Compiled by Philip Reid

Cabrera not getting ahead of himself

ARGENTINA'S ANGEl Cabrera is the only player capable of achieving the Grand Slam this season, after his success in the US Masters in April. The man known as El Pato – The Duck – is taking it one step at a time, however, in attempting to create history.

“I don’t think of it (the Grand Slam). First, I’ve got to play good this week. Then I’ll think of the next tournament. But the fact that I’ve won a US Open (in 2007) and started the year winning the Masters gives me a lot of confidence to get things done this week.”

Cink takes Jordan to the post over lost ball

STEWART CINK has the distinction of being the golfer who has moved most quickly with technology . . . and he has amassed 336,162 followers on Twitter, the most of any player.

In a practice round on Tuesday, Cink found a ball in the thick rough on the 18th hole. It wasn’t just any ball: it had the logo of basketball legend Michael Jordan, who’d lost it while playing last week in preparation for a made-for-TV US Open challenge that also featured singer Justin Timberlake.

Within an hour of finishing his round, Cink had posted the following message, with a picture of the ball, on Twitter: “Who could’ve lost this ball in the weeds at Bethpage last week? Found this Nike in weeds near 18.”

Cink joked that he’d have thrown the ball away if it had been Tiger Woods’, but said he would keep it because it was Jordan’s.

The Twitter phenomenon has seen basketball star Shaquille O’Neal clock up the greatest fan base, with 1.27 million followers.

But Cink decided to use the medium to expand his pool of fans.

“A lot more people feel they’ve connected to me . . . it’s hard for us to get the personality through the television lens.

“I’m not the same person you see out there trying to grind away on the course. Golf’s what I do, not who I am.”

Phil has something silver in mind

PHIL MICKELSON celebrated his 39th birthday on Tuesday . . . and received a present of new sunglasses and a digital camera from his wife, Amy.

For his part, Mickelson hopes to return to San Diego on Sunday night with a present for Amy, who is due to start treatment for breast cancer.

“She’d like to have a silver trophy in her hospital room. So, I’m going to try to accommodate that,” said the world number two.

Preferred lies ruled out despite wet

WITH FORECASTS of rain and thunderstorms for the four days of the championship, the possibility of allowing players to “lift, clean and place” on the fairways has been ruled out by USGA officials.

“We’re not going to lift, clean and place. If it’s not fair to be playing the ball as it lies, we’ll suspend play . . . (and) we’ll stay here until we get a champion,” said the USGA’s Jim Hyler.

Which, of course, raises the possibility of the tournament running into Monday – or even Tuesday – given the prediction of poor weather, especially for today’s first round.

Incidentally, the US Open remains the only major championship that plays a full 18-hole play-off in the event of a tie at the end of 72 holes. The US Masters has a sudden-death system in place, while the British Open and US PGA use a four-hole aggregate play-off to determine the winner.