And that's just this year.

Jason Day's too young to get saddled with that dreaded Best Player Never To Win a Major label, so he might as well go ahead and win one.

"As long as I keep knocking on the door," he said Sunday, "I think I'll win a major here soon."

It sure looks inevitable after watching him this week at Merion Golf Club. Rounds of 70, 74, 68 and 71 can be worn liked a badge of honor at a championship in which the winning score was Justin Rose's 1-over 281. Day finished two shots back, tied with Phil Mickelson.

"At the start of the week everyone thought we were going to rip it up," Day said. "But I just knew that somewhere around even par was going to win it, and I just had to stick in there. So I was very patient with myself and happy with how I handled myself, and now I just got to keep giving myself shots at majors."

The 25-year-old Day has played in five majors. He's finished out of the top 10 only once.

The Australian debuted with a tie for 60th at the 2010 British Open. Since then, his record is the envy of many of his colleagues: tied for 10th at the 2010 PGA Championship, tied for second behind champion Charl Schwartzel at the 2011 Masters, outright second behind Rory McIlroy at Congressional in 2011.

This year, he's the only player to finish in the top 10 in both majors.

Day spent Sunday hovering near the top, unable to break through because he kept canceling himself out. Birdie at No. 4, bogey at No. 5. Birdie at No. 10, bogey at No. 11. He was one off the lead when he got to 18, but he put his approach in the bunker and missed a 5-footer for par.

No shame there. No one birdied the finishing hole over the final two rounds. It was the shortest major championship course in nine years, but the scores were typical U.S. Open.

"I think that every club in the bag got a workout this week," he said. "So I think that it would be sad for it not to come back (here) to a U.S. Open."

His best shot came right after his worst one. He went from rough to creek at No. 11, then nearly put his next shot into the creek as well. But he holed out from the nasty rough for bogey.

From there, he had near misses, when he wasn't scrambling: "Nearly made the birdie on 13. ... Nearly holed a good putt on 15. ... Had two good saves on 16 and 17."

Too many near misses to win. He probably knew it when he tossed his club after the miss at 13. Or when he put both hands over his head after the miss at 15.

All of which means he's still 14 victories behind Tiger Woods when it comes to majors. Day ended his remarks by referencing the world's No. 1 player.

"You got to understand that, late Sunday of a U.S. Open and U.S. Open courses are very hard you can't do anything but kind of grind (it) out," Day said. "Like Tiger said at the start of the week, you just got to keep grinding those 10 footers and just grind away. So I was happy with how I played."

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Among the remaining contestants were Miss Louisiana, Miss Texas and Miss Illinois, who admitted during the show that she once attacked her sister for borrowing her clothes without asking.

Also continuing on in the competition were super-fit representatives from Connecticut, South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Utah, Alabama and North Carolina.

Miss Nevada, a Las Vegas restaurant manager, also made the cut.

In a twist, organizers announced they would allow fans to save one of the eliminated women by announcing their support on Twitter.

During the swimsuit competition, the ladies threw off sheer wraps to reveal skimpy blue, gold and orange bikinis. They strutted in stilettos to the Jonas Brothers' live performance of "Pom Poms." Miss Louisiana, Miss California and Miss Maryland wore their cover-up around their necks like a cape.

When it was announced that Miss South Carolina would be continuing on from the swimsuit competition, a woman in the audience let out a long piercing scream.

The remaining women strutted to Calvin Harris' electronica-infused "Sweet Nothing" in an array of spangled, flowing evening gowns. Trains, gauze and long wavy hair were the preferred looks.

Only five will move on to the interview portion of the show.

Reigning queen Nana Meriwether will relinquish her crown and the posh New York apartment that comes with it at the end of the night and usher in her successor.

The women got the night started with a light-hearted fashion show, gliding down a runway in short dress and ball gowns to Pitbull's "Don't Stop the Party" against a backdrop of gleaming LED screens. All but one wore her hair down in loose curls.

All but 15 were quickly sent home based on preliminary competitions.

Miss USA Contestants cannot have been married or have children, and they must be younger than 27.

Unlike the rival Miss America pageant, Donald Trump's Miss USA does not ask its queens to perform a talent or choose a charity mission.

The judge's panel includes over-the-top fashion designer Betsey Johnson, "Biggest Loser" star Bob Harper and "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me" personality Mo Rocca.

Rocca praised the pageant as a prime example of Americana backstage. He said he was looking to appoint a new Miss USA who reminded him of Abraham Lincoln "without the beard."

The pageant aired live on NBC, hosted by Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers pop act and Giuliana Rancic, co-anchor of "E! News." The Jonas Brothers and DJ Pauly D were expected to perform.

The winner will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in the winter.

Last year's Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, won that international crown, becoming the first Miss USA to ascend to Miss Universe in 16 years. Meriwether, who had been first runner-up, took over for her for the remainder of the year.

Sunday's winner will become a spokeswoman for breast and ovarian cancer awareness and other causes and will traveling to promote the organization.

The Miss USA hopefuls have been staying at the Planet Hollywood casino for the past week, but the flashing slot machines and ubiquitous oversized novelty drinks have been little more than a background to a stuffed schedule of product tie-in media events, including hairdo contests and paddleboat competitions.

The animal rights organization People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals is using the pageant to stage a protest of fur and the tradition of awarding furs to winners of some state pageants.

PETA has made a provocative ad featuring four nude former Miss USA winners. The tagline is: "Feel Beautiful in Your Own Skin, and Let Animals Keep Theirs."

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Yvette Cruz contributed to this report.

Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

Juventus factor

Pirlo's breakthrough finally galvanised the Mexicans, who won the competition on home soil in 1999, into action and within six minutes they were level through Manchester United striker Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez from the penalty spot.Gio dos Santos dispossessed Andrea Barzagli on the edge of his area before he was shoved by his rival and a penalty was awarded.Italy coach Cesare Prandelli fielded no fewer than six Juventus men in his starting eleven but it was AC Milan's erratic Balotelli who went close once again as he drew another save from the equally busy Corona.Hector Moreno found the best way to stop the former Manchester City striker was by illegal means and duly picked up a yellow card for a foul at the start of the second period before skipper Francisco Rodriguez tried the same technique and earned the same punishment.Just after the hour Pirlo sent another trademark freekick just wide of the upright before Prandelli sent on some fresh legs in replacing Claudio Marchisio with Alessio Cerci of Torino.A Gerardo Flores header was the best Mexico could offer as they faded away in the possible belief they had done enough to emerge with an eighth draw in 11 games, the series of stalemates holding up their attempts to qualify for the World Cup.But Balotelli's late effort, firing in after a neat flick from Emanuele Giaccherini, stunned them and saw Italy take a giant leap towards reaching the semi-finals with Brazil and Japan to come.

Cobb put a hand on his head after being struck. Trainers from both teams and other medical staff immediately ran onto the field.

Cobb could be seen kicking his legs while being examined on the mound. The Rays announced that Cobb remained conscious the whole time and was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg for further examination.

Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said all tests were normal and that Cobb suffered a mild concussion.

Players on both teams had hands on their heads as a stunned silence overtook Tropicana Field after the crowd gasped when Cobb was struck.

It came a month after Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ was also struck by a liner against the Rays and suffered a skull fracture.

Happ was discharged from an area hospital the following day.

The sound of the ball striking Cobb which sounded like a bat hitting a ball could be heard in the press box.

Rays players, manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey gathered at the mound during the 11-minute delay. Shortstop Yunel Escobar was in squatting position looking down at the ground, while Hickey appeared at time at be nervously pacing near the mound.

It has been a tough week for Cobb, who left the team after starting Monday night's game against Boston due to the death of his grandmother. He was informed of the death after the game in which the 25-year old gave up a season-high six runs over four innings in a 10-8, 14-inning loss to the Red Sox.

