but we have a good team consisting of experience and talent, said A

TROON, Scotland -- Rory McIlroy was never more thrilled to be playing the British Open.Thursday was his first round since he won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because he had to sit out St. Andrews with an ankle injury. And finally, he was able to talk about his birdies -- all five of them -- instead of jabs at Olympic golf that caused such a stir earlier in the week.Its nice that the tournament started, McIlroy said after opening with a 2-under 69. I think I said all I needed to say on that matter and hopefully I can go out tomorrow and play similar to the way I did today and get myself right into contention for another claret jug.McIlroy gave away three shots, and a share of the early lead, with two sloppy holes on the back nine at Royal Troon. But in a procession of golfs Fab Four, he made the best of the ideal conditions along the Irish Sea.Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and McIlroy were in separate groups separated by four tee times. Spieth was heard uttering rare words -- I cant buy a putt -- on his way to a 71, while Day made it three straight majors as the No. 1 player in which he failed to break par in the opening round. He had a 73. Johnson played in the easiest conditions and shot 71.MCILROYs MISSIONThe strong talk from McIlroy on the idea of Olympic golf helping to grow the game might have revealed a deeper state of his mind. He is fed up with watching others go to No. 1 and win majors, and there was a sense he was ready to do something about it.He came out firing, and with a third straight birdie on the Postage Stamp par 3 at No. 8, he was 4 under and tied for the lead. That changed with a shot over the green, a poor chip and three putts for a double bogey on the 13th, and he was so angry that he dropped another shot on the 14th.I think if I wouldve stepped on the first tee and someone would have given me a 69, I probably would have taken it, McIlroy said. But if somebody had given me that score on the 10th, I probably would have.The real test could be Friday with rain in the forecast. McIlroy, even with his roots in Northern Ireland, is not regarded as a player who thrives in bad weather. And he was six shots behind Phil Mickelson. His hope is that it clears out by the time he tees off in the afternoon.I dont think were going to see the course like this for the rest of the week, he said.DAYS SLOW STARTDay takes his No. 1 ranking seriously. Maybe too seriously.Favored in all three majors this year, he still cant seem to get off to a good start. Dropped shots on the back nine sent him to a 72 at the Masters. He opened with a 76 at Oakmont and had to play well just to make the cut. And in the ideal conditions at Royal Troon, he shot 73.For the third straight time, he has to spend the rest of the week catching up.Day might be one of the few players hoping for bad weather because it might be his best way to get back into the tournament.Im already missing greens anyways, he said. And if Im going to miss greens, Im going to miss greens on hard days, and if I can just grind myself out and make pars, it would be great. If I can hit a little bit better tomorrow, that would be fantastic.SPIETH STUMBLESSpieth faced two 10-foot birdie putts on his opening holes. He missed them both, a sign of what was to come. The player known as the best putter in todays crop of players required 18 putts on the front nine -- a pair of two-putt birdies, one par save and a three-putt bogey on the ninth.He stared for the longest time at a leaderboard next to the 17th green, realizing that even par wasnt going to cut it on a perfect day as this.When asked what was wrong with his putting, Spieth smiled and said, Thats a question I almost never get asked. So because of that, Im not thinking much of it.He at least hit the ball well from tee to green, calling it his best since he won by eight shots in Hawaii to start the year. He made a lot of putts in Hawaii.JOHNSONS MAJOR ENCOREIn his first round at a major since winning the U.S. Open, Johnson played a round that usually gets rewarded at a U.S. Open -- 14 pars, two birdies, two bogeys. Except this was the British Open, and the conditions were never easier at Royal Troon.He blasted driver on the opening hole toward the sea and made bogey. He played the par 5s in even.Obviously, you have to hole some putts here, he said.Thats true at any major. Kieran Trippier Jersey .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Eric Dier Hotspur Jersey . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. http://www.footballhotspurstore.com/Women-Harry-Kane-Tottenham-Hotspur-Jersey/ . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Victor Wanyama Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Danny Rose Jersey . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Lanka de Silva, coach of the Sri Lanka Womens team, said he will be banking on spinners, particularly left-arm spinners Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari, to lead the sides attack in their upcoming ODI series against Australia Women, which starts from September 18. The teams are scheduled to play four ODIs and a T20 international, and three of the four ODIs will be counted for points in the ICC Womens Championship.Australia, who are leading the Championship table with 24 points, are one point away from gaining automatic qualification into next years Womens World Cup. Sri Lanka, however, are placed at the bottom of the eight-team table with five points from 15 matches. While the top four teams gain direct entry into the World Cup, the bottom four teams will have to play the ICC Womens World Cup Qualifier with six other regional qualifiers. The top four teams in the Qualifier will then advance to the World Cup.The Australian line-up has plenty of right-handers, and Inoka and Sugandika, our most experienced spinners in the side, should make it difficult for them, de Silva said before the first ODI in Dambulla on Sunday. We also have the off-breaks of Inoshi Priyadharshani and we are banking on the three of them to deliver.De Silva stated that unlike in the past, the team had prepared for the series well in advance. He said the emphasis during selection had been on picking specialists, and, like the bowling attack, he picked out the players who would take on the batting responsibilities.We picked the squad of 14 players one month ahead and they have been practising together as a team, he said. We played six practice matches and managed scores between 215 and 220 in most of them. If we can come up with similar scores against Australia, we have the bowlers to do the job for us.The selections were also made with emphasis on specialists rather than allrounders who can do a little bit of both. We have selected seven batters in our squad of 14 and identified captain Chamari Atapattu, Prasadani Weerakkody, Chamari Polgampola and Dilani Manodaara as the batting specialists who are expected to put the runs on the board for us.ddddddddddddDe Silva, who is eight months into his two-year contract as coach, said that the team had learnt a great deal from the mistakes of this years World T20 and had rectified them to some extent. Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the semi-final of the World T20 in India earlier this year, after a third-place finish in Group A, behind Australia and New Zealand.We showed great improvement in our T20 rankings, moving from eighth to fifth position. In this series, we expect to move at least one rung up the ladder in the rankings, De Silva said.Atapattu, leading Sri Lanka in the absence of Shashikala Siriwardene, said the series against Australia was an important one in terms of preparations for the 2017 World Cup.We are sad that our captain Shashikala (Siriwardene) is out of this series due to a back injury, but we have a good team consisting of experience and talent, said Atapattu. We have selected very talented players as new caps. Although they lack experience, if they perform to their potential, we can still pose a big challenge to Australia.The Australian players are physically stronger than us and they can go for big hits whenever needed, but we are confident that our spinners will try and keep them under the 200-run mark as much as possible.Despite the huge gap in rankings between the two sides, Australia captain Meg Lanning was wary of the conditions.We know that we will have a tough time here with the conditions, but hopefully, we will give a good performance. This is a good test for us to see how we can adjust to these conditions, Lanning said.The first and second ODIs of the series will be played in Dambulla on September 18 and 20, while the third and fourth matches will be held at the Khettarama in Colombo on September 23 and 25 respectively. The only T20I of the tour will be played at the SSC on September 27. ' ' '