”

The NBA championships will head to a seventh game for just the fourth time in the last 25 years. San Antonio defeated Detroit in 2005 in the last final to go the distance.

Boston will go for its 18th NBA championship, while the Lakers can make it 16 titles for their franchise. The totals are by far the highest among all NBA teams.

The Lakers had been heavily criticized for playing a soft brand of basketball at times in the series, but they scrapped for everything with their backs against the wall on Tuesday.

Jordan Farmar dove to the floor hard in the second quarter for a loose ball, and not long after, Gasol flew in from the baseline for an offensive rebound and a 40-23 lead.

“We did a great job,” Bryant said. “We have to come with the same energy, the same dedication to defence (on Thursday].”

Artest had scored just 24 points in the last four games but he hit the first of a trio of 3-pointers early. After a Celtics’ turnover, Derek Fisher put in a layup for a 9-6 Los Angeles lead.

Allen put Boston ahead by a deuce but the Lakers slowly took over. Gasol drove for a layup and Bryant hit a three for a 21-14 lead. Bryant had accounted for 11 of his team’s points.

Celtics reserve Kendrick Perkins then came down hard between two Lakers and had to be helped off the court. The Boston forward did not return.

Kevin Garnett was the most forceful of the visitors early on, netting six points in the first eight minutes to keep the Celtics within shouting distance.

Artest hit another three late in the opening frame as Los Angeles took a 28-18 lead into the second.

“We didn’t get in any rhythm early, and it affects our chemistry,” said Allen. “We each tried to make the home run play early. As a starting unit, we take responsibility. We have to do a better job next game.”

Sasha Vujacic hit a three and Farmar dunked as the Lakers built a 22-point lead before heading into the locker room with a 51-31 margin.

The first half of the third quarter was fairly pedestrian, until Bryant drove down the right side of the lane and drew the foul for a 3-point play. Not long after, a Boston turnover led to an easy jam for Lakers reserve Shannon Brown.

Rajan Rondo, cold in the first half, contributed a pair of buckets for the Celtics and Allen hit his 16th point of the game to make it 64-47 Los Angeles, but there would be no Boston rally.

The Celtics got sloppy again, and Los Angeles gradually extended the lead until it hit 25 points when Artest hit a three late in the third. It was the only quarter in which Boston hit the 20-point mark, but it was 75-51 after three.

The most notable event in the fourth occurred when Bryant was dinged for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Lamar Odom of the Lakers hauled in his 10th rebound before calling it a night, joining Bryant (11) and Gasol in double digits for Los Angeles in that statistical category.

“It’s really a high-tension situation,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, a 10-time champion who has never coached a Game 7 in the finals.

“Players have come down to putting a lot on the line at this particular point. It’s not about the coaching at that point. They’ve already got it in them. It’s about who comes out and provides the energy on the floor.”

Allen led Boston with 19 points, with Glen Davis pulling in a team-high nine rebounds.

Derek Fisher rebounded the final errant Ray Allen jumper, lowered his head and made a beeline toward the basket, looking off his teammates and focusing squarely on the basket. As three Boston Celtics closed in on him, Fisher lunged toward the basket and tossed the ball softly off the glass before a Glen Davis arm-chop sent Fisher sprawling toward the floor while Kevin Garnett and Allen dropped like bowling pins, stumbling over cameramen along the baseline.

An approving Kobe Bryant then pumped his fist, celebrating how his unheralded companion for four NBA championship runs had just bailed out Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Bryant scored a game-high 29 points, but Fisher, the Lakers’ elder statesmen, scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers to a 91-84 victory at TD Garden and a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.

“I’m always excited for him when he does it,” Bryant said of the 35-year-old Fisher. “He’s been criticized quite a bit for his age, which is a huge thrill for him and all of us to see him come through in those moments. But truthfully, he’s done it over and over and over again, so it’s almost his responsibility to our team to do these things.”

