U.S. Open will pair Woods, Mickelson, Watson

Golf: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Masters champion Bubba Watson (pictured above) will play in the same group for the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open.

It will be the first time Woods and Mickelson have been paired in the U.S. Open since the USGA grouped players off the world rankings at Torrey Pines in 2008. The rankings were used for another big group – Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood.

Woods is coming off a win at the Memorial, making him one of the favorites next week at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Mickelson has finished runner-up a record five times in the U.S. Open.

Associated Press

Ex-football player comes out

Football: A cornerback who spent four preseasons with three NFL teams and also played in NFL Europe has come out as gay, joining a small but growing number of ex-athletes publicly acknowledging they are gays or lesbians.

Wade Davis, who played in college at Weber State and spent the 2000 and 2002 preseasons with the Tennessee Titans, said he didn’t tell his teammates he was gay because he feared the impact it would have in the locker room. Jevon Kearse and Samari Rolle were among his closest friends on the Titans.

Associated Press

Roach rents jet for ceremony

Boxing: Freddie Roach wasn’t going to let a fight – even one involving Manny Pacquiao – stand in the way of his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Roach will work Pacquiao’s corner Saturday night against Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas, then fly across the country for the ceremony Sunday afternoon in Canastota, N.Y. To make it there in time he has chartered a private jet at a cost of $26,000.

“I rented a plane,” Roach said. “But I’m not too happy about it.”

Associated Press