PINEHURST, N.C. - The one thing Rory McIlroy wont lack heading into this U.S. Open is advice. In the few weeks since his breakup with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, only some of it has been worth much. Gary Player told him to lay low. Jack Nicklaus told him not to be afraid to change the way he plays, even in the middle of a round. Smartly, he only followed up with one of them. "Do you just ring him up," a reporter asked about McIlroys budding relationship with Nicklaus, "and say, Im popping in?" "I dont ring him up," McIlroy chuckled, "I ring his secretary up and say, Id like to schedule a meeting, please. But its been great to spend some time with him. I feel like Ive got a really good rapport." The two had lunch in Florida a week after the Memorial, the PGA Tour stop where Nicklaus plays the gracious host but isnt shy about asking tough questions. Not about relationships, mind you, unless you count questions about where to slot the club at the top of the backswing. "He said to me, he goes, How the hell can you shoot 63 (in the first round) and then 78 (in the second)?" McIlroy recalled. "I said, I wasnt meaning to, Jack. Im trying not to." That began a conversation between the two on the subject of trust. Nicklaus told him the moment he sensed his swing was sliding off the rails in that second round, he would have made a change "right then and there." "The mental strength to be able to do that," McIlroy paused, still marveling at the idea. "Hopefully," he added a moment later, "some of those little nuggets of wisdom that he passed on to me might help this week." Success came so fast for the 25-year-old Northern Irishman it was easy to assume hed mastered most of golfs lessons. But it took an old soul like Nicklaus to point out where some of the big gaps remained. When McIlroy wins, he usually wins big, running away from the field the way he did at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional. What he has yet to prove is whether he has the patience and toughness to grind out victories, a trait that served Nicklaus and Tiger Woods well over decades. If nothing else, the back-and-forth with Nicklaus has put the idea in his head. "Its going to be a test of patience," McIlroy said about Pinehurst No. 2. "And I think I am better equipped than I was a few years ago. The U.S. Open I won was a very ... was abnormal. It was wet. It was low scoring. I havent won a tournament whenever its been like this. Thats why Im relishing the challenge. "Its conditions that I havent won in before and Id love to be able to prove to myself, but also prove to other people that I can win in different conditions. Its a great opportunity to do that this week." While Nicklaus will be McIlroys model this week, he hasnt ignored Players advice altogether. In the wake of his very public breakup with Wozniacki, he has lowered his social media profile and already won once. He concedes that balancing his public life he has with the private one he wants is an act hes still working on. "Its nice when you get out on the golf course because youve got five hours of youre just out there with your clubs, with your caddie, trying to shoot the best score possible," McIlroy said. "Thats the approach that Im sort of adopting from now until whenever." The conversation with Nicklaus appears to be taking hold. Much harder to learn will be the desire that catapulted Nicklaus to 18 major victories — the stubborn pride that made him back off a 4-footer on the last hole of a tournament he wasnt going to win even in the final years of his career, because it mattered to him to shoot 77 instead of 78. "Golf has sort of been a nice release for me the past few weeks. I just want to try to keep focused on that," McIlroy said. ___ Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. 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Dodgers Jerseys 2019 . -- The anointed starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders is strengthening his hold on the position this training camp instead of losing it.CRANBROOK, B.C. -- Linemates Jaedon Descheneau and Sam Reinhart picked up exactly where they left off last season. Descheneau scored three times and Reinhart assisted on each of them as the Kootenay Ice downed the visiting Regina Pats 3-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Descheneau, who was second in team scoring last year behind Reinhart, has six points in his last two outings and has three goals and five assists in four contests. Reinhart leads all Ice (2-2-0) skaters with three goals and 10 points in four games, which is good for third in league scoring. Chandler Stephenson supplied the offence for the Pats (1-4-0) and now has four goals in four games. Wyatt Hoflin earned the victory and the games first star by stopping 31-of-32 shots. Dawson MacAuley made 33 saves in a losing cause. After a scoreless first period, Descheneau opened the scoring for the Ice at 7:16 of the second. Descheneau doubled his clubs lead on the power play in the final minute of the period, but Stephenson kept the Pats in it with a short-handed goal at 17:28 of the third. Regina had pressure late in the game to tie it, but Descheneau completed his hat trick into an empty net at 19:28. Kootenay went 1 for 2 on the power play while Regina failed to score on four chances with the man advantage. --- Hitmen 4 Rebels 1 CALGARY -- Greg Chase scored twice and Chris Driedger only had to stop 12 shots as the Hitmen beat Red Deer. Pavel Padakin and Ben Thomas rounded out Calgarys (1-1-0) offence. Grayson Pawlenchuk scored for the Rebels (3-1-0). Patrik Bartosak made 31 saves in a losing cause. --- Warriors 5 Blades 2 MOOSE JAW, Sask., -- Ben Duperreault scored two goals as the Warriors downed Saskatoon. Torrin White, Sam Fioretti and Bryson Gore also scored for Moose Jaw (1-2-0) as Justin Paulic turned aside 23 shots for the victory. Ayrton Nikkel and Cameron Hebig scored for the Blades (0-2-0) while Troy Trombley made 30 saves in defeat. --- Raiders 4 Wheat Kings 2 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask., -- Cole Cheveldave made 27 saves and Dylan Busenius scored the winner at 16:08 of the third period as the Raiders doubled up Brandon. Carson Perreaux, Craig Leverton and Leon Draisaitl also scored for Prince Albert (4-0-0), which swept the two-game series against Brandon. Rihards Bukarts and Richard Nejezchleb each had a goal and an assist for the Wheat Kings (2-2-0) and Jordan Papirny stopped 27 of 30 shots in the defeat.dddddddddddd --- Tigers 3 Broncos 1 MEDICINE HAT, Alta., -- Boston Leier scored two power-play goals as the Tigers beat Swift Current. Cole Sanford also scored for Medicine Hat (3-1-0) while Daniel Wapple stopped 34 shots for the win. Graham Black scored the lone goal for the Broncos (2-1-1) and Eetu Laurikainen made 34 saves in a losing cause. --- Winterhawks 10 Thunderbirds 4 PORTLAND, Ore., -- Oliver Bjorkstrand scored four goals and set up one more as the Winterhawks crushed Seattle. Adam De Champlain and Nicolas Petan each had two goals and an assist for Portland (2-1-1) while Keegan Iverson and Taylor Leier rounded out the scoring. Garrett Haar set up four goals for the Winterhawks as Adam Rossignol and Chase De Leo chipped in three assists each. Shea Theodore had two goals and an assist for the Thunderbirds (3-1-0) as Alexander Delnov and Mathew Barzal added the others. Brendan Burke made 34 saves for the win. Danny Mumaugh took the loss after giving up six goals on 25 shots in 43 minutes of action. Justin Myles replaced Mumaugh and stopped 9-of-13 shots in relief. --- Cougars 3 Blazers 1 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C., -- Ty Edmonds made 26 saves as the Cougars defeated Kamloops. Alex Forsberg, Klarc Wilson and Brad Morrison scored for Prince George (2-3-0). Taran Kozun gave the Blazers (1-3-0) a chance to win by stopping 43-of-46 shots and Josh Connolly scored the lone goal for his club. --- Royals 4 Rockets 3 (SO) KELOWNA, B.C., -- Logan Nelson, Jack Walker and Ben Walker scored in the shootout for Victoria en route to defeating the Rockets. Brandon Fushimi, Trent Lofthouse and Landon Welykholowa scored in regulation for the Royals (2-3-0) while Coleman Vollrath earned the win by making 29 saves. Zach Franko, Myles Bell and Rourke Chartier scored for Kelowna (2-0-1). Jordon Cooke stopped 28 shots in defeat. --- Chiefs 2 Americans 1 SPOKANE, Wash., -- Mitch Holmberg continued his early-season dominance by scoring two goals for the Chiefs in their win against Tri-City. Holmberg leads the WHL in scoring with eight goals and 14 points in just four games. Linemate Mike Aviani chipped in with two assists for Spokane (4-0-0) while Eric Williams made 15 saves for the win. Connor Rankin scored for the Americans (1-3-1) as Eric Comrie stopped 36 shots in a losing cause. ' ' '