Memphian in 3-way tie for State Am lead

Former University of Memphis golfer Matt Cooper was in a three-way tie for the lead after shooting a 4-under par 66 at the Tennessee State Amateur on Tuesday in Chattanooga.

Cooper was tied with Grant Milner of Knoxville and Andrew Weathers of Chattanooga.

Also close to the top, Payne Denman, Josh Nelms, Travis Rodgers and Steven Fox are all tied at 68.

“I missed only two greens, so I had a lot of solid ball striking, which helped me today,” said Cooper, who successfully defended his Memphis Publinx title last month and then placed second in the MGA Championship.

“I have been playing well this summer, so I am confident about my game.”

Defending champion Tim Jackson of Germantown fired a 69.

“The course is a great fit for my game,” he said. “I haven’t played much this year, but I have really tried to focus and work on my driver to keep it straight and just play fairways and greens.

“I was shocked about winning last year. I definitely did not expect my 53-year-old self to win this event. But it just shows that anything can happen.”

NEW YORK — Facebook friends. Transcripts of BlackBerry instant messages. Records of texts.

Major League Baseball’s investigators used an arsenal of high-tech tools to collect the evidence that persuaded a dozen players to accept 50-game suspensions this week for their ties to the Biogenesis clinic.

And when it came time to meet with the players’ association, they flashed some of their documentary proof. While there was not enough time for the union to thoroughly examine what baseball had collected, there was little doubt there was an electronic trail, one of the people familiar with the meetings said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.

“It both complicates things and adds a layer of proof that certainly wasn’t available many years ago,” union general counsel David Prouty said Tuesday.

Alex Rodriguez, the lone holdout against a suspension, faces an arbitration hearing in coming months that likely will include such evidence. The New York Yankees third baseman was suspended for 211 games from Thursday through the 2014 season, though he is allowed to play until a decision is issued by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, which is not expected until at least November.

Until now, nearly all suspensions under MLB’s drug program resulted from positive drug tests.

The Biogenesis probe revealed players were using PEDs without detection.

The probe was sparked in January when the Miami New Times published documents linking players to the clinic and accused it of distributing banned performance- enhancing drugs.

Technology has evolved since 2003, when federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, Calif., sparking an investigation that eventually led to criminal convictions of Barry Bonds, track star Marion Jones, cyclist Tammy Thomas and NFL lineman Dana Stubblefield.

After the Miami New Times report, baseball investigators examined the Facebook pages of Bosch and Porter Fisher, the former Biogenesis associate who gave documents to the newspaper.

They began to sketch out which people they were friends with, and which of those friends posted photos of athletes or mentioned athletes. Each link led to new loops that provided leads.