The memory remained fresh from the Lakers’ last Finals game in Boston, when the Celtics handed out a 39-point shellacking and claimed a record 17th championship in the decisive sixth game. Adding to the humiliation that night were giddy Celtics fans who mobbed the Lakers’ team bus on the way out, shaking it and shouting taunts, contributing to a long ride to the airport. But Fisher said the loss that stood out mostly for the Lakers, was their 103-94 defeat two days ago which momentarily lost home-court advantage for the Lakers.

“At the same time, we didn’t doubt our ability to win here, although we hadn’t done it in the playoffs,” Fisher said. “We understand when you want to be the best, you have to win wherever, whenever.”

Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 25 points, playing with an aggression that had been lacking in the first two games of the series. After absorbing a foul from Andrew Bynum in the third quarter, Garnett started thumping his chest with his right fist letting the fans know that he wasn’t finished, as some suggested but back with a vengeance. Too bad he couldn’t get any of his teammates to come along.

Allen set an NBA record with eight three-pointers and scored 32 points in Game 2, but he apparently forgot to pack his jumper on the flight from Los Angeles. To say Allen was off-target, is putting it mildly.

He missed all 13 of his field goal attempts and went 0 for 8 from from long distance — with Pau Gasol swatting a three-point attempt from the left baseline. Many of his looks were perhaps better than or similar to shots he made two nights before, but his only two points came from the foul line.

“It’s a hell of a swing, I’ll tell you that,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. “I didn’t think he had any legs. Of the 13, I think eight of them were great looks, and all of them were short, all of them were flat. It happens to the best of us.”

With 72 seconds remaining in the Celtics’ win on Sunday, Paul Pierce was caught yelling, “We ain’t going back to L.A.!” If the Celtics want to win this series, they had better hope it does. Pierce wasn’t given much of an opportunity to help the cause, as he continued to struggle with his shot and spent most of the night in foul trouble and finished with 15 points.

“I don’t care how I’m playing,” Garnett said. “I played like [garbage] in Game 2, I thought, but I got some key rebounds in that game and we won. Tonight I had nice offensive flow and we lost. I’ll take Game 2 and how I played there and win all day over a steady flow and a decent offensive game.”

The Lakers needed Fisher to carry them, with Bryant shooting — and missing — with bull-headed determination. He missed 19 of his 29 field goal attempts. But they also were able to welcome their top reserve, Lamar Odom, to this series. Odom was absent in the first two games, as he played lethargically had more fouls (10) than points (eight). But Odom scored eight points in the first half, then added to two layups in the fourth period, forcing Coach Phil Jackson to keep him on the floor despite another effective outing for Bynum (nine points, 10 rebounds). Gasol added 13 points and 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Fisher came through with more than his play, offering an encouraging speech after the Celtics had a 17-point second-half deficit down to single digits. “Derek, he’s our vocal leader,” Bryant said. “He has a knack for saying the right thing at the right time.”

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was limited to just 11 points and eight assists, but he brought the Celtics within 68-67 on a driving layup — his first field goal since the first quarter. Fisher then took his turn playing the role of Bryant, as he answered with a driving layup. He added two jumpers to give the Lakers a 76-70 lead, and after Ron Artest forced a turnover off Davis’s leg, Fisher rolled around a Bryant screen to hit another pull-up jumper to push the Lakers ahead by five. Fisher then put away the game with his rebound, mad dash and three-point play.

“Hitting the floor didn’t feel that good to be honest, but to see Pau’s reaction and Lamar and Kobe and what those guys were saying to me, those things feel so good,” said Fisher, who was choked up immediately the game. “I love what I do and I love helping my team win.” To come through again for this team, 14 years in, after so many great moments, it’s always quite surreal and quite humbling to experience it again and do it again. It’s like being a kid, man. You just never get tired of the candy. It feels good, and like I said, I’m happy, but my thoughts are going to Thursday [and Game 4] already.”

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