Pirate Galaxy » loaded the bases with one out in the s

ARDMORE, Pa. -- Justin Rose could see all the pieces coming together in this U.S. Open. The sun was breaking through the clouds Sunday evening at Merion as he stood in the 18th fairway with a one-shot lead. That famous Ben Hogan plaque was in front of him, a road marker bronze that one pure swing and two putts might be all that stood between Rose and his first major championship. That and Phil Mickelson in the final group behind him. Rose followed his script to perfection with a par. So did Mickelson, who cant seem to win a U.S. Open no matter how hard he tries. Rose drilled a 4-iron just through the green and used a 3-wood to bunt the ball to an inch of the cup for par. Mickelson, who made two careless bogeys on the back nine, needed a birdie on an 18th hole that didnt yield a single one all weekend at Merion. "What a piece of silverware to be sitting to my right," Rose said, gazing at the shiny trophy after closing with an even-par 70. "Its just an incredible experience and a childhood dream come true at this point." It was a recurring nightmare for Mickelson, extending his record collection of silver medals in the major he covets. "Heartbreak," Mickelson said on his 43rd birthday. "This is tough to swallow after coming so close. This was my best chance of all. I had a golf course I really liked. I felt this was as good as opportunity as you could ask for. It really hurts." With remarkable poise and three pure swings under pressure, Rose became the first Englishman in 43 years to win Americas national championship. Mickelson extended his U.S. Open record with his sixth runner-up finish, and this one stung. It was the first time he had the outright lead going into the final round. He holed a wedge out of deep rough for an eagle to take back the lead as he headed to the back nine. But he flew the green with a wedge on the par-3 13th hole and made bogey on the easiest hole at Merion. He tried to hit wedge off the green on the 15th hole to give him a good shot at par, only he hit it so hard he made another bogey. And he never caught up. He wonders if hell ever get another chance. "At 43 and coming so close five times, it would have changed the way I look at this tournament altogether and the way I would have looked at my record," Mickelson said, dreaming one last time of winning. "Except that I just keep feeling heartbreak." Rose was pacing in the scoring area, waiting for Mickelson to finish, wondering if he could catch him. At one point, he looked above the TV to that famous photo of Hogan hitting 1-iron into the 18th green in the 1950 U.S. Open to set up a playoff that he won the next day. "When I walked over the hill and saw my drive sitting perfectly in the middle of the fairway, with the sun coming out, it was kind of almost fitting," Rose said. "And I just felt like at that point it was a good iron shot onto the green, two putts -- like Hogan did -- and possibly win this championship. So I felt like I did myself justice, and probably put enough of a good swing where Ben Hogan might have thought it was a decent shot, too." As usual, someones big moment in the U.S. Open came at Mickelsons expense. All the stars were aligned. None of the putts fell in. Lefty somehow blasted out of the rough to 8 feet on the 16th hole, but he missed the putt. His tee shot on the par-3 17th was just short enough that it didnt catch the funnel toward the hole, and he missed a long birdie putt. From the rough left of the 18th fairway, he couldnt quite reach the green and to chip in from about 40 yards. With his caddie tending the flag, Mickelsons chip raced by the cup, and Rose was the U.S. Open champion. Mickelson wound up with a bogey on the 18th for a 74 and tied for second with Jason Day, who closed with a 71. Day appeared to salvage his round by chipping in for bogey on the 11th hole, and he was still in the picture when he made a 12-foot par putt on the 17th to stay one shot behind. But he put his approach into the bunker left of the 18th green, blasted out to about 7 feet and missed the putt. The back nine was a four-way battle that included Hunter Mahan, who played in the last group with Mickelson. He was one shot out of the lead until he three-putted the 15th hole for a double bogey, and then closed with back-to-back bogeys when his hopes were gone. Mahan had a 75 and tied for fourth with Billy Horschel (74), Ernie Els (69) and Jason Dufner, who had a 67 despite making triple bogey on the 15th hole. David Hearn (71) of Brantford, Ont., finished in a tie for 21st at 11 over, while Mike Weir (69) of Brights Grove, Ont., tied for 28th at 12 over. Rose finished at 1-over 281, eight shots higher than David Grahams winning score in 1981 when the U.S. Open was last held at Merion. The shortest course for a major championship in nearly a decade held up just fine. It was the third time in the last four years that no one broke par in the toughest test of golf. The last Englishman to win the U.S. Open was Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970, though Rose added to recent dominance of the Union Jack at the U.S. Open as the third winner in four years. The others were Graeme McDowell (2010) and Rory McIlroy (2011) of Northern Ireland. Walking off the 18th green, he looked through the patchy clouds and pointed to the sky, a nod to his late father, Ken, who died of leukemia in September 2002. "I couldnt help but look up at the heavens and think my old man Ken had something to do with it," Rose said. It seems like more than 15 years ago when Rose first starred on the major scene as a 17-year-old amateur who chipped in on the final hole at Royal Birkdale in the 1998 British Open and tied for fourth. He turned pro the next week, and then missed the cut in his first 21 tournaments. But he stayed the course and slowly picked off big tournaments -- including the AT&T National in 2010 just down the road at Aronimink. The U.S. Open takes him to another level and moves him to No. 3 in the world. Tiger Woods turned out to be nothing more than an afterthought. He hit out-of-bounds on his second hole and made triple bogey, and closed with a 74 to finish at 13-over 293, his worst score as a pro in the U.S. Open, and matching his worst score in any major. The score wasnt nearly that bad considering the golf course, with its tricky contours on the greens and punishing rough. Mickelson wore all black when he arrived for the final round, and in a brief TV interview he said, "The best for me is to play well and have fun." Sunday at the U.S. Open is rarely fun. Just ask Donald, who was only two shots behind starting the final round. It all crumbled when he pulled his tee shot on the par-3 third hole -- so long and hard that Donald hit a driver -- and struck a standard-bearer. She was on the ground for several minutes, and Donald appeared visibly shaken. He shot 42 on the back nine. Steve Stricker took his lumps on one hole, and it was ugly. One shot behind, he pushed his tee shot on the par-5 second hole out-of-bounds. After hitting the next tee shot into the fairway, he tried to lay up with a 4-iron and hit a shank out-of-bounds. Stricker had to make a 7-foot putt to escape with a triple-bogey 8. Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, trying to give South Africa a major for the fourth straight year, opened with a birdie and a tie for the lead. That became a distant memory, however, when he dropped seven shots over the seven holes and closed out his front nine with a 42. Horschel wore pants with octopus prints, and he putted like he had eight arms. Out in 39, he opened the back nine with a pair of three-putts. For a short time, it looked as though Mickelson might join this parade of pretenders when he three-putted for double bogey twice in three holes on the front nine. And then came his shot out of the rough on the 10th, and he was on his way -- but not for long. Rose made his share of mistakes, too, like the three-putt bogey on the 11th and a horrible shot out of the bunker on the 14th. The difference was his approach into the 12th to 3 feet, followed by a 20-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole. With Mickelson watching so many putts graze the lip, that cushion was all that Rose needed. "This is definitely a tough defeat for Phil," Rose said. "I love the way he plays the game. He plays fearless golf. He keeps everybody guessing." But not at a U.S. Open, where it never ends well for him. Wholesale Custom Astros Shirts . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Custom Astros Jerseys . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/ . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Custom Jeff Bagwell Jersey . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Cheap Custom Astros Jersey . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Oakland Athletics had the go-ahead run in the seventh inning thrown out at third base. Three walks in the eighth provided the Kansas City Royals with the eventual winner. As far as Bob Melvin was concerned, that was only part of the misery. The As twice squandered leads thanks to their three errors, and a balky bullpen and some poor base running contributed to a disheartening 4-3 defeat on Saturday. "That was a very poor game," the mild-mannered Oakland manager said afterward. "The way we started and the way we ended. A very bad game for us." Was there anything particularly bad? "I wish it was one thing," Melvin responded. "It was a very poor game." The Royals had rallied to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Eric Hosmer in the seventh, and then loaded the bases on an error and a pair of walks by reliever Ryan Cook. Jarrod Dyson, hardly known for his power, showed bunt on his first pitch from Cook (1-2) before hitting a grounder deep behind second base. Shortstop Adam Rosales fielded it cleanly but didnt even bother with a throw as pinch runner Alcides Escobar scored the go-ahead run. It was Rosales whose error allowed the inning to continue. "Its going to stick with me for a little while," he said. Aaron Crow (6-3) worked the eighth and Greg Holland handled the ninth for his 20th save, wrapping up Kansas Citys first win in five tries against Oakland this season. "Theyve been grinder games. Their pitching staff is very, very good. Their starting rotation is very good," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We just scrapped it. We scrapped it out." Mike Moustakas homered and Billy Butler drove in a run for the Royals, while Alex Gordon walked three times and reached on an error in his return to the lineup. Hed missed the last two games after a scary collision with the outfield wall Wednesday night against Cleveland. "Once I got the Adrenaline going and did some work, it felt pretty good," Gordon said. Josh Donaldson homered and drove in two runs to lead the As, who struck right away when Josh Reddick sent a single to centre for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Royals ttried to get the run back in the bottom half when Miguel Tejada singled and reached second on a groundout.ddddddddddddMoments later, Elliot Johnson hit a grounder toward third with two outs and appeared to be safe when the throw pulled first baseman Brandon Moss off the bag. Umpire Marty Foster ruled him out, though, and never wavered from his decision despite some rather animated objections from Yost and first base coach Rusty Kuntz. A bright sun and flat sky started to cause problems after that. The As had two aboard with one out in the third when Donaldson hit a high popup down the right-field line. Johnson chased it from second and outfielder David Lough sprinted in from right while Hosmer tried to camp under it from first base — all to no avail. The ball fell in fair territory, allowing John Jaso to score for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Dyson led off with a weak pop foul behind the plate, but Jaso couldnt locate the ball in the sun after discarding his mask. The As catcher comically had to cover his head with his glove while the ball plopped onto the field next to him. Dyson followed with a single to right, and after a stolen base and errant pickoff throw, he scampered home from third on Butlers groundout to get the Royals within 2-1. Moustakas added his two-out homer in the fourth to tie the game, and Donaldsons solo shot leading off the sixth restored Oaklands one-run cushion. The Royals knotted the game again when they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and Hosmer hit a sacrifice fly to centre. Jarrod Parker wound up going 6 1-3 innings for the As after leaving his last start with tightness in his right hamstring, but it was the bullpen that let his team down. "I think we played good baseball," Rosales said. "We just couldnt finish it, thats all." Notes: As DH Yoenis Cespedes was back in the No. 3 spot in the lineup after getting dropped to No. 6 on Friday. ... Escobar was given the day off from the starting lineup because hes been "grinding," Yost said. The SS is also expected to get the day off Sunday. ... RHP A.J. Griffin will start the series finale for Oakland against Royals RHP Luis Mendoza. ' ' '