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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — It was quiet when Paul Lawrie teed off to start the British Open early Thursday morning. Too quiet. When he stepped to the tee at 6:30, there was no rain, heavy clouds, pleasant temperatures, seagulls dozing on the nearby beach as they waited for the tide to flow out, a small handful of fans and limp flags.

Limp flags? Who stole Scotland? Where were Monday's gales and Wednesday's sideways rain?

This British Open, celebrating its 150th birthday, didn't stay quiet for long. Thursday morning was an invitation to red numbers, and the golfers lucky enough to draw early tee times took full advantage of a softened course left defenseless by the absent breeze.

That isn’t likely to happen again Friday morning. The weather forecast calls for winds gusting above 20 mph and heavy rain, especially in the morning. If the bad weather hits early and clears out by the afternoon, it may make it extremely likely that the Open champion will be someone from the early Thursday/late Friday half of the draw. Given the unreliable nature of Scottish weather forecasts, however, it’s not a sure thing.

Playing early Thursday was a big advantage. Breezes kicked up in the afternoon and made the course play more difficult by several shots. Most of the low scores came from morning tee times.

Rory McIlroy tied the record for lowest round in a major championship with a nine-under 63, and South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen was two shots back at seven under. John Daly (yes, John Daly) was tied with four other players at six under, and Tiger Woods was one of nine players at five under. Phil Mickelson, who had a later tee time and faced tougher conditions, shot a disappointing one-over 73.

"Today felt awkward because there was absolutely no wind whatsoever," Woods said, "and you never play a links course with no wind."

In other words, it was too easy. With greens as slow and soft as Twinkies and no wind, the Old Course felt more like the Obsolete Course or, perhaps, Old Pushover.

"For the real golfers, this course is for the taking," said former champion Nick Faldo, taking a break from his television duties to tee it up. "For me, it makes it playable." He shot 72.

Not bad, but par for the course was effectively around 69. Not that there's anything wrong with that ... for one round.

McIlroy, one of golf's Next Big Things, was looking at 10 under until he missed a tiddler (that's British for short putt) at No. 17, the Road Hole, for birdie. Young Rory — all of 21 — fired a 30 on the final nine despite that miss. He also eagled the ninth hole, where he drove the green and sank a 15-foot putt.

His round may have been foreshadowed by McIlroy's track record at the Old Course. In eight previous competitive rounds before Thursday's 63, his highest score was 69.

"It sort of went through my mind on 17 that 62 would have been the lowest round in a major," McIroy joked. "That's probably why I missed the putt. It was still a fantastic score."

The field shot the lights out all day at Old Cupcake. Scotland's own Coltart, a Ryder Cupper once upon a time, was also six under. Last year, he was following Tom Watson's group in the opening round as a commentator for the BBC. He was considering looking for a new career after one stretch where he missed 16 straight cuts. "Yeah, I think I've been certified nutso four or five times," he said.

Back in the Open as a competitor, Coltart holed a 50-foot putt at the sixth hole en route to his 66. He joked that he was particularly pleased that his tee shot cleared the famous sheds on the newly lengthened 17th hole and admitted, yes, "This round will be in my memory bank for a while."

Remember John Daly? You know, the guy from that unwatchable reality show on Golf Channel? He actually won a British Open at St. Andrews back in 1995, but he's ranked 455th in the world now and has been begging for sponsors' exemptions on the PGA Tour. On Thursday, he got his driver working like the Long John of old. It would've been better except he lipped out four putts, and the Road Hole bit him for a bogey.

Daly even brought his A-game to the media. In reference to his lap-band surgery and his abstinence from drinking, the British press asked if there was another nickname they should use in place of "Wild Thing." Daly came back with, "I don't know — Mild Thing?" It'll be in tomorrow's headlines, absolutely guaranteed. His funniest line was totally unintentional. Daly said he was impressed with the 19-year-old kid he played with but couldn't pronounce his name — it's Seung-Yul Noh. It's official then, Daly doesn't know how to say Noh.

ederer had been getting away with it during this fortnight. Not this time, though. Federer's game was dismantled by his opponent's unlovely, ungodly power.

LeBron James made the announcement during a live primetime television special on ESPN this evening.

"I don't have any doubts at all," he told ESPN's Jim Gray. "I've slept enough, or the lack of sleep."

James' announcement was met by euphoria from fans in Miami and anger in Cleveland, where the superstar spent his first seven NBA seasons after high school stardom in nearby Akron, Ohio.

James said he informed the Heat of his decision only moments before his appearance on the 9 p.m. ET ESPN special, that he had not given advance word to the other teams bidding for his services, and that the number of people who knew of his decision in advance could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

"I feel like this is going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years," James said, explaining why he will join fellow free agents Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. "I want to be able to win championships."

AND FINALLY Spain won the glittering trophy of FIFA 2010 World Cup Football Championship for the first time in the World Cup history at Soccer City, Johannesburg on the night of Sunday July 11. On Wednesday July 7, in the second Semi-final of the FIFA 2010 World Cup Football at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, the Spanish team made their maiden Final debut in the history of World Cup Football.

Spain's Andres Iniesta scored the only goal at the 116th minutes of the game between Spain vs Netherlands in the World Cup Football 2010. Fabregas passed the ball to Iniesta inside the box and Andres Iniesta shot the ball inside the Dutch goal post where goal-keeper Stekelenburg was to see only Spain's maiden World Cup Victory.
In the FIFA World Cup 2010, Spain was the favorite and deserves the FIFA 2010 Championship trophy. In the Final game of World Cup 2010 Spain was dominated over Netherlands in complete 120 minutes. The Dutch team was believed in committed foul but they were not able to clinch trophy in the grand finale of 2010 World Cup Football.
During the journey of World Cup Football 2010 Champion, Spain team lost to Switzerland by 0-1 in the very first game. But next match onwards Spain team never looked back. In the second match against Honduras they won by 2-0 and in the last group stage match against Chile, Spain won by 2-1.

In the Round of 16 match against Portugal, Spain won by the only goal of David Villa. In the last Quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2010, Spain defeated Paraguay by 1-0. In the Semi-final the Spanish team won by 1-0 against Germany. Spain becomes the first to win the Football World Cup despite losing their opening game.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — David Ortiz believes his power swing is all the way back. After a big finish in the Home Run Derby, Boston's beloved slugger has a trophy to prove it.

Big Papi won his first derby title Monday night, hitting 11 homers in the final round to beat Florida's Hanley Ramirez at Angel Stadium.

Showing plenty of potency in the fierce swing that once made him one of the majors' most feared hitters, the Red Sox star put a relentless series of drives into the elevated stands above the right-field wall.

With Yankees bench coach Tony Pena crossing rivalry lines to feed fastballs straight into his wheelhouse, Ortiz hit 21 homers in the first two rounds of his fourth derby before holding off Ramirez to emerge from a field missing most of baseball's top power hitters.

"This is my fourth time, so I just kind of used the experience," Ortiz said. "I wanted to come here and make sure the fans enjoy what we do."

Ortiz triumphantly held up the trophy featuring two crossed bats. He dedicated his performance to former major league pitcher Jose Lima, a Dominican Republic native who passed away in May after paramedics found him in cardiac arrest at his Southern California home.

Ramirez, Ortiz's fellow Dominican slugger and former Boston teammate, matched Papi's 21 homers in the first two rounds, pulling most of his shots over the left-field wall. But Ortiz became just the second slugger to reach double digits in the final round, while Ramirez managed only five.

"It's good for him," Ramirez said. "He's been through a tough time. I know he's going to come back in the second half."

Ortiz reached the derby semifinals in 2005 and 2006, but hadn't been back in the field since. His entire career was on the skids after he struggled in 2009 and again in April, but Boston's longtime star is back on his game with 18 homers and 57 RBIs this season, earning his sixth All-Star berth