In Brief

GOLF

Van Pelt dials in AT&T lead;
Woods struggles to 1-over 72

Bo Van Pelt kept bogeys off his card and picked up an extra shot when his wedge spun back into the hole for an eagle. It's a formula that would work well at a U.S. Open, which is what Congressional in Bethesda, Md., felt like Thursday in the first round of the AT&T National.

On a day when the temperature was in the 90s and only seven players managed a score in the 60s, Van Pelt opened with a 4-under-par 67 to grab a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh, Brendon de Jonge and Jimmy Walker, who bogeyed his final hole.

Tiger Woods was never under par and opened with a 1-over 72.

So this is what the U.S. Open was supposed to look like.

The venerable Blue Course took a beating last year in the so-called toughest test in golf when unfavorable weather conditions in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Open and overnight rain during the championship made Congressional a pushover. Rory McIlroy had a record score of 16-under 268 for an eight-shot victory.

The AT&T National was more of a grind.

Woods missed the U.S. Open last year while recovering from injuries to his left leg. He won at Congressional in 2009 the last time the AT&T National was played here, and he won at 13-under 267.

Also: Bruce Vaughan shot a 6-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Fred Funk in the Senior Players Championship, the third of five Champions Tour majors.

The 55-year-old Vaughan matched the lowest round of his career and tied the first-round record in the event played in Pittsburgh. He won the 2008 Senior British Open for his lone Champions Tour title.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh and France's Gregory Bourdy shot 7-under 65 to share the first-round lead in the Irish Open in Portrush, Northern Ireland, while home favorite Rory McIlroy was five strokes back.

OLYMPICS

Phelps takes 200 butterfly,
locks up third London event

Michael Phelps stayed on course to swim eight events at the London Games, pulling away for a dominating win in the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb.

Phelps has locked up three individual events for London, and he's got two more to go in Omaha. Combined with a likely spot on all three relays, the 26-year-old from Baltimore - already the winningest Olympian ever - would have a chance to duplicate his record from the Beijing Games if he doesn't stumble over the next three days.

Phelps won the 200 in 1 minute, 53.65 seconds, with second place - and the second Olympic spot in the event - going to Tyler Clary, who lost out to Phelps in the 400 individual medley on Monday. Clary came in at 1:55.79.

Meanwhile, Allison Schmitt broke her American record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:54.40, the best in the world this year. Already the winner in the 400 free, she eclipsed the national record set in the 2009 world championships at Rome.

Seventeen-year-old Missy Franklin claimed the second spot in 1:56.79.

Caitlin Leverenz became a first-time Olympian with a victory in the 200 individual medley in 2:10.22, while Ariana Kukors will join her in London after placing second in 2:11.30.

Also: In a scintillating race that came down to a sprint at the end, Galen Rupp held off Bernard Lagat in the 5,000-meter final of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Ore. Rupp, who finished in 13:22.67, also won the 10,000 last week.

Other event winners included Julie Culley (women's 5,000), Evan Jager (steeplechase), Lance Brooks (discus) and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Brad Walker (pole vault).

Former UNLV athlete Christine Spence advanced to today's semifinals of the 400 hurdles after an opening-round time of 56.28.

Sam Mikulak was impressive during the first day of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in San Jose, Calif., threatening to break up the grip national champion John Orozco and Danell Leyva have on the role of top Americans heading into the London Olympics.

Looking as relaxed as if he was competing in a college dual meet for Michigan, the 2011 NCAA champion posted an all-around score of 91.80, the best on a day many of the other contenders to make the five-man Olympic team faltered.

Leyva moved past Orozco into first place in the overall standings, which combine scores from nationals and trials, but couldn't top Mikulak, at least for a couple of hours. Mikulak remained third in the overall standings but drew closer to the top two heading into the finals Saturday.

Former England captain David Beckham failed to make the British soccer team for the London Olympics.

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder made Britain coach Stuart Pearce's short list of 35 but wasn't selected for the final 18-man squad as one of three players over the age of 23 allowed to compete in the games.

MISCELLANEOUS

NFL pushes back start time
of Sunday's second TV game

Tim Tebow was leading the Denver Broncos on yet another improbable last-minute comeback last season, and fans in New York, Dallas and other football-mad markets didn't get to see the end.

The NFL announced a scheduling change aimed at preventing such moments. The league is shifting the start time of the second game of its Sunday TV doubleheaders by 10 minutes to ensure fewer fans miss any of the action on the field.

The late afternoon matchups on CBS and Fox will kick off at 1:25 p.m. PT instead of 1:15. Late games not on that week's doubleheader network still will start at 1:05.

Also: Lance Armstrong's legal team said Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, former Armstrong teammates who have admitted using performance-enhancing drugs, are part of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's efforts to prove the cyclist doped during his record-setting career.

A letter sent from Armstrong's attorneys to USADA said the agency's alleged evidence against Armstrong includes previously disclosed Landis emails and Hamilton's 2011 interview with "60 Minutes." Both men accused Armstrong of doping.

Armstrong says he's innocent and stresses that he's passed more than 500 drugs tests.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and superstar center Sidney Crosby agreed to a 12-year contract extension that leaves little doubt Crosby has overcome the concussionlike symptoms that sidelined him for most of the past two seasons.

The deal keeps the 24-year-old Crosby in Pittsburgh through 2025 and gives the team room to play in the free-agent market. Crosby, whose previous deal was set to expire next summer, will be paid around $8.7 million a season.

Jonathan Quick agreed to a 10-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings, who locked up their playoff Most Valuable Player goalie through the 2022-23 season.

Quick won the Conn Smythe Trophy while leading Los Angeles to its first Stanley Cup championship this month, and the Kings rewarded him with a new deal one year before he reached unrestricted free agency.

Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson said he and his family were the targets of an extortion attempt related to an extramarital affair he had six years ago.

The Smoking Gun reported that a 28-year-old former stripper, Alexis Adams, possessed nude photographs of Jackson and wanted money to keep the photos from becoming public.

Former major leaguer Lenny Dykstra faces up to 20 years in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to three counts stemming from a bankruptcy fraud case in Los Angeles.

U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said Dykstra will plead guilty to one count each of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering.

James Buescher held the lead for most of the way in temperatures approaching 100 degrees, fending off challengers to win the NASCAR Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

Buescher, who started the night fourth in the season standings, took the lead for the first time 27 laps into the 150-circuit race and dominated the rest of the way.

Brad Keselowski finished second, and Ty Dillon was third.

Chelsea Thomas struck out six in 3 2/3 innings, Christie Orgeron had a pair of doubles and two RBIs, and the United States beat Puerto Rico 8-0 in five innings on the first day of the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City.