|
|
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Martin Kaymer reached the top of golf and wondered how he got there. He won his first major at the 2010 PGA Championship. He reached No. 1 in the world six months later. And then he realized his game would not be good enough to stay there. Kaymer wasnt much different from Tiger Woods, who overhauled his swing not long after a record-setting performance in the 1997 Masters. Kaymer was concerned about being a one-dimensional player — his primary shot was a fade — especially if he wanted to contend at Augusta National and other majors. He just didnt realize it would take this long. Halfway through his victory at The Players Championship, he thought back to the time he put in on his game. "All that work, all the hours," Kaymer said. "When you are standing on the range for six, seven hours, hitting the same shot, the same drill, you feel like it should be enough. You just dont want to be there at one stage because its so much. And its a little boring as well. But you know long term, it will become something good." It paid off in a big way last week at The Players, the next best thing to a major. The 29-year-old German tied the course record with a 63 on Thursday and was never behind after any round the rest of the way. His biggest challenge Sunday was when he had to return from a 90-minute storm delay and finish four holes in which he had everything to lose. Even with a double bogey that cut his lead to one shot, he didnt feel as if the tournament were slipping away. About the only thing that annoyed him was that "soft egg" moment to the left the green on the par-5 16th. Kaymer had spoken all week about being confident enough in his swing to stop thinking about the mechanics and to start playing by feel. He talked about hitting the right shot — the brave shot — not the easy one. He kept using the word, "wimp," until he jokingly was asked the German word for it. "Weiches ei," he replied in his native language. And then he offered that polite smile and added the English translation. "Its soft egg." Instead of chipping on the 16th, Kaymer decided to use a putter. He didnt hit it nearly hard enough, so instead of having a good chance at birdie, he had to two-putt from over 30 feet just to make par and keep his one-shot lead. He wound up with one of the craziest pars ever on the island green at the par-3 17th, which ended with a 30-foot putt that broke some 8 feet to the right. And he collected the crystal trophy, along with the $1.8 million check from the richest purse on the PGA Tour. But that wimpy decision on the 16th gnawed at him even in victory. He wants perfection. "Its not the right thing to putt it. Its a soft egg," he said. "The swing is all good. Im happy the way that it works out and the way I go. Everything is fine, and Im really happy about this. But those things ... on 16, I was not true to myself, and thats painful. It really is. Because its just not right. "You can think, I won the golf tournament. I should be happy," he said. "And Im very, very happy about this. But those are things I would like to improve for the future." His future again looks bright. Kaymer now has won 14 times around the world. Even as he was retooling his swing with longtime coach Gunter Kessler, he managed to win a World Golf Championship in Shanghai by closing with a 63. Having barely made a Ryder Cup team in 2012 when Europe would have been better off without him because of his form, Kaymer still had enough left to beat Steve Stricker in the match that assured Europe would keep the cup. And he won at the end of last year in South Africa. But it means more to have beaten one of the strongest fields in golf, and to have conquered a course on the TPC Sawgrass that punishes the slightest mistake. Kaymer never really flinched all week. He put his name out front and stayed there. Darren Clarke noticed it in the second round. Kaymer didnt hit it his best that day, but he scored. Thats the golf Clarke remembered. "Hes a proper golfer this one," Clarke said. "Hes a finely tuned engineer." Perhaps he is ready to take his place among the best in the game. The major season is just getting started. "Now its important that you dont stop," he said. "Its very easy to just be happy now, relax and let things happen. But now its a time we have to work even harder." Rick Reuschel Cubs Jersey . The 34-year-old averaged 10.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 82 games played in 2013-14 with the Utah Jazz. Jefferson has averaged 14.5 points, 4. Ryan Dempster Jersey . Ferguson told Uniteds in-house TV channel on Saturday that he has no immediate plans to walk away from the game, and that he still hungers for more trophies even after 25 years in charge of the club. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1220t-keith-mo...ersey-cubs.html. Green-Ellis was Cincinnatis leading rusher each of the last two seasons. His role was reduced last year when Giovani Bernard was added to the backfield. Green-Ellis ran for 756 yards and a career-low 3. Xavier Cedeno Cubs Jersey .Derrick Rose scored 23 points, and the Bulls pulled away from the Nets for a 105-80 victory on Wednesday night. Chicago held Brooklyn to 29 points on 26. Cole Hamels Jersey .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis.BROSSARD, Que. - Brian Gionta knows what happened the last time the Montreal Canadiens opened a playoff series with a pair of wins on the road. It was in 2011, and the Boston Bruins stormed back to win on a Nathan Horton shot off a defencemans leg in Game 7 overtime. Before that was 2006, when the Canadiens took the opening two games in Carolina only to drop the next four, partly through losing star centre Saku Koivu to a series-ending eye injury from an accidental high stick by Justin Williams in Game 4. Both times, the team that came back to beat the Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup. After taking their opening two games of this years playoffs with wins of 5-4 and 4-1 over the Lightning in Tampa, Fla., Gionta doesnt want history to repeat itself. "Its huge, but at the end of the day, we fell into that trap against Boston a few years back," the Canadiens captain said Saturday. "We won two games in their building and we came back and let off the gas a bit. "So we need to make sure that our focus is on (Sunday) night and make sure we do what we did in the first two games." Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is set for Sunday night at the Bell Centre, where a wall of sound from the 21,273 spectators is expected to greet the Canadiens. They didnt skate after a late-night flight home from Tampa, but the message from the coach Michel Therrien and his staff was about taking care of business on home ice. "We all understand that the farther you get in the playoffs the more difficult the games are to play," said Therrien. "Were glad were back at home, but I like our focus. "We have a business mentality. Its about preparing ourselves for (the next game)." Therrien has much to be pleased about. His team has had the edge on the Lightning for all but the first period of Game 2 on Saturday night, when strong goaltending from Carey Price kept the game scoreless until Montreal took control in the second frame on a power-play goal from David Desharnais and Rene Bourques first of the game. Brendan Gallagher and Bourque added goals in the third before Teddy Purcell got one — on a power play plus the goalie pulled for an extra attacker — at 18:01. The Desharnais goal broke a nine-game drought for the Montreal power play. They have also been getting scoring from all four lines. EEight different forwards have scored goals, which takes some pressure off the top unit of Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek.dddddddddddd Desharnais got his first goal in 12 career post-season games, while Paciorettys assist on the same tally was his first point in six career playoff games. The line combined for 22 shots in two games, so it should produce more as the playoffs go on. The Canadiens also took advantage of the absence of Tampa Bays injured top goalie Ben Bishop by beating Anders Lindback eight times in two games and adding another against Kristers Gudlevskis — the Latvian who made 55 stops in a 2-1 loss to Canada at the Sochi Olympics. Gudlevskis let in one goal on three Montreal shots. And they held Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos to two goals, both in Game 1, and no assists, although the gifted sniper has nine shots on goal. So the Canadiens are in good position to win a playoff series for the first time since goalie Jaroslav Halaks heroics got them to the Eastern Conference final in 2010. But they know how far away that goal is. All-time, the Canadiens are 49-5 when leading a best-of-seven series 2-0, but have lost three of the last four times in that situation. "Theyre going to make adjustments," said Gionta. "Its the playoffs and youve got to try to read what theyre going to do, make adjustments on the fly, and see what happens. "I thought we did a fairly good job of that (Friday) night. We need to do it again." Giontas line with centre Lars Eller and left-winger Bourque has been particularly solid. Eller entered this years post-season with two assists in eight career games, but now leads the team with a goal and two assists. Bourque was a target for fans all through a sub-par regular season with nine goals in 63 games in which he was made a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. He sat out five straight games in March. He may get a warmer reception after two solid games in Tampa, including his first career playoff game with more than one goal. "Since hes back in our lineup, before the playoffs, Rene Bourque was playing the way we expect him to play," said Therrien. "We dont judge players only on goals and assists. "What I like is that hes engaged in the game. Hes physical. Hes going hard to the net and he got rewarded." ' ' '
|
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 2899
Themen
und
2901
Beiträge.
|
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |