Middlesex 166 for 3 (de Villiers 88*) beat Essex 164 for 6 (ten Doeschate 74*, Helm 3-27) by seven wickets

"Me, I'm from the Wild West / Guess you'd call it Middlesex" sing The Rhythm Method on their debut album How Would You Know I Was Lonely? Tonight, AB de Villiers played the role of the gunslinging sheriff at Lord's, with the middle of his bat the weapon of choice, as Middlesex cruised to a seven-wicket win in their Vitality Blast opener thanks to his 43-ball 88 not out.

On the same slow pitch that saw so few batsmen manage to time the ball in Sunday's World Cup final, de Villiers took 15 balls to score his first 17 runs before launching a memorable assault on Essex's misfiring attack in partnership with the more sedate Dawid Malan.

Essex had hatched a plan early to bowl spin at de Villiers, as so many sides successfully did in this year's IPL. With Adam Zampa and Simon Harmer at their disposal, it had briefly seemed like a canny move as he struggled to find his rhythm early on.

Then, he flicked the switch - and how. Ravi Bopara's cutter was whacked over extra cover for six; Harmer was launched ten rows back into the Mound Stand; Shane Snater's drag-down was nailed high and mighty into the night sky.

The pick of the bunch came off Dan Lawrence, the part-timer entrusted with the 14th over just as de Villiers had put his right foot all the way to the floor.

He speared in an offbreak, hoping to cramp de Villiers for room; moments later, Lord's fell into momentary silence, as the 28,000 sell-out collectively held its breath while the ball flew into the top tier of the Grandstand some 90 metres away.

Lawrence is a handy bowler on his day, who has had success at this ground in the past, but in such a situation was a lamb to the slaughter; if the unthinkable had happened and he had got the star man out, de Villiers would have been entitled to repeat that infamous W.G. Grace line: "They came to watch me bat, not you bowl."

A six and a four off Harmer to finish the job meant 61 had come from his final 28 deliveries. He finished the night with six sixes - no other Middlesex batsman hit even one.

Statistically, de Villiers sits alongside a bunch of superstars in the top handful of T20 players; aesthetically, he is in a class of one. There is no finer combination of brute force and beauty than a de Villiers assault, and this innings will live long in the memory of those who witnessed it.

It was an innings several years in the making, too.

It is five years since Middlesex first talked about a deal with de Villiers, and they had a gentleman's agreement in place by 2016. Several counties tried their utmost to sign him after his international retirement last year, with Northamptonshire reportedly pulling out all the stops in their bid to secure his signature, but Lord's and London proved too great a pull to resist.

The Blast's bizarre scheduling meant a single net at Merchant Taylor's School was the only practice de Villiers had with his new team-mates before this game; his most recent innings was as long ago as May 5, long before the debacle of his World Cup will-he-won't-he had come to light.

But this was not the innings of a man lacking match practice. Essex bowled too short, and played to his strengths, but that is the mark of the best players.

There is a reason that tennis players double-fault more when they face Roger Federer, and why golfers play worse when Tiger Woods is playing in the same tournament as them. It is the very spectre of de Villiers that throws his opponents off their game.

Things could have been so different. Essex's total of 164 looked like an imposing total at the interval, not least after Ryan ten Doeschate had helped them add 88 in the final eight overs. And after Paul Stirling - having been dropped twice, once comically by Cameron Delport - and Nick Gubbins fell cheaply, they were in some sort of trouble at 39 for 2.

They needn't have worried. De Villiers claimed afterwards that he didn't feel like he was quite at his best, despite his brilliance; if he can reach that level when Middlesex travel to The Oval on Tuesday, it will be another night to remember.

Somerset 181 for 2 (Banton 64) beat Glamorgan 180 for 5 (Lloyd 57, Ingram 50*, van der Merwe 2-17) by eight wickets

Somerset got off to a winning start at Sophia Gardens as they defeated an inexperienced Glamorgan team featuring three T20 debutants by wickets, with two overs to spare.

Despite an excellent start, Glamorgan should have scored in excess of 200, but instead of consolidating they lost three wickets in three overs and were grateful that Colin Ingram enabled them to reach a challenging total.

Needing 181 to win at nine runs an over, Somerset emulated Glamorgan with Tom Banton scoring 22 from Marchant De Lange's opening over and 50 coming from only four overs. On a perfect batting pitch, runs continued to be plundered with Somerset 75 for 0 after six overs, four runs more than Glamorgan.

Banton soon reached fifty with a high proportion of boundaries - five sixes and four fours - as Somerset raced to 100 in the 9th over and well in control. They did lose Pakistan batsman Babar Azam to Dan Douthwaite, and in the following over Banton's excellent innings of 64 ended when Billy Root held on to a fine catch at deep midwicket.

The experience of James Hildreth and Peter Trego saw Somerset reach their target with ease, while Glamorgan will reflect on their failure to capitalise on a good start, while their bowlers need to improve their accuracy.

Earlier, Glamorgan who were put in, made 180 for 5 after a rapid start, reaching 50 in the fourth over and 70 at the end of the six-over Powerplay. Jeremy Lawlor, making his debut in the competition, set the tone by striking early boundaries and lifting Jamie Overton over long-on for six.

Somerset used five bowlers in the first five overs, but apart from Roelof van der Merwe, no one was able to stem the stem of runs. The opening partnership of 82 was broken in the ninth over when Lawlor, who scored 43 from 30 balls, was caught on the long-off boundary off van der Merwe.

After reaching 95 for 1 at the halfway stage, Glamorgan fell away in mid-innings, and had Ingram not blasted a 28-ball half-century, their score would have been well below par.

David Lloyd, was the next to go after scoring 57 from 37 balls when he was deceived by Craig Overton's slower ball, giving short square leg a simple catch. Two wickets then fell for three runs as Chris Cooke became van der Merwe's second victim and Douthwaite fell for 2.

With one over remaining, Glamorgan were 153 for 5 but Ingram, relatively quiet until then, suddenly exploded by hitting Craig Overton for three sixes and two fours, with 27 coming from the over.

Worcestershire 161 for 6 (Barnard 42*) Nottinghamshire 133 for 9 (Hales 52, Moeen 4-18)

Ed Barnard wasted no time in pronouncing himself a Twenty20 cricketer of England potential with vital interventions with bat, ball and in the field as Worcestershire began their defence of their Vitality Blast crown with an emphatic 28-run victory over Notts Outlaws in front of a near-capacity crowd at Trent Bridge.

This was a poor Twenty20 pitch, used, slow and grippy and not remotely in keeping with the sort of batsman-friendly surfaces that have made T20 nights at Trent Bridge one of the heaviest-scoring venues of the Blast.

But Worcestershire assessed it with great intelligence, posting 161 for 6, far more than they had anticipated thanks to Barnard's late intervention with an unbeaten 42 from 19 balls, and then defending it with ease. Three overs from the end of their innings, they were 117 for 6 and vulnerable, but he changed the face of the game.

As Moeen Ali, Worcestershire's captain, back immediately after England's World Cup success, remarked: "It was the performance of a side that won the tournament last year, a side with a lot of confidence."

Notts are rooted to the foot of Division One of the Championship, 38 points adrift with only four matches remaining and seemingly bound for relegation. Any imagining that the arrival of T20 would be a miraculous cure were rudely dispelled. It is a long tournament - 14 group games - but limp dismissals from two high-profile signings, Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett, set the tone on the opening night for a disappointing batting display.

To his credit, at least Alex Hales has returned to county cricket ready for the fray. He was blackballed from England's World Cup squad in the most clinical fashion after his failing of a second drugs test, following other misdemeanours, led those in charge to conclude that he had become a liability.

He has kept a low profile, but the evidence of his 52 from 34 balls suggested he is one Notts batsman in good frame of mind. When he twice slog-swept Brett D'Oliveira for six, he had positioned himself for victory, only to be bowled by Barnard as he made room to cut him through the offside.

That opened the way for Moeen to settle the match with 4 for 6 in his last two overs, by doing little more than hitting consistent areas. His first wicket owed much to Barnard's electric fielding as he dashed 20 yards to his left from long-off to pluck a diving catch to dismiss Jake Libby.

Dan Christian's first-ball nought again emphasised Worcestershire's sharpness in the field as his inside-edge onto his thigh was brilliantly collected to his right by the wicketkeeper, Ben Cox. In Moeen's final over, withy 59 needed off five, Tom Moores and Samit Patel went for broke and both holed out.

As an aside, it was worth wondering whether the racists (because some were) who denounced Moeen on social media for quite cheerfully opting out of England's champagne-shaking celebrations to mark the winning of the World Cup would even know or care that four days later he was back in county cricket, skippering Worcestershire with an air of calm and playing as much as his international commitments allow.

The World Cup has made additional demands on pitches at international venues, and Notts have limited outground options to lighten the load. It is to be hoped this is not a sign of things to come at the bigger venues.

Barnard found an answer to it. At 23, this slender allrounder is of an age where he can convince England of his attributes as a T20 cricketer. His flourish with the bat was a gem, carrying them to 161 for 6 when they must have felt 150 was optimistic; an innings of dexterity and common sense.

Barnard was the dominant partner in a stand of 59 from 30 balls with Ben Cox, rescuing Worcestershire from 102 for 6 after 15.2 overs. They had run aground on a grippy pitch which played into the hands of Harry Gurney, but Barnard dealt with his mix of slower offcutters with intelligence, running him through slips to the boundary as only 15 came off his first three overs. In Gurney's last over he switched mood, 18 runs lost as he struck him over midwicket for six and then added a Buttler-esque scoop to the next ball for good measure.

Martin Guptill would value the taste of victory, too. He had a modest World Cup - 186 runs at 20.66 - but before the match became the latest New Zealand player to respond to their desperately unlucky World Cup final loss in philosophical fashion. The gist of his remarks was that, as the beers went down, New Zealand had found contentment in the recognition that we had shared in one of the greatest one-day games in history.

Guptill's share at Trent Bridge was 22 from 24 balls, in an innings in which he was starved of the strike before he hit a full toss from Luke Wood back to the bowler. It could have been worse; before he had scored, he survived a run-out appeal by about an inch, the first sign for weeks that his luck might be on the turn.

Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar, former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald and former Australia Women's fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick have become the newest additions to the ICC Hall of Fame. The trio were inducted in a ceremony in London on Thursday.

Tendulkar, cricket's most prolific run-getter, was inducted immediately after becoming eligible: the ICC rule requires that a player should have played his last international match at least five years before and Tendulkar had retired in November 2013. He is the sixth Indian to be part of the ICC's Hall of Fame, following Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.

The only player to feature in 200 Test matches, Tendulkar scored 15921 runs in the longest format and 18426 runs in ODIs, both run tallies standing as records. He is also the only player to have scored 100 centuries in international cricket (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs) and was part of India's World Cup winning side in 2011.

"It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which cherishes the contribution of cricketers over generations," Tendulkar said. "They have all contributed to the growth and popularity of the game and I am happy to have done my bit."

Donald, who retired from all formats in 2004, was one of South Africa's greatest fast bowlers, and the first bowler from the side to take 300 Test wickets and 200 ODI wickets. Donald ended with a wickets tally of 602 wickets in an international career that spanned more than a decade.

"The biggest shock when you open an e-mail like that - it says congratulations Allan Donald, you have been inducted in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame! It hits you, it hits you quite hard because it is a prestigious award and something that you can't take lightly. I thank the ICC for the huge honour."

Fitzpatrick, the eighth woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, was the fastest bowler in women's cricket over the course of her 16-year international career. Her tally of 180 ODI wickets was the highest in women's cricket, until it was surpassed by India seamer Jhulan Goswami in May 2017. Fitzpatrick helped Australia lift two Women's World Cups - in 1997 and 2005 - and was coach of the side between May 2012 and May 2015, in which time Australia Women won a World Cup and two World T20 titles.

"To gain recognition alongside many of the games' giants is a huge honour. I look at the list of past inductees and what stands out most is not only their outstanding talent, but that they were game changers. They took the game on and changed the way it was played."

ICC's chief executive Manu Sawhney said the three were among the finest players to have ever graced the game. "It is a great honour for us to announce the 2019 inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Sachin, Allan and Cathryn are three of the finest players to ever grace our game and are deserved additions to the Hall of Fame. On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate all three players, who enrich the list of all-time greats already members of this select club."

Disappointment, despair and heartbreak. These are the words Sikandar Raza used to describe the mood among his Zimbabwe team-mates, as they frantically called each other and exchanged messages in the minutes following the ICC's decision to suspend Zimbabwe with immediate effect over 'government interference'.

Raza said his team-mates' emotions were similar to the way they felt after the World Cup Qualifier last year, when their defeat to UAE cost them a place in the 2019 World Cup. But the situation was a lot worse, he said, as players remain in the dark over their immediate and foreseeable future. Zimbabwe are scheduled to play a T20 tri-series in September in Bangladesh, against the hosts and Afghanistan, in the lead-up to the Men's World T20 Qualifier in October in the UAE. While Zimbabwe remain suspended, representative teams will not be allowed to participate in any ICC events, making their presence in the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in August and Men's World T20 Qualifier highly unlikely.

Effectively, Zimbabwe Cricket has to get its house in order by the next ICC meeting in October. Raza said that the ICC could have applied the same conditions but at least allowed them to play cricket.

"We are all pretty heart-broken at the moment," Raza told ESPNcricinfo. "We are still in shock to be honest, seeing how our international career can come to an end like that. Not just for one player, but for the whole country. I am not coming to terms with it so easily, and I am sure my team-mates feel the same way. Where do we go from here? Is there a way out?

"I don't know what is the way out. We have been told that we have been suspended but not told for how long. [A] two-year [suspension] could basically bring an end to a lot of careers. I don't know the conditions but to totally suspend us from playing cricket, while you allow whoever is responsible to get our house in order, you basically stop cricket in Zimbabwe. I don't know how one can do that but it has happened to us now."

Raza feared it may be time for Zimbabwe players to think of alternative careers. Raza, himself, is a software engineer, and had also attended the Air Force College in Pakistan. Although he picked up cricket as a profession later than most players, he has quickly built himself into a solid batting allrounder in international cricket, and has picked up gigs in many of the T20 leagues around the world .

"If we miss the World T20 qualifiers, we will miss the T20 tri-series in Bangladesh [in September]. What if the house [ZC] is not in order? Is the ICC going to recognise the interim committee or the old committee? What is happening?

"I don't know where we go as international cricketers. Is it club cricket or no cricket for us? Do we just burn our kits and apply for jobs? I don't know what we have to do right now."

Raza said that if the ICC had directly overseen the Zimbabwe Cricket elections in June, they may have quickly recognised why the government's Sports and Recreation Commission dismissed the board in the first place. "I genuinely thought that it would have been ideal if one member of the ICC had come and overseen the election process, for the reasons SRC dismissed the board, while we continued to play cricket. I thought that would have been a very good quick fix."

Last year, while accepting the Player of the Tournament award at the World Cup Qualifier in Harare, Raza had voiced his disappointment at the ICC's decision to limit the number of teams in the 2019 World Cup. He maintained a similar stance regarding cricket's decision-makers

"As much as I want to say, there's nothing to say. Our cricket and livelihoods have been taken away from us," he said. "Whatever I say now will mean nothing. It will fall on deaf ears. I just thought the motto was to grow the game, and it keeps on shrinking."

Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg went 3-for-3 with five RBIs -- including a single and a 420-foot home run in one inning -- in Thursday's 13-4 win over the Braves in Atlanta.

Strasburg became the first Nationals pitcher to drive in five runs in a game and have two hits in one inning. He's the first pitcher in the majors to homer and record an additional base hit in the same inning since Edwin Jackson did it with the Diamondbacks against the Pirates on April 11, 2010.

But Strasburg, who won the Silver Slugger Award in 2012, said he may have been a little lucky at the plate.

"It's just how crazy this game is," he said. "Sometimes you just run into the ball."

Strasburg led off the third inning with a single to center and scored the Nationals' first run, tying the game. The Nationals batted around, and when Strasburg came up the second time with two outs and two on, he drove a 92 mph fastball from Touki Toussaint deep to left for his fourth career homer.

The blast was the longest by a pitcher this season and the longest by a Nationals pitcher since the Statcast era began in 2015. Strasburg celebrated by dancing with his teammates in the dugout, but reviews from his teammates weren't kind.

"Stras isn't much of a dancer," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "Maybe his wedding is the last time he danced."

In his next at-bat in the top of the fifth, Strasburg picked up his third hit of the night, singling to left to drive in two more runs to give him five RBIs on the night. He had one RBI going into the game, and he had one all of last year.

Strasburg was due to lead off in the top of the seventh, but he couldn't get through the bottom of the sixth, as his pitch count surpassed 100. He struck out seven Braves over 5⅓ innings while allowing three runs on eight hits.

"Stephen wasn't as sharp as he could be, but man, he swung the bat really well,'' manager Dave Martinez said. "He might be a pinch hitter coming up here for the rest of these games."

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- Brooks Koepka briefly had a share of the first-round lead at the 148th Open Championship on Thursday, and he's only 2 shots behind leader J.B. Holmes after firing a 3-under 68.

It has become an all-too-familiar sight for the rest of the field, which can't feel great about seeing Koepka's name on the leaderboard again. He has won four of the past 10 major championships.

Koepka had four birdies in the first round and didn't have a bogey until the 17th.

"I feel like I played pretty solid," Koepka said. "I missed it in the right spots all day. One bad one on 17. That's going to cost you. Didn't really make any putts. Didn't take advantage of anything to really go low. But definitely didn't shoot myself out of it, so I'm OK with that."

It doesn't hurt that Koepka's caddie, Ricky Elliott, grew up in Portrush and played the course quite a few times as an amateur. When Koepka was asked how many shots Elliott made a suggestion on, he responded: "Sixty-eight of them."

It's the 14th time in the past 17 rounds of a major that Koepka has finished in the top six. The only times he didn't were the first round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive (which he won) and the first round of June's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (in which he was runner-up).

In the four majors this season, Koepka had a combined score of 18 under in the first round, which is best among active PGA Tour players.

In fact, it's the second-best aggregate score for the first round in the four majors in the past 25 years. Dustin Johnson was 20 under par in the opening round of the majors in 2015.

Koepka feels good about his chances this weekend.

"I've hit it unbelievable the last couple of days," he said. "I'm very pleased with the way I'm striking it. It's nice to get some practice in over the last five, six days. I feel good. I feel very comfortable. It's a major championship. That's what you're trying to peak for."

And no one, at least right now, does that better than him.

Big names headed home for the weekend?

Some of golf's biggest stars have plenty of work to do Friday if they're going to make the cut. For a few of them, it's probably going to be too little, too late, regardless of how well they play in the second round.

The top 70 scores and ties make the 36-hole cut.

Local favorite Rory McIlroy, who grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland, and set the Royal Portrush course record with a 61 when he was 16, shot 8-over 79. McIlroy had a quadruple-bogey 8 on the first hole and a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th.

"I definitely think if I can put the ball in the fairway [on Friday] I can shoot a good enough score to be around for the weekend," McIlroy said. "Obviously, I'm pretty sure anyone starting with a 79 in this golf tournament doesn't think about winning at this point. But I think I can go out there and shoot something in the mid-60s, be around for the weekend and then try to play good from there."

Things weren't much better for Tiger Woods (7-over 78), five-time major winner Phil Mickelson (5-over 76) or 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott (7-over 78).

For Woods, the 78 was his worst opening round ever at The Open.

"I'm just not moving as well as I'd like," Woods said. "And unfortunately, you've got to be able to move, and especially under these conditions, shape the golf ball. And I didn't do it. I didn't shape the golf ball at all. Everything was left-to-right. And wasn't hitting very solidly."

Scott, meanwhile, never felt comfortable during his round.

"I didn't really have anything going my way," Scott said. "And I got myself in some trouble I couldn't get out of, which was disappointing. I've just got to go and shoot a low one [in the second round]. I feel like I'm playing well enough. Just a few things that cost me at least 5 shots. I don't think there's much in it. They're the errors you can't make."

Reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, defending Open Championship winner Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele each shot 3-over 74 and also have some work to do in the second round.

Look who's back in the conversation

While Rickie Fowler (1-under 70) and Matt Kuchar (1-under 70) might currently be considered the best players to have never won a major, England's Lee Westwood held that unenviable title for a long time during the height of his career.

Westwood, 46, has won 43 times as a pro and has come agonizingly close in the majors. He has been second at the Masters (2010 and '16) and The Open (2010) and third at the PGA Championship (2009) and U.S. Open (2008 and '11).

Does Westwood have one more run in him? He fired a 3-under 68 for a tie for third after 18 holes. It's his best first round of The Open since he was tied for eighth at St. Andrews in 2010.

Sergio Garcia got the major monkey off his back by winning the 2017 Masters. But he hasn't done much of anything since; he missed the cut in seven of the previous 10 majors.

Garcia is also among 13 players tied for third at 3-under 68. It's the fifth time he has shot 68 or better in the first round of The Open; he finished in the top five in four of the previous occasions.

"Obviously, I'm very satisfied with the way I played and the way that the day went," Garcia said. "It was a solid day. Like I said, it wasn't easy out there. It was quite windy all day. There were some really tough holes, and obviously on the back nine."

Don't forget about me

The loudest gallery cheers Thursday were for McIlroy and fellow Northern Ireland natives Darren Clarke, who hit the first tee shot, and Graeme McDowell.

But it was Irishman Shane Lowry who is close to the top of the leaderboard after firing a 4-under 67 in the first round.

"If I hit a bad shot, I feel like I can get myself out of trouble," Lowry said. "It's a great place to be in, to be honest. I hope it lasts for another while."

Lowry, 32, won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur and has won once on the PGA Tour and four times on the European Tour. He missed the cut in his past four appearances in The Open.

The key for Lowry will be stringing together four consecutive good rounds. He shot 68 in the first round at St. Andrews in 2010 but finished 73-71-75. At Hoylake in 2014, Lowry went 68-75-70-65.

McDowell said Lowry is good enough to win the first Open Championship on Irish soil in 68 years.

"Listen, I've always thought Shane had kind of three big things going for him," McDowell said. "Obviously, he's a great driver of the ball; one of the best chippers of the ball I've ever seen; and he's got a lot of guts and determination. To win an Irish Open for an amateur speaks volumes of who he is and what he is.

"He's a good friend out here, and I have a huge amount of respect for his game. He could easily continue this into the weekend and could easily contend here on Sunday afternoon. He has the game."

Mother Nature will have something say

The weather and wind are always big factors at the Open Championship. Thursday's opening round was no exception. At times, there was heavy rain on certain areas of the golf course. At the exact same time, other holes were bathed in sunshine.

The forecast for Friday is much of the same, according to the Met Office, which predicts an increased risk of heavy downpours in the late afternoon and evening, along with winds at 5 to 10 mph from the southeast.

If the weather conditions remain the same, Englishman Paul Casey doesn't expect the winning score to get to 10 under.

"If we get the same periods of sun, couple of squalls, same strength of wind, I'd snap your arm off if anybody got to double digits," Casey said. "Double it, add a couple. Yeah, I don't know.

"But we'll see if the R&A lean on it a little bit. They have a very good grasp of things. That's not their style. Their style is usually to let the elements dictate."

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- Tiger Woods all but told us this would happen. Just the other day, he said that the Masters had taken a ton out of him, that his game was not particularly sharp, and that he needed to shape his golf ball more convincingly than he had been.

Oh, and he also reminded us that his surgically altered, 43-year-old body does not move forcefully through the ball, or around the course, when the weather starts reminding him of his age.

But to see him almost stagger around Royal Portrush on Thursday while shooting a 7-over 78 in the first round of The Open, and then to hear him speak as candidly and alarmingly as he ever has about his physical state, was to understand that Woods appears to have crossed a threshold only three months after his most significant victory.

Welcome to the Old Tiger. Goodbye to the Tiger of old.

"It's going to be a lot more difficult," Woods said of the process of winning. "I'm not 24 anymore. Life changes, life moves on. I can't devote the hours to practice like I used to. Standing on the range hitting balls for four, five hours. Go play 36. Come back and run four, five miles, then go to the gym. Those days are gone, OK? So I have to be realistic about my expectations and hopefully peaking at the right time. I peaked at Augusta well, and hopefully I can peak a few more times this year."

Speaking haltingly in a post-round interview with reporters, almost as if it hurt to talk, Woods admitted he was in pain and that the pain prevented him from attempting or executing certain shots. "Just the way it is," he said. "Just Father Time and some procedures I've had over the time. It's just the way it's going to be."

In other words, Woods will be more of a cherry picker than a terminator across the rest of his career.

This doesn't mean Woods is done winning majors. It doesn't mean he can't tie or break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. It doesn't mean he won't nail down the two victories needed to break Sam Snead's PGA Tour record of 82.

It only means he needs to be smart in managing his body and schedule, and then opportunistic when everything in his dialed-back game and diminished skill set happens to click once or twice every two or three years.

After missing the PGA Championship cut at Bethpage Black, site of one of his U.S. Open victories, and then finishing outside the top 20 at Pebble Beach, site of his greatest all-time performance, Woods showed again why he needs to remain committed to a strict pitch count from here to retirement. Sunday at the Masters made everyone forget the four back surgeries, including the spinal fusion, and Tiger's own stated belief in 2017 that he was done as a competitive golfer.

Thursday at The Open delivered a cruel dose of reality. As it turned out, Northern Ireland was no country for old men. On his very first hole at Royal Portrush, after a great bunker shot negated a lousy tee shot, Woods surrendered to a sudden burst of wind and rain. He yanked his light vest over his head, walked across the green and handed it to caddie Joe LaCava, and slid into a long-sleeved gray pullover. Woods then made his par putt, pumped his right fist as the fans roared, and marched to the second tee.

It would be a small victory on a day of big-picture defeats.

Woods posted his worst opening-round score ever at The Open, and his third-worst in any round of any major. He went to bed a dozen strokes off J.B. Holmes' lead in the first Open to be played in Northern Ireland in 68 years. Woods' only consolation was found on two of his friends' scorecards.

Rory McIlroy, the tournament and hometown favorite, hit a woman (and her phone) with an opening tee shot that ended up out of bounds, made a quadruple bogey, and shot 79. David Duval, former world No. 1, shot 91 and made a 14 on the par-5 seventh by staging a tragicomedy of errors that made Jean van de Velde's 1999 masterpiece look boring in comparison.

But McIlroy hasn't won a major in five years, and Duval hasn't won one (his only one) in 18. Woods ended an 11-year drought by winning his 15th in April, after nearly winning The Open and the PGA Championship the previous summer and winning the Tour Championship in September, breathing life into the possibility he might revive the dominance of his prime.

Just as it didn't happen at Bethpage and Pebble, it didn't happen at Portrush. Woods started coming undone on the drivable par-4 fifth, a birdie hole he turned into a bogey hole with a lousy approach and putt. He doubled the next hole, a par-3, by chipping from one greenside swale to another, and then bogeyed the following par-5. On the ninth, facing a nasty sidehill lie in the left rough, Woods took a huge cut on a ball that went nowhere and left him wincing like he had winced on the first tee. That bogey gave Tiger a 41 at the turn, and buried him nine shots off the lead. His body language matched his position on the board.

When Woods made his first and only birdie at the 15th, he used humor to ease his misery. Tiger lifted his head and extended his arms wide in mock disbelief. He licked his right index finger, and then raised it and jabbed it downward in count-it form.

Woods later said that his warm-up on the range was troubling, that his body wasn't moving on the course, that he hit everything off the heel of his club. He conceded he tried and failed to piece together a swing that would salvage the round.

No, that fifth green jacket didn't undo the long-term damage to his back. Away from the course, Woods said he feels sore -- really, really sore -- after picking up his kids from school or after taking them to and from soccer practice. But it's easier to manage the pain as a father than as a world-class athlete.

"These guys are too good," Woods said. "There are too many guys that are playing well, and I'm just not one of them."

Woods didn't play between Pebble and Portrush, just like he didn't play between Augusta and Bethpage. He beat up his own body entering too many tournaments last year, and now he is limiting himself in an attempt to prolong his career.

Woods can win another Masters, if only on muscle memory. He can win another Open, too. There's a reason Woods brought up a couple of golden oldies in his pre-tournament news conference. He brought up 59-year-old Tom Watson's near-miss at Turnberry in 2009, and 53-year-old Greg Norman's near-miss at Royal Birkdale (2008) as examples of how the bouncy quirks of links golf can neutralize youth, power and athleticism and give the graybeards a credible chance to win.

But Tiger won't be winning this Open. When last seen Thursday night, he was heading straight into treatment for everything that ails him.

Woods was also heading into the last chapter of his incomparable career. The pain has reduced him to the greatest cherry picker and opportunist of all time.

Nike has filed a countersuit against LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard in response to his lawsuit against the company last month, the latest step in a battle over the "Klaw" logo that was developed and used during Leonard's time as part of Jordan Brand.

"In this action, Kawhi Leonard seeks to re-write history by asserting that he created the 'Claw Design' logo, but it was not Leonard who created that logo," Nike states in its countersuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, where Leonard's original suit was filed last month. "The 'Claw Design' was created by a talented team of NIKE designers, as Leonard, himself, has previously admitted.

"In his Complaint, Leonard alleges he provided a design to NIKE. That is true. What is false is that the design he provided was the Claw Design. Not once in his Complaint does Leonard display or attach either the design that he provided or the Claw Design. Instead, he conflates the two, making it appear as though those discrete works are one and the same. They are not."

In its countersuit, Nike provides a pair of images -- one of which it says is the image Leonard provided to the company, which has a "KL," with the L also turning into a numeral 2, inside of a hand, and the other the design Nike ultimately created.

Later in the countersuit, Nike paraphrases quotes from Leonard in a Nice Kicks oral history about his logo design from 2014 as saying he was happy with how the logo turned out, though the quote in the countersuit doesn't include the beginning, in which Leonard says that he came up with the original idea of incorporating his initials in the logo.

The countersuit also reiterates later that Leonard is trying to take credit for the work of the logo's designers by saying he owns it despite providing only the initial rough draft of the design.

"Despite the Contract's intellectual property ownership provision to which Leonard agreed, and despite his prior public acknowledgement that NIKE authored the Claw Design, Leonard has now decided that he, and not NIKE, is the rightful owner of the registered Claw Design, and has gone even further to accuse NIKE of committing fraud by registering its Claw Design with the Copyright Office," the suit says.

"Moreover, in clear contravention of Leonard's contractual obligations and NIKE's exclusive ownership rights in and to the Claw Design, Leonard has continued to use and reproduce the Claw Design, without NIKE's authorization, on his non-Nike apparel worn publicly, and has manifested his imminent intent to commercially exploit the Claw Design on non-NIKE merchandise."

The suit goes on to later point out Leonard used the logo on non-Nike clothing during the NBA Finals, and that he alluded to planning to do so in the future in his own lawsuit last month. Because of this, Nike says in its countersuit that it is "entitled to the maximum statutory damages recoverable, or for other amounts as may be proper," in addition to legal fees and other costs.

The company also asked the court to stop Leonard from being able to use the logo, to dismiss his lawsuit against Nike and to rule in its favor.

Leonard became a shoe free agent during the season, and eventually agreed to a deal with New Balance. The Boston-based company has created multiple campaigns involving Leonard this season -- one being "Fun Guy," and another, more recently, being "King of the North," playing off a phrase from the recently concluded HBO series "Game of Thrones."

Leonard originally addressed his lawsuit ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, when he was a member of the Toronto Raptors.

"It happened over a long time ago," Leonard said. "You guys are just finding out. Not a big worry of mine."

The Los Angeles Dodgers are irate with Philadelphia Phillies reliever Hector Neris, who celebrated his save against them Thursday with a fist pump and then a stare-down into the L.A. dugout.

"Neris got the save and looked right into our dugout and screamed as loud as he could, 'F--- you!'" Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy told reporters after the game.

The Dodgers stayed in the dugout, watching Neris. On the broadcast, it appeared that catcher Russell Martin shouted to the pitcher that they meet somewhere.

"I think we played this series the right way, played it straight," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "To look in our dugout and to taunt in any way, I think it's unacceptable. Look in your own dugout."

Neris had given up a solo homer to center fielder Alex Verdugo and ended the game with a long fly ball out by third baseman Justin Turner, securing a 7-6 win and a split in the four-game series.

Neris is facing a three-game suspension for throwing at Dodgers first baseman David Freese on Tuesday after giving up a three-run homer. He is playing until his appeal is heard.

He told reporters that Thursday's celebration was "just emotions."

"It's a great win for my team and just I let my emotion get out," he said.

Muncy thought there was more to it than that.

"He's blown about eight saves against us over the last two years," Muncy said. "I guess he was finally excited he got one. Whatever."

Neris has a loss and a blown save in three appearances against the Dodgers this year. He has allowed three home runs, four hits, one walk and has struck out two batters. Last season, in one appearance, he allowed three hits and a run in a third of an inning against the Dodgers.