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British Open begins Thursday at Turnberry

TURNBERRY, Scotland, July 15 (UPI) -- The world's best golfers gather Thursday for the start of the British Open, being played just down the road from where it was first contested 149 years ago.

Tiger Woods will be trying for his first major title of the year on a course with which he was unfamiliar until this week.

For the first time since 1994, the tournament is being played on the Turnberry links on the west coast of Scotland, less than 20 miles from Prestwick. It was at Prestwick in 1860 that Willie Park shot 174 over 36 holes to win the inaugural event.

Since then, only four players -- Tom Morris Jr., Jamie Anderson, Robert Ferguson and Peter Thomson -- have won the British Open three straight times.

Padraig Harrington will attempt to join that group this week, having won the last two events at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale.

A field of 156 players will challenge the Turnberry course, including 22 major championship winners.

Woods has not won a major crown since recovering from last year's reconstructive knee surgery. He finished tied for sixth this year at both the Masters (won in a playoff by Angel Cabrera) and U.S. Open (captured by first-time major winner Lucas Glover).

Woods will be paired for the first two rounds with Lee Westwood and Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa.

Harrington, who has struggled since winning this event a year ago, will play his first two rounds in the company of former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy.

This year's tournament will be without Phil Mickelson, who will miss his first major event since the 1994 Masters. Mickelson's wife and mother are both undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

A chance of light to moderate showers is in the forecast for all four days of the tournament.

Marlins-Phillies start baseball's 2nd half

MIAMI, July 15 (UPI) -- Philadelphia reached the All-Star break as baseball's hottest team and the Phillies will try to remain so when play resumes Thursday.

The second half of the season commences with eight games scheduled and the spotlight will be on the Phillies, who are hoping to win their third straight division crown and their second straight World Series title.

Philadelphia returns to the field having won five straight games, the longest current winning streak in the majors. Thanks to its recent run of success, Philadelphia leads second-place Florida by four games in the National League East. The Marlins will host the Phillies in Thursday's highlight attraction.

Only two other division leaders will get back to work Thursday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, owners of baseball's best record at 56-32 and holders of a seven-game lead in the National League West, will be at home against Houston.

The Los Angeles Angels, 1 1/2 games in front of Texas in the American League West, will be at Oakland.

Other games kicking off the second half of the season find the Chicago Cubs at Washington, the New York Mets at Atlanta, Milwaukee at Cincinnati, Colorado at San Diego and Seattle at Cleveland.

Division leaders Boston, Detroit and St. Louis will not return to action until Friday. Boston leads the AL East by three games over the New York Yankees, Detroit is in front of the Chicago White Sox by 3 1/2 in the AL Central and St. Louis has a 2 1/2-game edge over Milwaukee in the NL Central.

NASCAR wants Mayfield suspended again

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 15 (UPI) -- NASCAR attorneys argued in court Wednesday that driver Jeremy Mayfield had failed a second drug test and should have his suspension reinstated.

In their filing in a U.S. district court in Charlotte, the attorneys presented evidence they said showed Mayfield has used drugs for more than a decade.

Mayfield was suspended by NASCAR in May after the motor racing organization said he had tested positive for methamphetamine.

U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen granted Mayfield a temporary injunction in June, lifting the suspension while telling NASCAR officials that they were free to test Mayfield as much as they wanted if they felt he was a drug user.

Thursday's filing said Mayfield failed a test administered July 6 and that the suspension should be put back in place. The papers filed in court also cited an affidavit from Lisa Mayfield, the driver's stepmother, in which she says she saw her stepson first use methamphetamine in 1998. She swore she had seen him use the drug at least 30 times over a seven-year period.

"Jeremy cooked some of his own methamphetamine in his shop by the house until the stores took pseudoephedrine off the shelves," Lisa Mayfield said in the affidavit. "In addition to making methamphetamine for his own use, I am aware that Jeremy has bought methamphetamine from others."

Cavendish wins another Tour de France stage

SAINT-FARGEAU, France, July 15 (UPI) -- Mark Cavendish, this time holding off a charge by Tyler Farrar, Wednesday collected his fourth stage victory in this year's Tour de France.

Cavendish covered the 115.2-mile run across central France in 4 hours, 17 minutes, 55 seconds. A total of 139 riders were given the same finish time for Wednesday's 11th stage.

Cavendish backed his wins in stages 2, 3 and 10 with another tight victory at the end. In Tuesday's 10th stage, Cavendish finished ahead of Thor Hushovd and on Wednesday it was Farrar who pushed Cavendish.

Wednesday's Vatan-to-Saint-Fargeau route closed with a steady rise over the final half mile but Cavendish used strong support from his Team Columbia teammates to top the challenge from Farrar.

The overall leaders were among the crowd of 139 at the finish, leaving Rinaldo Nocentini with a 6-second lead over Alberto Contador with Lance Armstrong another two seconds back.

The tour's 12th stage Thursday covers 133 miles from Tonnerre to Vittel. It has only one climb as steep as a Category 3 but takes the Tour de France to the edge of the Alps stages.