正文

ampionship he wa

(2015-04-21 23:31:50) 下一個
PINEHURST, N. Jordan Zimmermann Authentic Jersey .C. – No one expected Phil Mickelson to win last years British Open championship. Its not the style of course or game that has favoured the lefthander. Yet win he did. By contrast, everyone is expecting Mickelson to win this week, in the championship he wants to win more than any other and has broken his heart six times. Golf fair? Golf understandable? Not when it involves Lefty. Here at Pinehurst, Mickelson will try one more time to not only break through and win the tournament he wants most, but also to join that exclusive club of career grand slam winners that has just five members. "Its a career goal of mine to win all four majors," Mickelson admitted. "I feel like the five players that have done that, have separated themselves from the other players throughout all time. It shows that they have a complete game. If Im able to do that, I feel that I would look upon my own career differently." It wasnt that long ago that Mickelson had no majors and everyone wondered if hed ever get his first. And certainly last year, very few were predicting hed win the Open Championship. Now hes on the edge of greatness, but that edge is a wide chasm he must get across. For the first time since 2003, Mickelson comes into the Open without a victory. Worse than that, he hasnt even managed a top-10 finish. Still, he remains relatively optimistic. "I feel as good about my game today as I have all year," he stated. "Its not saying a lot, because I havent played well all year, but last week was a good week for me. I started to slowly put it together." Last week was a tie for 11th spot at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, and a far cry from what he wants here. The weak link in his game this year has clearly been his putting. Hes ranked 103rd in Strokes Gained –Putting. A year ago, he finished the year in sixth. Things have gone so poorly on the greens that this week, Mickelson has decided to change things up after conferring with putting coach Dave Stockton. "The greens here are quick," Mickelson stated, "and so Im actually going to go back to the claw grip this week in an effort to have a little bit lighter grip pressure and create a softer roll so that I get some of the hit out of it. I was running them way by last week and by taking my bottom hand off the putter, it eliminates some that hit." Of course it wouldnt be a major if Phil wasnt taking some sort of risk. Two drivers. No drivers. Phrankenwood. Driver when he should hit three-wood. Sometimes the moves pay off, other times he slaps his head and scolds himself. And he waits for another year, another chance. After six silver medals, Mickelson says he tries not to look at what might be possible, what it would be like to raise the trophy he wants more than any other on Sunday evening. He knows the disappointment too well. But he is, after all, only human. "I try not to, because I dont want to get ahead of myself," he said. "But its only natural that its going to. Occasionally Ill catch myself, but I really try not to, because I really just want to focus on what I need to do to get ready for Thursday. If I can do that, hopefully Ill give myself a chance on the weekend. But when I jump ahead, that never really works out good, at least in the past . . . six times." This will be Mickelsons 24th attempt at winning the U.S. Open and he believes it may be his best. Of course he said something like that last year, too. And the year before. If nothing else, Phil is the eternal optimist. But this course might just prove him right. Pinehurst No. 2 is tailored to a game such as Phils – or at least Phils when hes on. He proved that back in 1999 although the last time around, in 2005, he was a non-factor in a tie for 33rd. "This place is awesome," he gushed. "It is just a wonderful site. This is the first -- well I really believe that this week is testing a players entire game. Because it forces you to make decisions, make good decisions, to choose the right club off the tee, hit solid iron shots into the green, and utilize your short game to save strokes. Theres no luck involved with the hack-it-out rough that sometimes we have around the greens. Its just a wonderful test that is, I think, the best test Ive seen to identify the best player." Whether Mickelson can be the best player this week is the question a lot of people are asking. Its also a question hes asking himself. And one hes hoping he can finally answer. Anthony Rendon Authentic Jersey . Froch retained his WBA and IBF titles with a ninth-round stoppage against Groves in Manchester on Nov. 23. Groves launched an appeal, saying referee Howard Foster stopped the fight prematurely, and the IBF then ordered a rematch. Gio Gonzalez Authentic Jersey . Its been a successful Games for Canada, which will finish near the top of the medal standings again. From repeat gold medal winners to multiple medal winners to undefeated teams to acts that define the Olympic spirit, there are many solid candidates who could be considered to receive the honour. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart does not consider the Daytona 500 a disaster, despite the engine problems that spoiled his return to racing from a broken right leg. The three-time NASCAR champion wound up 35th in the season-opening race, but he logged enough laps during Speedweeks that he feels good going into the upcoming stretch of seven consecutive races. Stewart missed the final 15 races last year after breaking his leg in two places during a sprint car crash in Iowa. His first time back in a race car was Feb. 14, the day before he competed -- and was crashed out of -- the exhibition Sprint Unlimited. He also raced in the Budweiser Duel before the 500, giving him 672 miles of racing in three events. Stewart goes to Sundays race at Phoenix International Raceway "a lot more confident than I was before we got to Daytona." "I think having all the races that we ran, and actually getting in a crash, while not a great thing, allowed me to sort of test my leg and it felt good," Stewart said in a Stewart-Haas Racing team release. "There have been some little things that have felt a little different, but for the most part, its felt like an old pair of tennis shoes that youre just comfortable with. I think the whole time in Daytona exceeded my expectations of what I hoped it would be like." But the 500 itself was a letdown for SHR. Stewart had the engine issue and Danica Patrick was involved in a crash and finished 40th. It left only Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, the two newcomers to the organization, in contention for a solid finish and both had difficulties at the endd. Gio Gonzalez Jersey. Busch wound up 21st and Harvick was involved in the final accident of the race and finished a team-best 13th. Stewart said Sundays race at Phoenix will be a better indicator of where the team is than Daytona, one of only four restrictor-plate races on the schedule. "Daytona and Talladega have always just been two different forms of racing," Stewart said, referring to the necessary teamwork and drafting. "What happens at Phoenix and the races after that has to be done on your own. You cant help each other at Phoenix. You just have to go race." He likes his chances at Phoenix, where he has one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-10s in 23 career starts. Hes completed all but 14 of 7,257 laps on the 1-mile oval. But PIR is also the place that pushed Stewart into becoming a full-time race car driver in 1993. Still working eight-hour days at $5-an-hour at a machine shop in Columbus, Ind., Stewart headed West to run USAC Silver Crown season-opening Copper World Classic. He qualified second to Davey Hamilton, then led 31 of 50 laps before finishing second to Mike Bliss. Stewart earned $3,500 that day -- a payout that convinced him running the Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget races across the nation that year sounded a lot better than returning to the machine shop. He never looked back, learning how to adapt in every kind of car he drove out of "fear that Im going to have to get a real job if Im not successful. "To think that it all kind of started at Phoenix, I guess you could say its the place where my career came full-circle," he said. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
[ 打印 ]
閱讀 ()評論 (0)
評論
目前還沒有任何評論
登錄後才可評論.