he Red Raiders have a bye next week before hosting Kans | Forum

With five victories, Jonathan Byrd had such a productive PGA Tour career that spending any time on the developmental Web. Custom NCAA Jerseys .com Tour never crossed his mind. His only stop in the minor leagues was in 2001, so long ago that it then was known as the Buy.com Tour.A year after his playoff victory in the 2011 Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, however, Byrd had wrist surgery. He missed three months to start 2013, and his game and confidence slowly eroded to the point that he was trying to make cuts, make money and keep his job.You stop trying to bring your best and youre trying just to stay out here, and thats no way to play, Byrd said last month at the RSM Classic. The tighter you hang on, the farther you get away from what youre doing.With nothing but past champion status that would offer him limited starts, his best option to regain a full PGA Tour card was to spend a year on the Web.com Tour. That can be a tough pill for someone who had never come close to losing his PGA Tour card before the injury.Byrd, who turns 39 in January, brought with him an attitude that is worth emulating for anyone who winds up in that spot.It was humbling, Byrd said. To go back to the Web was difficult. Theres so many reminders every week that youre not where you want to be. But I tried to embrace it. ... I didnt want to be the grumpy old tour player talking about how great it is on tour and how bad it is out here and how good I used to be. I made friends out there. I enjoyed it. I focused on enjoying the competition.Byrd event turned down a half-dozen exemptions to PGA Tour events last year. He finished 48th on the money list (the top 25 get PGA cards) and he didnt earn one of the 25 additional spots from the four-tournament series at the end of the year.Even so, he was upbeat about his progress. Besides, being around a bunch of kids in their early 20s has helped.Youve got to play good to beat these guys, he said. But what Ive learned from being out here so long is that Ive got what it takes. Guys who have won five times on the PGA Tour, its a short list. Ive got something in there thats good enough. And I still think its good enough.---OH, BROTHER: Jordan Spieth is headed to Rhode Island this week to watch Brown host Maine in college basketball. His younger brother, Steven, is a senior who is averaging 15.4 points a game for the Bears.The former Masters and U.S. Open champion is doing everything he can to prepare, because this apparently involves more than sitting in the stands to cheer on little brother. Spieth suggested that there might be a little contest Thursday morning before the Brown game.Im not sure. He kind of set up something, Spieth said. We might be playing horse, and it might be videoed. At the moment, Im starting my grind in the gym, shooting a thousand shots a day so I dont embarrass myself.Asked if he knew where the public might see this video, Spieth said: Even if I knew, I certainly would not be announcing that. I think its through ESPN. Im not sure.However it turns out, perhaps Steven might consider coming out to Augusta National early for a putting contest.---POWER MEMORIES: Jim Furyk is used to players smashing it by him off the tee. One of the shorter hitters in golf, he still has managed to win 17 times, including the U.S. Open. But there was something about the 2009 Cadillac Championship at Doral that he still remembers clearly.I was paired with Adam Scott and Rory (McIlroy) the first two days, and I was hitting it real short, Furyk said. Im already short anyway, but I had a driver that I was hitting straight but real short. Were playing Doral. You know, Adam and Rory are hitting it 30 (yards) by me all day and Im like, `I need to get a new driver.It got worse. The next day, he was paired with a 23-year-old named Dustin Johnson, who was in his second year on tour. Furyk didnt know anything about him.Hes hitting it like 50 by me, Furyk said. I was like, `Who is this guy? We got paired later in the year at Boston, and he had a good event. Hes always been impressive.By the way, Furyk played that fourth round with a tall Spaniard in a straw hat named Alvaro Quiros, one of longest players on the European Tour.Didnt know anything about him, Furyk said. And hes trying to drive the second green.---MIGUELS MEMORIES: Miguel Tabuena sure had a memorable year for not having won a tournament.The 22-year-old Filipino shot 64-68 at Lake Merced and Olympic to win his sectional qualifier and play in his first U.S. Open. He qualified for the Rio Olympics. He made it to his first World Golf Championships events at the HSBC Champions. He contended alongside Jordan Spieth in Singapore. During back-to-back weeks in Asia, he played with Ernie Els in Malaysia and Dustin Johnson in Shanghai.This is my best year so far, he said.Tabuena was only 4 when the only other Filipino made it to a World Golf Championship -- Frankie Minoza, who lost in the opening round to Nick Price in the inaugural Match Play Championship at La Costa.Hes a living legend back home, someone I look up to, Tabuena said. Hopefully, I can have the half the success hes had in his career. I like where I am now at 22. The sky is the limit if I keep improving.Tabuena, who turned pro when he was 16, certainly got the attention of Johnson in Shanghai.Hes real young, but hes got some game, Johnson said. Hes not a real big guy but he hits it pretty far.---DIVOTS: The Walker Cup will be played in Florida for the first time. The amateur matches are coming to Seminole Golf Club in 2021. The USGA also said the 2025 Walker Cup will be held at Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula, where it last was played in 1981. Next years matches will be on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club. ... Seventeen players were outside the top 100 in the world when they won on the PGA Tour this year. ... Patrick Reed (No. 8) and Bubba Watson (No. 10) are the only players from the top 10 in the world who did not have multiple victories this year. Hideki Matsuyama (No. 6) had the most with five victories worldwide. ... Thongchai Jaidee is playing an Asian Development Tour event this week in Thailand, needing a victory to get into the top 50 and assure a spot at the Masters next year.---STAT OF THE WEEK: Only two PGA Tour events in 2016 were won by the No. 1 player in the world -- Jordan Spieth at the Tournament of Champions and Jason Day at The Players Championship.---FINAL WORD: Thats a very, very difficult hole that he made look very, very easy. -- Jordan Spieth on Dustin Johnsons birdie on the 18th hole at Oakmont. Fake NCAA Jerseys . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. LUBBOCK, Texas -- Its rare when pass-happy Texas Tech churns out more plays on the ground than in the air, but thats what happened Saturday night.Patrick Mahomes threw for five touchdowns, three to Johnathan Giles, and ran for another to lead Texas Tech past Louisiana Tech 59-45.That was their defense, Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said of the 43-36 edge to running plays. If theyre going to give us a run, were going to take it. Were going to do whatever the defense allows us to do.Giles, who finished with six catches for 186 yards, said balance with the rush and pass takes pressure off Mahomes.I feel like it makes it easier for Pat just so he dont have to throw the ball a whole lot, he said. And us as a receiver group, just blocking, being physical, if very fun.Mahomes threw touchdown passes of 64, 36, 9, 42 and 4. The junior, who came into the game leading the nation in total offense, completed 26 of 36 passes for 470 yards.Demarcus Felton rushed for 123 yards on 16 carries and had two touchdowns.The Bulldogs fell behind 35-10 and couldnt quell the Red Raiders up-tempo offense enough to pull off a comeback. They got within 11 points twice.I thought our defense was a joke, Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said.Kingsbury said his team needs to get tougher and put opponents away.You cant have guys, particularly their best players, running wide open, he said.The Red Raiders (2-1) didnt punt through three quarters and scored on six of their first seven possessions.Jarred Craft had 151 yards on 21 carries and Trent Taylor caught six passes for 166 yards for the Bulldogs (1-2).Jarred did a phenomenal job, whether it was to start off a drive or a short play that hed just bust open, he did a great job getting his holes, almost always making the first defender miss quarterback Ryan Higgins said. He kept us alive.The Red Raiders pulled some razzle dazzle in thhe second quarter, running a double reverse that ended in Giles hands and brought him one of his three touchdowns -- a 42-yarder. NCAA Jerseys Outlet. I stole that from Western Kentucky, Kingsbury said. It was a great play they ran for a touchdown, so we repped it a ton. We had it but we werent getting the right looks for it, and it just worked out tonight.TAKEAWAYS:LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs defense came into the game giving up just 295 total yards per game to rank 31st in the nation . Texas Tech moved the ball at will and had almost 100 yards more of offense than that (392), and led 35-17 at halftime.TEXAS TECH: Ranked 117th in total defense coming into the game, Texas Tech showed improvement. The Bulldogs tallied 572 total yards, fewer than the 652 the Red Raiders gave up in their 68-55 loss at Arizona State last week. I thought offensively we handled the situation better, Kingsbury said. Everybody executed at a much higher level.Holtz lauded Texas Techs defense. They ran a lot of coverages, they ran a lot of fronts, he said. They do as much as any defense Ive ever seen. They ran I dont know how many coverages tonight, but you couldnt attack what they were doing.UP NEXT:LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs continue their road games when they travel to Middle Tennessee.TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders have a bye next week before hosting Kansas on Sept. 29. It will be the first Thursday night home game for Texas Tech since beating then-No. 24 TCU 20-10 on Sept. 12, 2013, Kliff Kingsburys first season with the Red Raiders.POINTS GALORE:It was the eighth home game in a row that the Red Raiders scored at least 50 points---Follow Betsy Blaney on Twitter at www.twitter.com/betsyblaney---Online: AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '