theres no question. Youve got to be very, very careful at the same time. | Forum

DENVER -- Jeff Hoffman was happy with his effort in his major league debut. Cheap Panthers Jerseys . He just wasnt pleased with the result.Hoffman threw three strong innings in his first start before running into trouble against Chicago, and the Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies 9-2 on Saturday night.Nick Hundley homered for Colorado, which couldnt put up enough offense to support Hoffman.I felt very comfortable here, Hoffman said. I dont know why that was. I was really expecting to be nervous, to be jittery, all that stuff. For my first big league game, this was exactly what I was expecting.Hoffman (0-1), a former first-round pick acquired a year ago as part of the deal that sent Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, faced the minimum through three innings but the Cubs got to him the second time through the lineup.Chicago got four in the fourth and three more on Kris Bryants homer in the fifth that ended Hoffmans night.Two hard-hit balls, one to (Ben) Zobrist, one to Bryant, Hoffman said. Its just one of those days. Any other day those balls might be right at somebody. You never know. All you can do is make your pitch.It was scoreless until the fourth, when Dexter Fowler led off with a single, went to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Hoffman and came home on Bryants single.Anthony Rizzo followed with a single, Zobrists double made it 2-0 and Miguel Montero beat the shift with a two-run single to right.Bryant made it 7-0 in the fifth with his 31st homer, a three-run drive that went an estimated 469 feet to dead center.Hoffman allowed seven runs -- six earned -- on seven hits in four-plus innings.The three-run homer hurt, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. The big one was that two-run single by Montero. We get an out there, were in good shape.Montero had three hits and drove in three for the Cubs.Trevor Cahill (3-3) got the win with 4 2/3 innings in relief of starter Mike Montgomery.Montgomery was solid in his first start since coming over in a trade with Seattle on July 20. He had started twice with the Mariners but had pitched seven games out of the bullpen for the Cubs.Montgomery didnt give up a hit until Hundleys one-out homer in the fifth made it 7-1. Cahill relieved Montgomery, who left after throwing 60 pitches.The Cubs added a run in the eighth and another on Zobrists 14th homer in the ninth.TRAINERS ROOMRockies: CF Charlie Blackmon was not in the starting lineup for the second straight game because of a bruised right toe. Manager Walt Weiss said Blackmon originally hurt it colliding with Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez on Tuesday. Weiss said he doesnt think its a long-term issue but as of now running in the outfield is tough for Blackmon.ROSTER MOVEThe Rockies optioned RHP Christian Bergman to Albuquerque in order to recall Hoffman from Triple-A. To make room for Hoffman on the 40-man roster, Colorado placed LHP Jason Gurka on waivers for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release. Gurka pitched nine games for Colorado last year.UP NEXTThe Cubs will send RHP Jason Hammel (13-5, 2.75) against his former team to face Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 5.29) in the series finale Sunday. Pink Panthers Jerseys . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Throwback Panthers Jerseys . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. http://www.officialpanthersnflauthenticshop.com/ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. TROON, Scotland -- When the likes of Tom Morris, James Braid and various other designers laid out their courses along the sea in places all over Great Britain and Ireland, there is no way they could foresee the game that exists today, one fraught with technological advances that allow players to hit a golf ball short-hop plane distances.Of course, there were no airplanes back when they laid out these links, mostly by shaping the existing land with the help of horses, mules and rudimentary tools. Morris, who won The Open four times using an early gutta percha ball (he was a ball maker as well as champion golfer and course designer) would trip over his wooden-shafted clubs at the sight of a Dustin Johnson tee shot.And somehow these courses of a bygone era have withstood the test of time. Sure, theyve been tweaked and lengthened and some would say tricked-up, but a place such as Royal Troon has been around for more than 100 years and will undoubtedly give players fits when the 145th edition of The Open begins Thursday.The likes of Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson -- each in the top 3 in the PGA Tours strokes gained off the tee statistic -- might well have their issues, even though the 7,190-yard course might be considered short by todays standards.You do have to know how to navigate and kind of plot your way around these courses, especially when its dry, said Zach Johnson, who won The Open at St. Andrews last year. I just think the beauty of this tournament and this style of links golf is youve got to have everything. Youve got to hit your driver higher. Youve got to hit it low. Youve got to hit it left. Youve got to hit it right. And that goes with every club in your bag.Youve got to hold it. Youve got to use the wind. Youve got to do everything. ... This tournament, more than anything, I think its purity.Zach Johnson is a perfect example of a player who can excel on such a layout without the length that the likes of Jason Day or McIlroy or U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson have.It was Dustin Johnson who led The Open through 36 holes last year at St. Andrews, only to post 75-75 and fall out of contention over the final 36.I love coming over and playing links golf, said Jordan Spieth, who missed a playoff by a shot last year at St. Andrews. I think my game in general over the course of the next 20 to 30 years out here will show that this style of golf plays to my strengths. I feel comfortable playing this style of golf.Links is a term often tossed around haphazardly, almost generically, to describe any golf course -- and it is done so incorrectly. Links is not interchangeable with any golf course. There are various definitions, sometimes not easily explained, but Golf Digests description is simple: A course on oceanside sand dunes that were formed by a receding sea and covered by fertile soil from a river estuary.Each of the venues used for The Open -- now officially nine -- has those aspects. Royal Troon hugs the Firth of Clyde, and while that body of water is not visible from every part of the course, it has an impact, whether it be wind or rain. AAnd the hard ground, even in wet conditions, typically drains to allow for more bounce and roll. Womens Panthers Jerseys. The Open was first played at Royal Troon in 1923, and this will be the ninth time it is staged here. The place hasnt changed a great deal over that time. When Todd Hamilton won here 12 years ago in a playoff over Ernie Els, the winning score was 10 under par. Just 15 yards have been added to the course since then. When Arnold Palmer won here in 1962, the length was 7,045 yards, just 145 yards shorter than today.Their defense is the bunkers, so for me its all about just navigating the bunkers, Dustin Johnson said. In spots its very playable, so just knowing where to hit it and not driving it in a bunker, thats the biggest key. If you can stay out of the bunkers this week, I think youre going to do pretty well.Johnson should be able to fly a good number of them, especially on the downwind holes. The first seven holes, typically, come with a helping wind, and Johnson is able to get his tee shot near or on par-4 greens at the first and third holes. Hell have short irons into the others before the links turns back home and a strong headwind becomes a big factor.I think the beauty of a links golf course is the weather makes a massive difference, said Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A, which conducts The Open. The way the ball moves on the fairways, depending on how firm it is, the ability to control that. The ability to make sure where you want to put the ball versus where the ball has to finish on the green. I think that protection, and then you add in the weather is what makes links golf so difficult and so different and provides more than enough challenge for the players.I find it fascinating going around this course, watching the different type of holes and the different way the guys are playing it. There isnt one way to play it. You can quite often see in a three-ball three different shots, completely different ways how theyve seen how they want to play it, and I think thats the beauty of links golf.None of this is to say that Dustin Johnson, or Day or McIlroy or Watson or any of the other games long hitters, cant succeed at Troon.Its a fantastic asset to have, said Colin Montgomerie, who noted that Dustin Johnson will have no problem carrying various hazards. Thats an advantage, theres no question. Id love to have played my career where he hits his drives; we all would.But at the same time, if that driver is slightly off and the pin positions are as theyre going to be, which are hidden and on slopes to protect the course, these links courses ... you can get into trouble, theres no question. Youve got to be very, very careful at the same time. I dont think its a bombers course as such.I think our motto here, Tam arte quam marte, as youre all aware of course as journalists and English scholars, you would know that its not just with strength but with skill. So you have to have both. This course demands both. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '