Post by jenny123 on Jan 20, 2014 22:24:36 GMT -5
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Phil Mickelson has figured out the secret to the greens at Quail Hollow. Or maybe hes just had a lot of good bounces for two days. Mickelson opened with a pair of 15-foot birdie putts, dropped in a 40-foot putt at the turn and made back-to-back birdies late in his round Friday. He finished with a 5-under 67 for a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship. Quail Hollow, renowned for pristine conditions, had everything go wrong with spring and wound up with putting surfaces that are mostly choppy with brown patches where the grass has died. Two greens were entirely replaced by sod last week. Despite that, Mickelson has taken only 50 putts in two rounds. And the most staggering statistic of all? He hasnt missed from inside 10 feet. "I think that the greens are putting very, very good, obviously, because Ive putted them well," Mickelson said. "But with them being slower, were able to putt them aggressively. Were able to take some of the break out without fear of racing it way by. And Ive made a concerted effort to leave uphill putts, which has allowed me to putt even more aggressive and play even less break. And thats made a big difference in my putting." For a tournament that already has had six major champions win in the 10-year history, Mickelson is missing from the list. And its a title he dearly wants. He was at 9-under 135 heading into the weekend, though there is plenty of star power around him. Nick Watney played with Mickelson the opening two rounds and looks efficient, going bogey-free on the back nine. He had a 70 and was at 7-under 137, along with George McNeill (68) and Scott Gardiner, the 37-year-old tour rookie who had missed eight straight cuts coming into the Quail Hollow. Gardiner, the first Aboriginal Australian to become a pro golfer, ran off four straight birdies at the turn and had a 67. Rory McIlroy struggled with the speed of the greens -- he felt they were much faster than Thursday -- but rallied on the front nine with three birdies for a 71. Lee Westwood twice hit into the water on the par-5 seventh and still escaped with a bogey by making a 25-foot putt. He had a 68. They were in a group at 6-under 138 that included Rod Pampling, the ninth alternate and last man in the field. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., had a 72, to drop six back at 3-under 141. Ottawas Brad Fritsch shot a 72, and is eight off the pace at 143. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., had a 73, and is at 145. Calgarys Stephen Ames missed the cut with a 76, leaving him at 153. Sergio Garcia twice made news for his work on the greens. Garcia used his wedge to knocked in a 5-footer on the third hole, only this wasnt any protest about the overall conditions of Quail Hollow. He had a scrape mark left by cleats, which he described as 3 inches long and nearly an inch high. "I thought the only way I could make this putt was to get lucky," Garcia, and he wasnt feeling lucky on this day. The prudent move was to hit a 52-degree wedge, chip it just over the rough turf, and he pulled it off beautifully. It was a throwback to the days of the stymie, when players didnt mark their golf balls, or to a generation ago in summer events when spike marks could be an inch high. Garcia didnt sign for his 68 -- he was five shots behind -- until talking to rules officials and going over the videotape. A TV viewer said it appeared Garcia did not replace his ball in the same spot where he marked it on the 17th. Garcia, demonstrating later for reporters, said he slid the coin to the side of the ball, and turned his hand around when he replaced the ball so he wouldnt brush the coin. He said it appeared his ball was a fraction of an inch away from the original spot. PGA Tour rules officials signed off on it, and Garcia said they even called the USGA to confirm. "I said, If you guys feel like I gained something by moving it -- I dont know how much, like a centimetre or couple centimetres, whatever it is -- Im fine with the two-stroke penalty. Id rather take the two- stroke penalty than come out here like I was a cheater," Garcia said. "Obviously, they felt that wasnt the case. I told them exactly what I did, and they felt it was fine." Garcia also said he tweaked his back on a tee shot at the 10th and would get treatment on it, uncertain he would play depending on how it felt Saturday. Saturday figures to be a busier day than expected. A couple of late bogeys and one double bogey dropped the cut to 2-over 146, allowing more than a dozen players back into the tournament. That means there will be another cut on Saturday. Through it all, there was plenty of aggravation. Bubba Watson opened with a three-putt from 10 feet, added a four-putt from about 65 feet on the 12th hole, and had another three-putt from 15 feet. But it was like that for everyone, which is why McNeill had a peculiar answer when asked what the winner had to do well this weekend. "Its the guy who keeps control of his emotions the best," McNeill said. "The greens will have an effect on you. Youve just got to keep positive. Youre going to have good putts that miss, and you might have some bad putts that go in." Mickelson is less concerned with his run of amazing putting than with getting the ball in play. He has hit only 11 fairways going into the weekend, though he found something in his alignment early on the back nine and was hitting it where he was aiming the rest of the way. "Its fun to be in contention. Its fun to be in the mix," Mickelson said. Its great to be leading, but were only halfway home. There is a lot of golf left. I have to come out and play very well. But Ive been putting very well this week, and Ive been driving the ball very well before I got here. And I think if I drive the ball the way Ive been before I got here, and not the way I did the first few days, I think its going to be a fun weekend." Earl Thomas Jersey . Teo, who has been out with an injured right foot since Aug. 8, has been working with the starters this week and hes hoping to help a defence that is ranked dead last against the pass and No. Sidney Rice Jersey . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. www.authenticseahawksjerseysnfl.com/Seattle-Seahawks_K-J-Wright-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ . Trailing by one, 70-69, with under a minute to play, Verdell Jones III stole the ball from Ohio States Aaron Craft. Jones threw the ball down the court for Oladipo, who made a layup with 36 seconds remaining. Craft then failed to control a pass under the basket and the ball went out of bounds. James Carpenter Super Bowl Jersey . Upton hit a pair of solo homers off Luebke, Xavier Nady added a two-run shot against the rookie and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Wednesday night. Red Bryant Jersey . Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran each cleared the bases in the fourth and fifth inning, respectively, to break a 299-game drought without a grand slam, as the Mets took commanding 14-3 win over the Detroit Tigers to open a three-game interleague set. HOUSTON -- Chris Johnson had been waiting all season to hit his first home run. After finally knocking one out of the park in his first at-bat Wednesday, there was almost no wait for No. 2. Johnson had a pair of homers in consecutive at-bats among his four hits and drove in a career-high six runs to back up another solid outing by Wandy Rodriguez, and the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets 8-1 to complete a three-game sweep. "It was a special day," Johnson said. "This is probably my best day in the major leagues. This is something Ill never forget." The win gave Houston its first series sweep of the season and first series win since the opening three games. "The biggest thing is these guys are realizing that the things they are doing wins games," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "And if they do these things, we can continue to win games." Johnsons first homer of the season off Chris Schwinden (0-1) was a three-run shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field that put Houston up 3-0 in the second inning. Jed Lowrie and Brian Bogusevic reached on consecutive singles. Johnson went deep again in his next at-bat, this one a two-run homer to left centre that pushed the lead to 5-0. It was the first career multi-homer game for Johnson and first by an Astro this year. Johnson has been playing well this season after a tough year in 2011 when he struggled and spent time in Triple-A. But he was still bothered seeing the zero on the board on his home run total. "It was a little frustrating, but there was no panic," he said. "I was working on my approach mainly and I got a couple today." Rodriguez (3-2) yielded six hits and a run in seven innings to lower his ERA to 1.64. He has won three in a row and allowed just three runs combined in those starts after opening the season with two consecutive losses. Schwinden allowed six hits and five runs in four innings in his second start of the season. He also pitched four innings in his other start this season, an 18-9 loss at Colorado in which he received a no decision. Mets manager Terry Collins wasnt ready to say if Schwinden would keep his starting spot after Wednesdays struggles. "Im not committing to anything," Collins said. "Things change in this game." Schwinden knows that the team isnt happy with his pitching. "I think theeir patience is kind of wearing a little bit with my performance," he said.dddddddddddd "I just have to keep my head on straight, and if I get another opportunity, try to go for it." The Astros tacked on three runs in the fifth inning with an RBI double by Bogusevic, and run-scoring singles by Johnson and Jason Castro. Johnson added a single in the seventh, but Castro grounded into a double play to end the inning. Houston piled up 15 hits, including three from Lowrie and two apiece from Carlos Lee, Bogusevic and Castro. After losing six games this season by one run, the Astros were happy to get two straight decisive wins this week. "Weve been in so many close games and been so close, but these three games we just went out there and it was nice to blow people away," Lee said. David Wright walked in the fourth inning, stole second base and scored on a single by Andres Torres to leave Houston up 5-1. Wright tripled with one out in the eighth, but reliever David Carpenter retired the next two batters to leave New York empty-handed. The Mets had trouble stringing hits together against Rodriguez. They got more than one in an inning just once while he was pitching. A single by Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed a double by Scott Hairston in the sixth, but Rodriguez retired the next two batters to get out of the inning. Houston centre fielder Jordan Schafer walked in the first and stole second. He has now reached base safely in each of the 24 games hes played this season -- the second-longest streak to start a season in franchise history. New Yorks Ruben Tejada hit a leadoff double, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it for a triple. He singled in the third and added a double in the fifth inning. NOTES: Mets OF Lucas Duda, who has been out of the lineup for the last two games with flulike symptoms, was in the original lineup Wednesday, but a late change left him out of the starting lineup. Nieuwenhuis took his spot in the batting order, Scott Hairston moved to right field and Nieuwenhuis played left. ... Schafer, who sat out Tuesday after experiencing soreness in his left side, started on Wednesday, but was replaced by Justin Maxwell for the fifth inning because of tightness in his lower back. Houston is off on Thursday and Mills said he expects Schafer to be ready to play on Friday. ' ' '