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ekansekans's blog: "df"

created on 10/29/2012  |  http://fubar.com/df/b351055

the London Games

NORTON, Mass. DeMarcus Ware Jersey . -- Rory McIlroy got the start he wanted Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, erasing a three-shot deficit in just five holes. The finish was hardly a masterpiece, except for the part when golfs No. 1 player posed with the trophy. Boy Wonder didnt make it easy on himself on Labor Day at the TPC Boston. He tore up the turf on a tee shot that travelled 170 yards, and that was the only fairway he hit over the last five holes. He had to make a 6-foot putt to save par from a bunker, and a 5-foot putt to save bogey after a pitch sailed from one side of the green to the other. And he had to wait as Louis Oosthuizens birdie putt to force a playoff slid below the hole. "I had a couple of wobbles coming in, but I obviously did enough and Im very excited to get a victory," McIlroy said. Thats all anyone will remember. On a leaderboard packed with some of the biggest names in golf -- McIlroy, Oosthuizen, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson -- the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland took a giant leap toward establishing himself as the best in the game. With four birdies in six holes at the start, and limiting the damage from his mistakes at the end, McIlroy closed with a 4-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Oosthuizen, joining Woods as the only three-time winners this year on the PGA Tour. McIlroy goes to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup. And with one of his wins being the PGA Championship, that might be enough for his peers to vote him PGA Tour player of the year. He also has a comfortable gap in the world ranking, and could be tough to catch the rest of the year unless Woods were to win the next two FedEx Cup events. "Hes not No. 1 in the world for nothing," Oosthuizen said. "Hes a great young talent, a lot of majors left for him to win. Hes such a cool kid on the course. Its great playing with him. He makes tough shots look really easy sometimes, especially long irons. "I dont think the back nine he hit the ball that great after what he did on the front nine, but he did what he had to do." Woods made an early charge to get back in the hunt, though he never got closer than three shots until a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th gave him a 66. He finished in third place, two shots behind, and earned enough money to become the first player to surpass $100 million in PGA Tour earnings. Woods attributed that to higher purses, though hes responsible for those. "I think we got some interest in the game of golf," Woods said. "A lot more youth, thats for sure." One of those kids -- McIlroy -- keeps winning. The Honda Classic in March. The record eight-shot win in the PGA Championship. And now a FedEx Cup playoff event in Boston. "Three is a great number," McIlroy said. "Id like to make it four -- or five -- after the FedEx Cup." Phil Mickelson also had a 66 and tied for fourth, along with Dustin Johnson, who had a 70 and likely played his way onto the Ryder Cup team. Brandt Snedeker made a strong case for a captains pick with a 65-67 weekend to finish sixth. Davis Love III will announce his four picks Tuesday morning in New York. McIlroy had a three-shot lead with six holes to play, and only a clutch bogey putt on the 17th hole kept him from losing all of his lead. Oosthuizen, who had to cope with pain in his right shoulder earlier in the round, came back with two birdies on the back to get within one shot. McIlroy hit a chip over the 17th green into more rough, and it looked as if he would struggle to make bogey. Oosthuizen, however, missed the green from 140 yards in the fairway, chipped poorly to 10 feet and missed his par putt, and McIlroy calmly sank his 5-foot bogey putt to stay one shot ahead. "The 17th hole cost me," Oosthuizen said. McIlroy finished 20-under 264. It was the second time this year that Oosthuizen, who won the British Open by seven shots at St. Andrews two years ago, failed to win after leading going into the final round. McIlroy made an early charge with three straight birdies, but the turning point came on the fifth hole when Oosthuizen felt pain in his shoulder on a tee shot that sailed into the trees and led to double bogey. The pain went away on the back, which the South African attributed to an adrenaline rush. McIlroy and Oosthuizen turned it into a two-man race, with Woods lurking until he couldnt convert enough putts. In the end, neither could Oosthuizen. He missed from just inside 10 feet for par on the 17th and from 12 feet on the 18th. "I probably made all my putts yesterday," Oosthuizen said. There was other drama at the Deutsche Bank Championship, though it was not nearly as compelling as the top of the leaderboard. Charley Hoffman went from the first page of the leaderboard to an unimaginable collapse until he steadied himself at the end. Hoffman, who was 13 under after a birdie on the eighth hole, played his next nine holes in 8-over par, including a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 11th. He came to the 18th needing a par to finish among the top 70 in the FedEx Cup and advance to the third playoff event next week in Indianapolis. He went over the green in two, barely chipped onto the putting surface, and then ran his putt 12 feet by the hole. He made the putt for par, and moves on. "I didnt expect to be playing next week," Hoffman said. "Shooting 42 on the back nine, I dont think I deserved to play next week. But I guess Ive got another chance." Others who advanced included Dicky Pride, who birdied his last two holes to get the 70th spot by one stroke over Jonas Blixt; and Chris Kirk, who stumbled at the start only to birdie four of his last five holes. Oosthuizen had a three-shot lead at the start of the final round, though he was never expecting an easy time. McIlroy rallied to cut a six-shot deficit in half on the back nine of the third round to give himself a chance, another example why he is No. 1 in the world. Sure enough, McIlroy came out firing with three straight birdies, starting with a two-putt from the fringe on the par-5 second. The fifth hole changed everything. Oosthuizen reached for his shoulder after a horrific snap hook off the tee. The ball dove into the woods and landed in the middle of shoulder-high bushes, leaving him no option but to take a penalty drop out of the hazard. He laid up short of the creek and two-putted for double bogey. They were tied, because McIlroys tee shot found a clump of native grass on the edge of a bunker, and he had to chip out short of the creek and made bogey. Oosthuizen, though, was clearly hurting. He couldnt get through his swing on the next tee shot, which sailed into the bunker and kept him from attacking the pin. Thats what McIlroy did, hitting 9-iron into 3 feet for birdie and his first lead. He never gave it back. Dez Bryant Camo Jersey . -- Major League Baseball could start in-season testing for human growth hormone next year. DeMarcus Ware Game Jersey . European soccers governing body UEFA says its appeal panel will judge the case on Aug. 27. Bendtner hopes to overturn UEFAs one-match ban before Sept. 8, when Denmark begins its 2014 World Cup qualifying program against the Czech Republic. http://www.nflcowboysfansstore.com/nike-dez-bryant-Cowboys-jersey/ . Dubnyk won 20 games in 47 appearances for the Oilers last season. The six-foot-five, 210-pound goalie had a 2.67 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. The 20 wins and 2.67 GAA were both career bests. DeMarcus Ware Womens Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. DeMarco Murray Black Jersey . Desormeaux, a two-time Preakness winner, was removed as the rider of 30-1 long shot Tiger Walk by owner Kevin Planks Sagamore Farm and trainer Ignacio Correas, and replaced by Ramon Dominguez. MIAMI -- LeBron James looked at the assembled talent in the Miami Heat locker room, and one word came to mind. "Scary," he said. Translated, that means James thinks the Heat will be even better than they were a season ago. Oddly, James teammates expect the same from him. After a season where he won just about everything besides Powerball -- his third MVP award, his first NBA Finals MVP award and, of course, his first NBA championship -- James is going back to work. He and the Heat convened for their annual media day Friday, the prelude to Saturday mornings opening practice and the first step toward what the Heat hope is another championship push. "We can be better than we were this past season," James said, on the day when he got sized for his first championship ring. "Are we better right now than we were just a couple months ago? Of course not. ... But we have the potential to be better. "We have the potential to be a lot better. That is scary." Chances are, the Heat will have to be better than they were last season to hoist another championship trophy next June. As if they werent the team on radar screens across the NBA already once James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to team up in Miami during the summer of 2010, winning a title will only make them more of a target. And then adding a player like Ray Allen, whose last NBA game was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Miami when he played for the Boston Celtics, only raises the ante that much more. "We have one target," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Friday. "And thats Miami." There was plenty going on around the Heat on Friday, some of it newsy, some of it more humorous, as typically is the case at a media day. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh talked about how theyre healing after injuries struck in last seasons playoffs. Allen and Rashard Lewis -- free-agent additions -- posed for photos in new Heat uniforms. Shane Battier talked about the NBAs pet-peeve issue, flopping, hilariously calling it "a silent killer." Udonis Haslem was followed by a camera crew to, as he said, document "The Little 12," what he calls everyone not in the "Big Three" club of Wade, Bosh and James. Haslems cameras might have been the only ones not on James, who hasnt spoken publicly much since the Olympics ended. "Hes not on cruise control, no," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about James. "Hes as driven a professional as Ive been around. He understands not only his legacy, but team legacy and the opportunity that this tteam and organization has. Chris Jones Jersey. And he savors that. Hes the ultimate competitor." It took James nine years to win that long-coveted first title, after leading the Heat past the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games. His clinching performance was a classic -- a triple-double, 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. James came out with 3:01 remaining and the celebrating started, waving his arms and jumping on the sideline, then wrapping anyone and everyone he could reach in massive embraces. So began his summer vacation. It lasted about a week. His commitment to USA Basketball and the London Games started only a few days after the Heat championship parade. When that ended -- with a gold medal -- he jumped back to his personal business matters, including a trip to China and a decision to switch agents from Leon Rose to longtime friend Rich Paul. There were more workouts with Thunder star Kevin Durant, just like last year, and a little bit of vacationing thrown into the mix. Now, its all about basketball business. "Ive thought that for a long time that Im the best player," James said. "Thats the way I approach the game. Anytime I step on the floor, I think Ive told you guys that before, I want to be the best player on the floor. Thats just the confidence I play with. Thats not taking away from all these other great players that we have in this game today." He averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in this past regular season, then upped the ante to 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the playoffs. Monster numbers, and the Heat cant wait to see what he does for an encore. "Do it again," Bosh said, when asked what to expect from James. "Just continue to be himself. Hes a hard worker, naturally. He doesnt have to repeat what he did last year. This years a new year. Its going to present different challenges and were going to have to overcome them. Hes going to have to overcome them. Were all going to have our team challenges and personal challenges that come our way." James said he found time to work on some aspects of his game during the off-season, though he obviously didnt have anywhere near the same break he had after the 2010-11 season -- which was lengthened by a lockout, and didnt have an Olympics in there, either. "Hes on a hell of a run," Battier said. "Its almost like throwing a no-hitter. You dont want to talk about it. You just want to ride it out and see where it goes. But if theres one guy who could top what hes done in calendar 2012, its No. 6. I wouldnt count him out or bet against him." ' ' '

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