#2 down 68 more to go!!!! i have three hours left to salvage this!!!!

[hella1975]

woke up at 8am. it’s now 10am. ive memorised two flashcards. would love for the Terror to kick in and make me productive right about now

[kansascityhappenings]

Kansas native Gary Woodland takes 1-shot lead over Rose in US Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The toughest test in this U.S. Open might be more about nerves from chasing history than Pebble Beach.

Gary Woodland held it together Saturday with bold plays and two unlikely pars for a 2-under 69, giving him a one-shot lead over Justin Rose and his first appearance in the final group on the last day of a major.

Lurking is Brooks Koepka, who played bogey-free for a 68 to give himself a shot at a record that has stood for 114 years as he tries to join Willie Anderson with a third straight U.S. Open title.

Standing in the way is Pebble Beach, a strong enough test that has been missing strong wind, its best defense.

The final hour of the third round gave a glimpse of possibilities, how fortunes can change quickly. Woodland twice looked as though he were about to lose two shots or more of his lead until chipping in from 35 feet on the par-3 12th hole, and holing a par putt from just over 40 feet on the par-5 14th.

“I’m excited to be where I’m at right now,” Woodland said.

He was at 11-under 202 and with hardly any margin for error against Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion at Merion who birdied the 18th for a 68. Rose got up-and-down from a bunker, the 34th time in 54 holes at Pebble that he had a one-putt green.

Koepka had some theatrics of his own, misjudging a lie in the rough so deep he could barely see the golf ball left of the 15th green. It sailed long into the first cut, some 35 feet away, and he holed the putt for par to keep a clean card.

He was part of a group four shots back that included Louis Oosthuizen, who birdied three of his last four holes to salvage a 70; and Chez Reavie, who made his share of long par putts for a 68.

Koepka won at Erin Hills in 2017 with his power and at Shinnecock Hills last year with his clutch putting. He might need a little of both to make up a four-shot deficit at Pebble Beach, though he brings the most recent experience handling the pressure of a final round in a major. He is going for his fifth major title in his last nine tries, a stretch not seen since Tiger Woods at his peak.

“I just enjoy the pressure,” Koepka said. “I enjoy having to hit a good golf shot, making a putt when the pressure is on. If you’re within three on the back nine, anything can happen. Hang around all day and see what happens.”

Curtis Strange, the last player with a shot at three straight U.S. Opens, also shot 68 in the third round in 1990 and got within two shots, only to fade with a 75 on the final day.

Rory McIlroy didn’t get enough out of how well he hit the ball and had to settle for a 70, leaving him five shots behind.

As for Woods, he joined a list of big names that went the wrong direction. Woods had a 71 and was 11 shots behind. Dustin Johnson also had a 71 and was nine back. Phil Mickelson saw his career Grand Slam hopes vanish at sea when he hit driver in the Pacific on the 18th hole and made triple bogey for a 75.

For the third straight day, a thick marine layer covered the Monterey Peninsula and kept Pebble Beach from getting even faster than it was. Shadows arrived, but only briefly. It still presented a solid test, making this U.S. Open rare in the limited number of complaints. Even Mickelson had praise for the USGA.

Woodland, who led by two to start the third round, stretched it to as many as four shots when Rose shanked a bunker shot from in front of the par-3 fifth green, and Woodland followed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 sixth.

That ended with a two-shot swing on the tough eighth hole, where Rose birdied from 10 feet and Woodland took three putts from the back of the green, ending his amazing streak of 34 straight holes without a bogey.

And then came his biggest two shots, both for par.

Woodland thought his tee shot on the 12th was pure, even twirling his club as it descended. It came up short and in a nasty in the wispy, shin-high grass. Gripping the club at the shaft, he shanked it to the right into light rough. With Rose inside 10 feet for birdie, it looked like a two-shot swing at the very least.

And then Woodland holed it, slamming his fist, a rare show of emotion for one of golf’s coolest customers.

“I was trying to avoid the big number,” Woodland said. “Take your medicine and move on. Nice that it went in.”

Ditto for the par-5 14th, where he got out of position off the tee. The thick grass right of the fairway grabbed his club and sent his second shot into more rough so deep that he can to play short of the green. Then, he hit his wedge too short and was lucky it stayed on the top shelf instead of rolling back to the fairway.

