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From The Associated Press

Scores are going higher, test is getting tougher at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga.—Augusta National has always been known as the cathedral of golf, but now it’s for reasons beyond the august atmosphere and beauty so majestic that every hole is named after a flower.

More than anything, it has become as quiet as church.

Someone hit the mute button at the Masters last year when Zach Johnson won at 1-over 289, tying the tournament record for the highest score by a champion. Good thing he overpowered the par 5s, playing them in 11 under, even though he laid up on every one of them.

Maybe it’s time to get used to it.

For years, we were led to believe that the toughest test in golf took place every June, where players would grind away with pars until the last man standing was crowned U.S. Open champion.

Now, that might not be the case.

“Toughest test?” Steve Stricker said. “I’m starting to believe that this is more like a U.S. Open course every year. You saw 1-over par win this tournament last year, and I think that’s been my misconception coming in here, because there’s always been some decent scores here. Gradually, the course is becoming very difficult.”

There used to be clear separation among the four majors.

The U.S. Open has a reputation for shrinking fairways, growing rough and shutting down the irrigation, making the course firm, fast and sometimes out of control. The British Open relies mainly on wind as its best defense and cares more about who wins than what he shot.

The PGA Championship was defined by its lack of definition, although now it has the reputation as being the fairest test. Considering how much players whine these days, “fair” can be translated to mean “easy.”

And the Masters?

It used to be known for Jack Nicklaus shooting 30 on the back nine to win at age 46. For Tiger Woods shooting 40 on his first nine and still winning by a record 12 shots. Former U.S. Open champion and CBS analyst Ken Venturi takes credit for coining the phrase, “The Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday.” And he wasn’t talking about closing with pars.

Parker and Lady Vols back on Rocky Top

TAMPA, Fla.—One by one, Candace Parker hugged her teammates on the sideline as the last seconds ticked away. It was all part of her final farewell to Tennessee.

All that was left was to hoist a championship trophy, which came moments after the Lady Vols' 64-48 victory over Stanford on Tuesday night.

Parker scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Tennessee capture its eighth championship. The Lady Vols also became the first repeat champs since Connecticut won three straight from 2002-04.

The Associated Press player of the year will leave the Lady Vols (36-2) with a year of eligibility remaining, but has accomplished one of her goals by winning multiple championships.

Self looking for ‘security’ from Kansas

SAN ANTONIO—Kansas coach Bill Self slept for less than an hour after the Jayhawks stunned Memphis in one of the more memorable finals in NCAA tournament history, wrapping up their first national title in 20 years.

The details of the Jayhawks’ 75-68 overtime victory will soon be etched in Kansas lore. After Memphis missed a series of free throws, Kansas guard Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to send the game to overtime, where the Jayhawks overwhelmed the Tigers.

Now Kansas fans may begin losing sleep over whether their coach is headed for Oklahoma State. Less than 12 hours after cutting down the nets, a bleary-eyed Self returned to the Alamodome on Tuesday morning and faced questions about whether he’s interested in the job at his alma mater, which parted ways with Sean Sutton on April 1.

As he has for a week, Self said he plans to meet with Kansas officials soon about a contract extension.

“What I’d like to have is like everybody’d like to have,” Self said. “I’d like to have some security. I don’t know what even Kansas would remotely be talking (about). We haven’t even talked about that. When I say security, I mean years, so hopefully that’ll happen.”

The school gave Self a five-year contract extension last season, increasing his annual compensation to more than $1.3 million with a chance to make another $350,000 each year if he meets incentives.

But Self could likely command far more money from Oklahoma State, whose billionaire alumnus Boone Pickens, gave $165 million to the school’s athletic department.

Self said he hasn’t met Pickens and wasn’t familiar with details about Oklahoma State’s program. But he drew a chuckle from reporters when he said, “From the outside looking in, it appears that they have great resources.”

Security high for Olympic torch’s US arrival

SAN FRANCISCO—The Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop amid heavy security Tuesday, a day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China’s human rights record.

Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the body’s executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of widespread protests.

The torch’s global journey was supposed to highlight China’s growing economic and political power. But activists opposing China’s human rights policies and a recent crackdown on Tibet have been protesting along the torch’s 85,000-mile route since the start of the flame’s odyssey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rogge told The Associated Press he was “deeply saddened” by violent protests in London and Paris and concerned about Wednesday’s six-mile relay in San Francisco, where activists expressed fears that the torch’s planned route through Tibet would lead to arrests and violent measures by Chinese officials trying to stifle dissent.

The flame arrived in San Francisco shortly before 4 a.m. and was immediately put in a vehicle to be whisked away to a secret location, San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay Committee spokesman David Perry said. Security was heightened because several protests were planned before the relay.

Red Sox ring in home season against Tigers

BOSTON—There was red-white-and-blue bunting hanging from the stands, a Green Monster-sized American flag on the left-field wall and an Air National Guard flyover punctuating “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

After opening with a three-country trip of nearly 16,000 miles, the Boston Red Sox returned to Fenway Park, received their World Series rings and beat the winless Detroit Tigers 5-0 Tuesday behind Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Bill Buckner, a goat of the 1986 World Series collapse that helped extend the team’s title drought until 2004, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He hadn’t been to Fenway since 1997, when he was a coach with the Chicago White Sox.

During an hourlong pregame ceremony, Boston raised the championship banner in center field for the second time in four seasons. Players from last year’s team received rings with diamonds and rubies and the inscription “4-0 Sweep,” a reference to October’s victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Before a cheering crowd of 36,567, Matsuzaka (2-0) began the home portion of his second season in Boston by allowing four hits in 6 2-3 innings with seven strikeouts and four walks.

Manny Delcarmen and Julian Tavarez completed a five-hitter against Detroit, the only winless team in the major leagues.