While Happ has been fine since getting hurt, Arizona's Brandon McCarthy collapsed at a restaurant with a seizure related to the head injury he sustained while pitching last September. He was having dinner with his wife at a Phoenix restaurant when he passed out.

While pitching for Oakland last Sept. 5, McCarthy sustained what was described at the time as life-threatening injuries when he was struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Erick Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels. He had an epidural hemorrhage, brain contusion and a skull fracture. Emergency surgery was performed that night and he was released from the hospital six days later.

The U.N. Children's Fund says 414 children have been killed or injured in the first four months of this year, up 27 percent over the same period the previous year. The agency says this is "unacceptable" and "very worrying."

UNICEF said Thursday that 121 children were killed and 293 were injured this year, through April 30. Roadside bombs accounted for the largest number of casualties, with 37 percent.

Violence is increasing overall in Afghanistan as the Taliban and other militants press an intense offensive against government targets as international troops hand over security to Afghans. The international coalition is set to end its military mission by the end of 2014.

The company focused on how cloud computing will make games for its next-generation Xbox One console more immersive during its Monday presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade show. Microsoft announced last week that the successor to the Xbox 360 must be connected to the Internet every 24 hours to operate, and the system would ideally always be online.

"The platform features and capabilities exclusive to Xbox One allow developers to push the boundaries of creativity and take gaming in completely new directions," Microsoft Vice President Phil Harrison told the crowd at University of Southern California's Galen Center.

The upcoming console's cloud computing capabilities were demonstrated by fleshing out dense environments in third-person open-world games like the zombie-fighting sequel "Dead Rising 3" and cartoony shooter "Sunset Overdrive." The racing simulator "Forza MotorSport 5" introduced a feature called "drivatar," which mimics players' driving styles and allows their "drivatars" to play for them offline.

"There's ability to put things in the cloud that you want to have computed, so you can take some of the computing capability that you might require locally or used to require locally and then have CPUs in the cloud that actually do some background work for the game," explained Phil Spencer, Microsoft Studios' vice president. "You're actually augmenting the power of the box that's sitting right in your living room."

Microsoft revealed the console, which it has billed as an "all-in-one" entertainment solution for living rooms, will be released in November and cost $499. The company debuted the console earlier this year at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The initial reactions to the device have been mixed.

Other games coming to Xbox One include the historical third-person game "Ryse: Son of Rome," hard-knuckled brawler "Killer Instinct," a bigger edition of "Minecraft," terra-forming simulator "Project Spark" and a new installment of the sci-fi shooter series "Halo."

Monday's flashy event concluded with the debut of the mech-heavy multiplayer shooter "Titanfall," the first game from Respawn Entertainment, which was founded by "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" creators Vince Zampella and Jason West.

The company said it was doing away with its Microsoft points system for online purchases with its Xbox Live online service, opting instead for local currency.

Microsoft didn't address concerns at Monday's event over connectivity, used games and privacy issues with the Xbox One, which will feature a new version of its camera-based Kinect sensor. In a blog post on Microsoft's site Thursday ahead of E3, the company outlined more details about the console, including restrictions on how previously played or used games could be shared and how frequently the Xbox One must be online.

"For people who are in a completely disconnected state, I think (Xbox) 360 is definitely a great content base for them and a great console, and we'll continue to invest in that," Spencer said after the event.

Microsoft Corp. kicked off Monday's presentation by revealing the Xbox 360 is getting a makeover with a design inspired by the Xbox One.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's vice president of marketing and strategy, said the updated Xbox 360 is "smaller, sleeker and as quiet as ever." He added it would be available beginning Monday.

The company boasted that hundreds of new games are still coming to Xbox 360, which was originally released eight years ago as the high-definition successor to the Xbox. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has outsold rivals like the Wii and PlayStation 3 from Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp. for the past two years. It has sold more than 76 million Xbox 360 units.

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AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report. Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

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Romney, who is hosting a retreat with his wife on Thursday and Friday in Utah, appears to have convinced himself that he almost had it. "The election was close enough in the outcome with what 4 percent difference between the two campaigns that a number of things could have changed the outcome," he said. Romney implied the IRS scandal might have made a difference. He demanded to know where Obama was during the Benghazi attack. But by modern standards, the election wasn't that close. That 4 percent is 5 million votes, and Romney needed to flip four swing states.

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Among the things Romney thinks might have actually changed the election appears to be his own comments. He repeatedly referenced his own "mistakes" in the CNN interview. He said hehis comment about 47 percent of Americans refusing to take responsibility for their lives. He said of Clint Eastwood's empty-chair moment, "Clint didn't hurt my campaign, I hurt my campaign a couple times." He said dealing with the press is hard. "Jokes, for instance, will get you in trouble," Romney said. "Any time you're trying to be funny."

Trish Staine says she had no idea she was pregnant. The 33-year-old Duluth mother of three insists she gained no weight, felt no fetal movement and that her husband has had a vasectomy.

Staine says she noticed what she now realizes were labor pains after her run at noon on Sunday but she didn't go to the hospital until the following day. She gave birth to Mira short for Miracle at 3:25 p.m. Monday.

Mira weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 18.9 inches long.

A majority of Food and Drug Administration advisers voted Thursday to modify or remove measures that currently limit patient access to GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia. Among other requirements, patients currently must sign a waiver that they understand the drug's risks before getting a prescription.

The panel ruling is a belated victory for British drugmaker Glaxo after more than a half-decade defending the safety of its product, which was once the best-selling diabetes drug in the world. Sales began plummeting in 2007 after researchers first raised questions about possible links to heart attack. After three years of debate, the FDA limited access to the drug in 2010 and European regulators banned the pill altogether.

Of the panel's 26 experts, 13 voted to modify safety restrictions on Avandia while seven voted to remove them entirely. Five panelists voted to keep the measures in place without any changes, while one panelist voted to withdraw Avandia completely.

The vote is a recommendation to the FDA and is not binding.

The FDA convened this week's two-day meeting to consider a new analysis of Avandia's cardiovascular safety performed by Duke University's Clinical Research Institute.

Researchers there reexamined the lone GlaxoSmithKline PLC study specifically designed to measure Avandia's heart risks. The original study's results have been called into question since they were first released in 2009, due to design flaws and inconsistent reporting of heart attacks. Panelists said the reanalysis bolstered their confidence that Avandia does not increase the risk of heart attack more than older diabetes medicines.

"I'm considerably reassured, in light of the reanalysis, that the magnitude of risk we're talking about here is not very great," said Dr. Dale Hammerschmidt of the University of Minnesota, who voted to modify the safety limits.

Under the FDA's current risk-evaluation management strategy, or REMS, Avandia can only be dispensed by specially pharmacies. Like patients, physicians must sign a waiver stating that they understand the drug's risks and that their patients have not responded to any other diabetes medications. Those requirements have essentially cratered prescriptions for the drug. Just 3,000 people in the U.S. are currently taking Avandia, down from 250,000 in 2010. Many panelists said they now believe the restrictions are too severe.

"I believe relaxing the REMS would put this on a more even playing field with other drugs with similar risks," said Dr. Elaine Morrato, of the University of Colorado.

Most panelists said some restrictions are still warranted, such as patient brochures discussing the drug's risks. Panelists also favored registering patients to track their health while on Avandia.

Glaxo's chief medical officer said in a statement: "We continue to believe that Avandia is a safe and effective treatment option for type 2 diabetes."

But even if regulators relax limits on Avandia, it's highly unlikely the drug will regain its blockbuster status.

"It's very difficult to rehabilitate a drug, any drug, after it's been through a process like this," said Rebecca Killion, the panel's patient representative.

This week's meeting marked the third time that the FDA assembled its experts to answer a seemingly basic question: Does Avandia increase the risk of heart attacks? A firm answer has proved elusive, in part because patients with diabetes are already predisposed to heart problems. That makes it extremely difficult to tell which heart attacks are drug-related and which are simply a result of the underlying disease.

The initial concerns about Avandia came from outside researchers who pooled thousands of reports of heart attack and stroke from dozens of unrelated studies. One of these so-called meta-analyses combined 42 studies and appeared to show a higher risk of heart attack among patients taking Avandia compared to other diabetes drugs.

The FDA added a boxed warning about heart attack risks to Avandia in 2007, while noting the shortcomings of the analysis that produced the concern. FDA leadership generally argues that mixing data from multiple studies can lead to misleading trends and conclusions. The agency tries to base its decisions on head-to-head controlled clinical trials, which most medical experts consider the gold standard of research.

That has focused the agency's attention on the RECORD trial, a six-year study of 4,400 patients that compared heart attack rates in patients taking Avandia versus metformin and sulphonylurea, a standard drug combination for diabetics. The initial results reported by Glaxo in 2009 showed no signal for heart attacks, but those findings have been questioned because of missing data and other issues.

Under instructions from the FDA, Glaxo hired Duke University to reanalyze the RECORD study, reviewing each report of heart attack or stroke at a patient-by-patient level. Duke's findings matched Glaxo's initial conclusion: Avandia did not appear to increase the risk of heart attack.

At least one FDA reviewer said this week that Duke's review was not truly independent, since the university was paid $3 million by Glaxo and relied on records provided by the drugmaker.

FDA leadership said there was no evidence of "systematic or intentional manipulation" of the RECORD reevaluation. The agency's panelists almost uniformly backed that conclusion.

Toting a non-Apple device around the world, for the first time in ages, has made me see the Apple-toters with new eyes. If youll allow me to be totally and arbitrarily judgmental for a moment: It struck me just how common the iPhone has become. And I mean that in the sense of not distinguished; not of superior excellence; ordinary, per definition 4 in my Websters New Universal Unabridged Dictionary: Deluxe Second Edition. (Ill stop short of citing definition 7: not refined; low; coarse.)

Before everyone gets upset, I would actually draw a distinction between Apple in general and the iPhone in particular. The latter has become a brand unto itself, one that has long since crossed over from cool (meaning something embraced by a minority that thinks of itself as having elite taste) to acceptable, meaning its a sort of cultural default, like a Polo shirt or Nike sneakers or, for that matter, Windows (in its heyday at least).

Its the brand for people who dont want to think all that hard about what brand they are buying, and just want whatever everybody else will accept without question. Its bourgeois.

Theres nothing wrong with that, per se. Nike sneakers and Polo shirts are acceptable for a reason: They are perfectly fine. And to state the obvious, producing an acceptable default product is an excellent position for a business to occupy. (This is why trendmongersfor a brand to lose its cool so often miss the point.)

But what I'm getting at isn't business. It's personal. Personally, I don't go for Polo ponies and Nike swooshes. I'm not interested in mindlessly signaling that I have bought in to whatever the market has decided is "acceptable." Maybe you've had the same feeling: It's precisely the fact that the iPhone has attained this status in popular culture that made me curious about alternatives.

By now the (perhaps justifiably) offended iPhone loyalists among you would surely like to point out to me that the HTC One, , is not exactly setting the world on fire. The product is a minor sideshow in press coverage of the Apple-Samsung battle; the ; and its . I wouldnt be surprised if most iPhone owners dont even know what an HTC One is.

This doesnt bother me in the least. First, I like an underdog. Second, any time a brand emerges as a default, I get suspicious: Surely I can do better than whatever the majority thinks is acceptable. I think with my HTC One Ive done exactly that. And this is not dissimilar from my insistence on sticking with Apples computers when their market share compared to Windows alternatives had shrunk to practically nothing. As long as I could identify what made my choice better, I had to. And that, as you know, worked out just fine.