“I just tried to nestle it up close,” Woodland said about his long par putt.

He holed that, too, and kept Rose at a distance.

Rose has been magical with his wedges and putter all week, saving routine pars and tough ones. He was careless with a putt from just short of the 13th green and missed the 4-foot comebacker. He missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th. But he finished with a birdie, leaving him one shot closer.

“One back gives me the freedom to feel like I’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose,” Rose said. “I’m not chasing, really, I’m so close to Gary that I have to go out and play my game tomorrow.”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/06/15/kansas-native-gary-woodland-takes-1-shot-lead-over-rose-in-us-open/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/06/16/kansas-native-gary-woodland-takes-1-shot-lead-over-rose-in-us-open/

[investmart007]

AUGUSTA, Ga. | McIlroy off to solid start at Masters, keeps Slam in sight

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AUGUSTA, Ga. | McIlroy off to solid start at Masters, keeps Slam in sight

AUGUSTA, Ga. |April 5, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Rory McIlroy wanted to get off to a solid start at the Masters, his latest shot at a career Grand Slam.

Saving par on the final three holes in the opening round Thursday helped him keep it in sight.

McIlroy shot a 3-under 69, breaking 70 in the first round at Augusta National for the first time since 2011. He shot a 65 that year and looked like he would win a green jacket before a final-round meltdown.

McIlroy heads into the second round Friday three shots behind Jordan Spieth, who made five consecutive birdies on the back nine to build a two-stroke lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.

“You look at it and not anyone is really getting away,” McIlroy said. “Jordan had a pretty strong finish there. But this is my best start in a few years. And, yeah, it’s such a hard golf course to play catch-up on. If you start to chase it around here, that’s when you start to make mistakes.

“But to be right up there and have the ability to stay patient because of the position I’m in, that’s a nice luxury I have over the next few days.”

He can thank a few timely shots down the stretch.

McIlroy sank an 8-footer for par at No. 16, holed a sweeping, downhill, 13-footer for par on the next green and then chipped to a couple feet to save another par on 18.

“It’s not always the birdies that stick out in your mind,” McIlroy said, calling those shots the highlights of his round. “Those three holes. Big for momentum. I don’t feel like I’m going out trying to get those two shots or whatever back (Friday) morning. I can just be relaxed going on to the first tee, not being too concerned about trying to get those birdies back. So, yeah, they were huge.”

The first time McIlroy had a chance for the Grand Slam at the Masters, he opened 71-71 and found himself 12 shots back because Spieth ran away with it.

“Obviously it was very benign for us coming in the last few holes,” McIlroy said. “I’m not surprised about (Spieth) at all. He loves this golf course. He plays well around here. He always has. And he’s going to be tough to beat this week.”

___

Some other things to know heading into the second round of golf’s first major:

TIGER TALES:

Tiger Woods’ first Masters appearance since 2015 was a bit of a letdown — he shot a 73, leaving him seven shots off the lead — but the four-time Augusta champion insisted that he’s still in the game.

Woods was encouraged by two birdies coming down the stretch.

“I could have easily let the round slip away from me, but I got it back,” he said. “And I’m right back in this tournament.”

Well, not exactly.

Only two players have come back from seven shots behind after the opening round to capture the green jacket. But one of them is Woods, who rallied from that daunting deficit to beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff for his last Masters title in 2005.

“I fought hard to get back in there, and I’m back in this championship,” Woods insisted. “There’s a lot of holes to be played.”

TOUGH TONY:

Tony Finau may not win the green jacket, but there’s no doubt he deserves some sort of award for being the toughest guy on the course.

One day after dislocating his left ankle while celebrating a hole-in-one during the Par 3 Contest — he literally popped it back into place right in the middle of the course — Finau was only two shots off the lead after shooting a 68 in his Masters debut.

“I look at myself as a mentally tough person, and I think I showed that today in my round, just able to put my head down and just play,” he said.

Now, it will be interesting to see how the ankle reacts after walking 18 holes in a round that took more than five hours to complete.

“Hopefully I can get some better rest tonight and elevate, ice, have fluid and hopefully feel better,” Finau said.

SERGIO’S DEBACLE:

For the second straight year, it looks like the defending champion will have nothing to do this weekend except hand out the green jacket to someone else.

Sergio Garcia’s hopes of a second straight title went up in smoke — really more like down the slope — at the 15th hole.

The Spaniard had five shots roll into the water at the par-3 hole, leading to a 13 that matched the highest score in Masters history. He finished with an 81, which was the worst score ever for a defending champ at Augusta National.

“I felt like the ball was going to stop,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it didn’t want to.”

BIG NAMES:

Phil Mickelson lamented a “terrible putt” on No. 18 that could have salvaged a better opening round. Lefty finished 2 under, the best score among a host of big names and pre-Masters favorites chasing Spieth.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson was 1 over, one shot better than Justin Thomas and two ahead of Jason Day.

Rickie Fowler was 2 under, and Justin Rose was at even-par.

“I didn’t capitalize on some putts that I’ve been making,” Mickelson said. “But what I did do well is I plotted my way around the golf course. I got in a reasonable score.”

___

By MARK LONG, AP Sports Writer,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

[owldatadigest-blog]

OWL-DD Week 11: BALENCIAGAS FOR EVERYONE

I cannot get over NYXL’s love for this insane, trash-ass footwear. 

Here are some fun facts about Balenciagas:

-They look like the kind of shoes a Final Fantasy character would wear in a retirement home

-The original design brief for the sneakers was just a cocktail napkin with the words “kaiju bath slippers” scribbled on it -The Italian government asked Balenciaga to design the shoes because Italian crime has more footchases per capita than anywhere else in the world and the cops were tired of losing -If you go missing in the wilderness, the shoes can be tied over your head to provide you with shelter and protection from the elements

-The Balenciaga Triple S has reduced the amount of discarded rubber in our oceans by nearly 68% since their introduction two years ago

-Drake has a pair, and when OWL gets big enough he’ll say he bought them because of NYXL

Anyway.

Congratulations to the New York Fightin’ Excelsiors. After two stages of play, we’ve now seen a 3-seed and a 1-seed win the stage playoff, which is healthy. It’s good that teams are both competitive enough to justify the seeding, and overcome it. New York now gets to fully enjoy its place as the unquestioned number 1 team in OWL. They didn’t choke, and they held their nerve in a reverse sweep of the Fusion.

Let’s talk about reverse sweeps for a second. Counting the playoffs, there have now been 6 reverse sweeps this season, 4 of which happened in the last three weeks of Stage 2, and it was leading me to believe there was something of a curse in the works. Specifically, no team that went up by 2 at half time and then lost the next 2 maps had ever won a map 5 (with the exception of Philly vs. Shanghai in week 3, a fact I feel comfortable sweeping under the rug because Shanghai). In other words, if you let a team threaten to reverse sweep you, they were going to reverse sweep you.

This held true until the very last match of Stage 2: Boston vs. LAG. The Uprising went into halftime with a 2 map lead and then promptly gave it up in what looked like another endurance showcase from the Gladiators. But Boston took Ilios to a third point for the win. Kudos to them for beating the odds.

There still isn’t enough data here to establish a predictive trend- only 4% of matches have ended in a reverse sweep this season -but I feel comfortable saying that a map 4 loss after being up 2-0 at halftime is a serious blow to a team’s composure. No other team that fell to a reverse sweep in Stage 2 except the Fusion even capped a single point on map 5. That’s how demoralizing it is, and if I was coaching any team in the league I’d make it a priority to practice under that kind of pressure.

Speaking of pressure, we’re now halfway through the season and the final playoff picture is starting to take shape. Realistically, the top 8 teams are in serious contention for a playoff spot. Shanghai is pretty much guaranteed out and a losing season, as their map differential is an entire stage’s worse than the next highest team. Likewise, things are just not good with Dallas right now. It’s impossible to tell where they’ll end up, but the statistical outlook and the overall health of the team are way past jeopardy.

