Hometown professional Michael Putnam hit the first shot of the 115th US Open at 7am local time yesterday and five hours and 13 minutes later was sinking the final putt of his first round for an opening level-par 70 at Chambers Bay near Tacoma, Washington.

Hometown golfer Michael Putnam is expecting a lot of noise from the Chambers Bay galleries this week if the decibel levels at Seattle Seahawks NFL games are any guide.

The linksy feel of Chambers Bay has not endeared championship organisers the USGA to a section of golfers who prefer the manicured parkland target golf they enjoy most weeks on the PGA Tour.

Past champion Graeme McDowell believes he may have found a key to unlock the secrets of the little-known Chambers Bay course, venue for next week’s US Open.

NORWAY: A 21-year-old Norwegian man was fined 10,000 crowns ($1,300) for fraud because he accepted a contract killing job without intending to carry it out, police told Reuters

A 91-year-old woman has set time and age records at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego marathon.

The US soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians saw his friend’s leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer said today.

A boy of three shot himself dead after finding his father’s gun in their car during a stop at a US service station.

THE body of an Iraq war veteran suspected of killing a US national park ranger may have been found, authorities said.

Two US Army helicopters have crashed at a base in Washington, killing four soldiers.

Toyota officials claimed they saved the company $100m (€73m) by successfully negotiating with the US government on a limited recall of floor mats in some Toyota and Lexus vehicles, according to new documents.

Police today shot dead the prime suspect in the murder of four Seattle officers.

THE suspect in the killing of four police officers gunned down in a coffee shop was not found yesterday in the Seattle home where he was thought to have been holed up overnight, likely wounded from his bloody encounter with the officers.

A man with an extensive criminal past whose 95-year prison sentence was commuted nearly a decade ago was sought today after four police officers were gunned down in a US coffee shop.

FOUR police officers were shot dead yesterday morning in what authorities called a targeted ambush at a coffee house in Washington state, a sheriff’s official said.

Toyota will close a major car assembly plant for the first time after today’s announcement it is pulling out of a California factory joint venture it had previously run with General Motors.

A QUIET mobile home park nestled among towering evergreens reeled yesterday in the aftermath of an unthinkable crime: five children slain in their own home, apparently by their father, who subsequently committed suicide.

A 16-YEAR-OLD American girl suspected of drowning an infant boy in a toilet and throwing the body in the trash has been charged with murder.

Three million-dollar dream homes in a Washington suburb were turned into ashes in a blaze apparently started by eco-terrorists.

Tommy Barker finds an American-Irish woman selling a shamrock-shaped home.

The manufacturer and dealer of the rifle used in the Washington sniper shootings have agreed to pay around €2.2m in a settlement with victims’ families.

A man doused his girlfriend and three small children with petrol inside a car and set them on fire as he drove, according to a US police spokesman.

THE lack of Government funding for an Irish organisation which safeguards children around the globe from paedophiles is “appalling”, an Opposition spokesperson said yesterday.

AN American foster father arrested for multiple child rape in one of the worst cases of abuse in the US was tracked down with the help of an Irish team of experts.

In a chilling audio tape played for the jury, a soft-spoken Lee Malvo told police he pulled the trigger in all of the sniper attacks that terrified the Washington area.

A MAIL distribution centre was evacuated in Tacoma, Washington, and four workers hospitalised, after powder found on a sorting table tested positive for biotoxins, officials said yesterday.

A postal sorting office was evacuated in Washington state today after white powder was found at the building.

The first sizeable relief convoy set out for Iraq in a biting sandstorm today as allied forces struggled to clear the way for more aid shipments, using dolphins to remove mines from waterways and hunting Iraqi fighters around the port of Umm Qasr.

MAKAI and Tacoma, two bottle-nosed Atlantic dolphins, were flown into Iraq by the US Navy last night, the latest weapon deployed by Allied Forces against Saddam Hussein.

Two men have been charged in the rash of recent sniper shootings in the US as authorities on the West Coast said they were also suspects in the killing of a woman last winter and a shooting at a synagogue.

Cook’s family recognised Muhammad from news photos after his arrest and called authorities, Mattheis said.

Washington sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad’s life has followed a tangled path.

By James Bob Caldwell IT now seems clear that what motivated John Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo was money - $10m (€10.2m) in fact.

The two men arrested in connection with the Washington shootings were tracked down from a clue in one of the sniper's phone calls, according to reports.

Police hunting the Washington serial sniper have issued an arrest warrant for a man they believe has useful information.

A zoo in Washington state has put up 'Wanted Alive' posters after one of its penguin chicks escaped.

An explosive device went off at the back door of a US medical clinic where a doctor performed abortions.