The real teams to keep an eye on in Stage 3 are Boston, LAG, San Francisco, and Florida. Each of these teams are firmly in “control their own destiny” territory, but they also proved in Stage 2 that they’re competitive enough to earn a playoff spot. Okay, maybe not the Shock, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt because they’ve significantly expanded their roster, shown steady improvement, and have a salvageable -15 map differential.

Everyone else pretty much just needs to hold course. Stage 3 should be less tumultuous than Stage 2 was because the meta has settled down. That said, the teams that improved in Stage 2 deserve to be taken seriously, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see significant mobility in the middle of the standings now that win totals start to catch up with performance.

Finally, the Stage 3 playoffs are expanding to 4 teams. This is good! A 3 team playoff was always weird. The catch now is that the #1 ranked team gets to pick their opponent in the first round, which adds a new layer of strategy. New York, er… the #1 seed now has the power to not only select who they want to play first, but also dictate who plays each other in the other semi-final match by proxy. Will they use that privilege to select easier first round opponents, or arrange a match between one team and another that stands a worse chance of challenging them in the final?

Also, before anyone worries that top seeds will abuse this privilege to select weaker opponents in the first round and take all the drama out of the proceedings, just consider what happened between Philly and London in the Stage 2 semi-final…

That’s a live recording of my reaction to London’s defense on map 5.

POWER RANKINGS, STAGE 3 WEEK 1:

Slight change yet again. Teams are now ranked according to map record, shutout percentage, and cap differential for the current stage. I got rid of overall wins and losses because as a stat it’s more outcome-based than performance-based, and the other three stats are a little more granular. For official league standings, visit OWL’s website. Here are the final power rankings for Stage 2. Progress resets next week.

1. New York Excelsior (34-9/23%/+34) League rank: 1st

2. London Spitfire (31-11/33%/+28) League rank: 2nd

3. Philadelphia Fusion (27-15/24%/+21) League rank: 4th

4. Los Angeles Gladiators (25-16-1/21%/+14) League rank: 8th

5. Seoul Dynasty (25-16/19%/+11) League rank: 3rd- Looks like the Tigers need to do a little

(•_•) 

( •_•)>⌐■-■  

(⌐■_■)

Seoul searching.

Look, I’m only a man.

Under the Stage 3 playoff rules, Seoul stands a better chance of making it into the stage playoffs, which is nice, but they’ve got to be frustrated right now. They have yet to log a win against London or New York, and they shot their playoff chances directly in the foot with a loss to a Houston team that just gave up three maps to San Francisco. Also, Bunny is on the Valiant now. Seoul’s long term outlook is fine, but it’s clear after weeks 9 and 10 that they aren’t the elite unit they set out to be.

6. Boston Uprising (21-22/20%/+9) League rank: 6th

7. Houston Outlaws (22-22/20%/+3) League rank: 5th- Houston’s Stage 2 was in danger of total freefall after their week 9 loss to the Shock, but they stopped the bleeding with a tune-up match against Shanghai and an impressive win over Seoul that left them at 5-5. It’s not the most encouraging stage from AMERICA’S TEAM, but they’re still in the long term playoff picture...

8. Los Angeles Valiant (18-23-1/9%/-11) League rank: 7th- ...which cannot be said of the Valiant. Not only did LAV woefully underperform compared to its impressive Stage 1 (26-13/23%/+20), they got steadily worse as the stage went on. The team has decided that roster demolition is the way to go. Envy has been cut, perhaps urgently so, Unkoe was traded to the Fuel for Custa, Silkthread has gone to the Gladiators, Grimreality is transitioning to a coaching role, and they acquired Bunny from Seoul. Maybe these moves translate to a return to form, goodness knows they needed a shakeup at Support, but the new roster needs to click and hit the ground running.

9. San Francisco Shock (17-24-1/9%/-11) League rank: 9th

10. Florida Mayhem (15-27-1/19%/-22) League rank: 11th- I am really, really high on the Mayhem right now. Sure, statistically they look like they’re already done for the season, and they didn’t surge enough to put a dent in the Stage 2 standings, but they were one of the best teams in the league during weeks 8-10. They claimed a full hold on 30% of maps in the last 3 weeks, good enough to finish Stage 2 above the league average. That’s significant. Full holds do not fluctuate the same way other stats do. A team needs to demonstrate serious coordination, communication, and skill to shut out their opponent, and the sharp increase in Florida’s shutout percentage signals to me that they’ve finally figured out how to play up to their potential. I expect them to make waves in Stage 3.

11. Dallas Fuel (13-28-1/11%/-19) League rank: 10th

12. Shanghai Dragons (2-37-1/0%/-57) League rank: 12th

NICK SABAN’S OVERWATCH LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK:

“Well, I’m told London went 2-0, 7-1, +11 in Week 10. Not that they did much with it. You can see it all over their faces. The rot of the modern world. Complacency. How else do you lose two maps you were undefeated on in Stage 2 to a team that had never won a map against you? That’s a Gus move, boys. A Gus move. I mean how in the hell do you let that happen?! You’re the most efficient team in the league by shutout percentage, you have a team composition that was undefeated in Stage 2, and you piss it all away in an hour with this bend-don’t-break defense that cost you a number one ranking in Stage 1. I’m disgusted! I’m glad Bishop left so he didn’t have to suffer the indignity! On the bright side, your little grayshirt move with Fissure looks like it’s paid off, so now would be the time to call him back. [aide whispers in Saban’s ear] Oh. Overwatch League teams can’t do that? Criminy, how the hell does anybody actually win anything? You embarrass me, London. Enjoy the Big Ten.”

RUSSELL WESTBROOK PLAYER OF THE WEEK WHO WAS BETTER THAN THE TEAM THAT BEAT HIS TEAM:

Rascal. I don’t know what it is about the Spitfire, but their former teammates sure loved batting them around like cats playing with mice in Stage 2. The Fuel lost 3-1, because they’re the Fuel, but Rascal, and his DPS buddy Effect, had themselves a dadgumm’d day. Watch him on Hollywood. It’s just an unseemly bloodbath.

Honorable mention: Snillo. His eligibility for this award is a little questionable, since the Fusion are 12-0 in maps when he’s in the lineup. Makes you wonder how their fortunes might have changed if he’d stayed in against New York.

EPHEMERA FROM WEEK 10:

-Gonna be honest with y’all, I’m old and week 10 was two weeks ago, so I don’t really remember much (Crumbs is sexy now??). I do highly recommend checking out Sideshow’s blog post about dive comps, though. It’s clearly written and full of great insights.

-Another thing to check out: Tagni’s Twitter page. This dude does custom OWL jersey mock-ups, which, to this point, are just for kicks, but I really hope teams take notice and either hire this guy or contract his designs for actual alternate jerseys. They all look stellar. 

KEY MATCHUPS IN WEEK 11:

Week 11 is the exact same schedule as Weeks 5 and 6

Wednesday: Shanghai vs. Dallas- New stage, new team (Undead is out, Sky and Geguri are in), new opportunity to score that first win for the Dragons. Dallas is in freefall, riding an 8 game skid and some admittedly hellish office politics. This is Shanghai’s moment.

Thursday: Florida vs. New York- This is a powerhouse day, featuring London vs Houston and Philly vs Boston, but I have to go with Florida/New York. The Mayhem are finally clicking and they’ve had 10 days to prepare for this match

Friday: Seoul vs. San Francisco- San Francisco has a ton of talent that they’ve been reluctant to dip into, but that seems to be changing in Stage 3. Too many new acquisitions and too many calls to put in iddqd plus a dreary 6-14 record mean it’s time to shake things up. Seoul, meanwhile, has suffered back-to-back collapses in the late phase of Stages 1 and 2. They are definitely still better on paper, but a win here won’t impress as much as it used to. I know it’s only the first week of the stage, but they need to 4-0 the Shock if they want to hold their ground against Philly, Houston, and Boston.

Saturday: Houston vs. Boston- Houston 4-0’d the last time these two teams met, and they both struggled through Stage 2 before regaining their strength in the last two weeks. This is probably the most competitive match of the week.

Enjoy the matches, everyone!

[golflakeridgegc]

Phil Mickelson returns with scrambling 68 at La Quinta

LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — Phil Mickelson hit his opening tee shot so poorly in morning rain and cold that he hit a provisional ball just to get in another swing.

He scrambled to par the hole and went on to shoot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the CareerBuilder Challenge, leaving him four strokes back in his return from two sports hernia surgeries.

”I struck it horrible, but I scored out of my mind,” Mickelson said. ”So, I’m very happy with it. My first round of golf was Saturday and I’ve been able to work out just the last two weeks.”

Lefty hooked his first tee shot into the trees at La Quinta Country Club, then reloaded and hit the provisional into the fairway.

”That next hole, the second hole’s an extremely difficult drive and I wanted to just get another swing,” Mickelson said.

He found the first ball and hammered a shot under the trees to just off the front of the green.

”It was really a great day for me because I scored so much better than I played,” Mickelson said. ”And when I finally did hit some really good shots I ended up close and made a few birdies. And when I hit some really bad shots – and I hit some really bad shots – I was still able to salvage some up-and-downs for pars.”

Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli shot a 64 on the Stadium Course at PGA West – the most difficult of the three courses – to top the leaderboard. He holed out from 115 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th.

”Been working hard back home, doing all right things on and off the course, and it’s nice to come out and have that hard work pay off,” Bozzelli said.

Jhonattan Vegas, the 2011 champion, was a stroke back at 65 along with Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford and Patton Kizzire. Vegas and Kizzire played PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, and Varner and Swafford opened at La Quinta.

Rain fell off and on in the morning and more was expected Friday, with the PGA Tour moving the tee times up an hour.

”Ain’t nobody never comfortable when you’re having to play golf when it’s raining and a little cool like it was,” Boo Weekley said after a 66 on the Stadium Course.

Play started with the temperature in lows 50s and it barely climbed into the 60s in the afternoon. The forecast high Friday was 61.

”The ball didn’t go as far, but you don’t have to hit it that far out here,” Varner said.

The 46-year-old Mickelson had surgery Oct. 19 – three days after tying for eighth in the season-opening Safeway Open – and again Dec. 12.

”I feel fine,” Mickelson said. ”I’ve been able to work out the last two weeks. And again, you start out real slow, but you get back to it, you get it back pretty quick.”

His caddie, Jim ”Bones” Mackay also made a comeback after having both knees replaced.

Mickelson won the 2002 and 2004 events and tied for third last year. The first-year tournament ambassador won the last of his 42 PGA Tour titles in the 2013 British Open.

”There’s no better place to learn and to get better than to come out here on these great golf courses and put it to the test,” Mickelson said. ”You can get away with some mistakes, and I was able to salvage a few pars with up-and-downs, so it doesn’t beat you up too bad. It’s a perfect place to start the year.”

Wearing a jacket with a logo of his leaping celebration in the 2004 Masters, Lefty hit a wedge to 2 feet for birdie on the par-4 fourth and also birdied the par-5 sixth and par-4 eighth. On the par-4 ninth, he made a 45-foot birdie putt after driving left onto the adjacent first hole.

Mickelson had his best par save on the par-4 16th after losing another drive to the left. He hit under the trees into the front left bunker, blasted short into the fringe and holed an 18-foot chip. He bogeyed the par-4 17th after driving into the left bunker, and made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.

DIVOTS: The players averaged 71.423 on Stadium Course, 70.327 on the Nicklaus layout, and 70.154 at La Quinta. … Bill Haas, the 2010 and 2015 winner, played alongside Mickelson, and matched him at 68. … Patrick Reed, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 9, had a 69 at La Quinta. He won in 2014, shooting 63-63-63-71 to break the PGA Tour record for relation to par for the first 54 holes at 27 under and become the first player in tour history to open with three rounds of 63 or better. … Defending champion Jason Dufner shot a 70 at La Quinta.

The post Phil Mickelson returns with scrambling 68 at La Quinta appeared first on Lake Ridge Golf Course.

[investmart007]

AUGUSTA, Ga. | McIlroy off to solid start at Masters, keeps Slam in sight

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AUGUSTA, Ga. | McIlroy off to solid start at Masters, keeps Slam in sight

AUGUSTA, Ga. |April 5, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Rory McIlroy wanted to get off to a solid start at the Masters, his latest shot at a career Grand Slam.

Saving par on the final three holes in the opening round Thursday helped him keep it in sight.

McIlroy shot a 3-under 69, breaking 70 in the first round at Augusta National for the first time since 2011. He shot a 65 that year and looked like he would win a green jacket before a final-round meltdown.

McIlroy heads into the second round Friday three shots behind Jordan Spieth, who made five consecutive birdies on the back nine to build a two-stroke lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.

“You look at it and not anyone is really getting away,” McIlroy said. “Jordan had a pretty strong finish there. But this is my best start in a few years. And, yeah, it’s such a hard golf course to play catch-up on. If you start to chase it around here, that’s when you start to make mistakes.

“But to be right up there and have the ability to stay patient because of the position I’m in, that’s a nice luxury I have over the next few days.”

He can thank a few timely shots down the stretch.

McIlroy sank an 8-footer for par at No. 16, holed a sweeping, downhill, 13-footer for par on the next green and then chipped to a couple feet to save another par on 18.

“It’s not always the birdies that stick out in your mind,” McIlroy said, calling those shots the highlights of his round. “Those three holes. Big for momentum. I don’t feel like I’m going out trying to get those two shots or whatever back (Friday) morning. I can just be relaxed going on to the first tee, not being too concerned about trying to get those birdies back. So, yeah, they were huge.”

The first time McIlroy had a chance for the Grand Slam at the Masters, he opened 71-71 and found himself 12 shots back because Spieth ran away with it.

“Obviously it was very benign for us coming in the last few holes,” McIlroy said. “I’m not surprised about (Spieth) at all. He loves this golf course. He plays well around here. He always has. And he’s going to be tough to beat this week.”

___

Some other things to know heading into the second round of golf’s first major:

TIGER TALES:

Tiger Woods’ first Masters appearance since 2015 was a bit of a letdown — he shot a 73, leaving him seven shots off the lead — but the four-time Augusta champion insisted that he’s still in the game.

Woods was encouraged by two birdies coming down the stretch.

“I could have easily let the round slip away from me, but I got it back,” he said. “And I’m right back in this tournament.”

Well, not exactly.

Only two players have come back from seven shots behind after the opening round to capture the green jacket. But one of them is Woods, who rallied from that daunting deficit to beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff for his last Masters title in 2005.

“I fought hard to get back in there, and I’m back in this championship,” Woods insisted. “There’s a lot of holes to be played.”

TOUGH TONY:

Tony Finau may not win the green jacket, but there’s no doubt he deserves some sort of award for being the toughest guy on the course.

One day after dislocating his left ankle while celebrating a hole-in-one during the Par 3 Contest — he literally popped it back into place right in the middle of the course — Finau was only two shots off the lead after shooting a 68 in his Masters debut.

“I look at myself as a mentally tough person, and I think I showed that today in my round, just able to put my head down and just play,” he said.

Now, it will be interesting to see how the ankle reacts after walking 18 holes in a round that took more than five hours to complete.

“Hopefully I can get some better rest tonight and elevate, ice, have fluid and hopefully feel better,” Finau said.

SERGIO’S DEBACLE:

For the second straight year, it looks like the defending champion will have nothing to do this weekend except hand out the green jacket to someone else.

Sergio Garcia’s hopes of a second straight title went up in smoke — really more like down the slope — at the 15th hole.

The Spaniard had five shots roll into the water at the par-3 hole, leading to a 13 that matched the highest score in Masters history. He finished with an 81, which was the worst score ever for a defending champ at Augusta National.

“I felt like the ball was going to stop,” Garcia said. “Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it didn’t want to.”

BIG NAMES:

Phil Mickelson lamented a “terrible putt” on No. 18 that could have salvaged a better opening round. Lefty finished 2 under, the best score among a host of big names and pre-Masters favorites chasing Spieth.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson was 1 over, one shot better than Justin Thomas and two ahead of Jason Day.

Rickie Fowler was 2 under, and Justin Rose was at even-par.

“I didn’t capitalize on some putts that I’ve been making,” Mickelson said. “But what I did do well is I plotted my way around the golf course. I got in a reasonable score.”

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By MARK LONG, AP Sports Writer,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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