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the most weight moving into this summer.
HUMBLE, Texas -- Matt Kuchar didnt have the result he had hoped for while playing in the final pairing at last weeks Texas Open. Jeff Malone Jersey . The six-time PGA Tour winner, who closed with a final-round 75 on his way to a fourth-place finish last week, will have the opportunity to show what he learned from that disappointing finish at this weeks Houston Open. Playing in the final pairing, Kuchar vaulted past a struggling Sergio Garcia with a 4-under par 68 on Saturday -- overcoming windy conditions at the Golf Club of Houston to match the low round of the day and take a four-shot lead after three rounds. Kuchar stands at 15 under overall heading into Sundays final round, four shots ahead of second-round leader Garcia and Cameron Tringale. The three will be paired together on Sunday. "Its a nice position to have played well last week, to have been in the last group with a chance to win and again to come back this week, completely different course, and have another shot to win," Kuchar said. Kuchars last win came at the Memorial last year, and he has eight top 10 finishes this season in 10 events. Hell have the opportunity add to that resume on Sunday, weather permitting, as well as fuel his surging confidence leading into next weeks Masters, where he finished in a tie for eighth last year. The prospect of a winners share of nearly $1.2-million, however, has Kuchar locked in on this weekend first -- even with the prospect of competing for his first major championship looming next week. "Ive been playing some steady golf for a couple of years now and feel like my chances of playing well tomorrow are pretty good," Kuchar said. "Having a four-shot lead is a great position to be in." The golfers went off both tees in threesomes early Saturday morning in anticipation of severe weather in the evening, a format theyll use again Sunday with hopes of avoiding a Monday finish leading into next weeks visit to Augusta National. Garcia, who surged ahead with a 7-under 65 on Friday, began the day with a one-shot lead over Kuchar. That disappeared quickly after the Spaniard bogeyed the first to fall back to 11 under and into a tie with his playing partner, Kuchar. That was just the beginning of the struggles for Garcia, who later put his tee shot into the water on No. 10. He finished with a 1-over 73 after matching the courses low mark of 12 under after two rounds. "Obviously, I didnt play as well as yesterday with the difficulty," Garcia said. "... It wasnt that easy." Kuchar, meanwhile, birdied the first to move into the lead -- a spot he didnt relinquish. He added back-to-back birdies on No. 4 and 5 to move to 14 under, and he added three birdies in a row on the back nine. He reached 16 under with a birdie on the par-3 14th before three-putting the 18th and settling for 15 under. "Its unbelievable," said Ben Curtis, who is tied for 5th at 8 under with Rickie Fowler. "(Kuchars) on a great roll the last few years. Obviously, hes playing very confidently, and that makes a huge difference." Kuchar missed his first four cuts at the Houston Open, but the American finished tied for eighth in 2010 and 2011 before not playing in the tournament the last two years. His three rounds in the 60s this week have only been matched by Tringale, who shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday while playing in the next-to-last pairing. Phil Mickelson, after withdrawing from last weeks Texas Open with a muscle pull in his right side, was inconsistent from the opening hole Saturday. The five-time major winner left his opening two approach shots short of the green, the second of which found the bunker and caused him to slump over in the fairway. That led to the first of back-to-back bogeys, though he did recover with three straight birdies on the back nine before settling for an even-par 72 -- leaving him in a tie for eighth at 6 under. "I dont know if Ill have a good round tomorrow or not," Mickelson said. "But its close, a lot closer than its been." Fowler matched Kuchars low round in Saturdays chilly conditions, posting a 4-under 68 and moving to 8 under overall. With rain forecast for Saturday night and throughout Sunday, the golfers will once again tee off in threesomes early on Sunday morning. "To me, it feels like well come here and wait around for a lot longer, but (thats) part of the deal," Kuchar said. Rick Mahorn Jersey . The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. Tom Gugliotta Jersey . Nwaneri, who was born in Dallas and attended Naaman Forest High School in nearby Garland, Texas, tweeted, "Its official! Im coming home, Im coming home.The news that Bobby Ryan is undergoing season-ending surgery did not come as a complete surprise. Earlier this week, head coach Paul MacLean confirmed that Ryan had been dealing with a nagging injury since November – our first tangible clue that the winger has not been 100 per cent healthy all season. But for the past few weeks, the whispers had been growing louder and louder that Ryan was playing hurt. When the club returned to practice after the Olympic break, the winger took a couple of maintenance days that raised a few eyebrows. Now that the club has confirmed he was playing for the past four months with a sports hernia injury, it forces us to reassess our opinion of Ryans first season in Ottawa. In a strange twist, every player involved in the massive Ducks-Senators trade from last summer suffered a significant injury this season. Jakob Silfverberg had a broken hand, Stefan Noesen tore the ACL in his knee and now Ryan is done with the sports hernia injury. (The Ducks may want to order some bubble wrap to protect their first round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft that they will receive from Ottawa). When he was famously left off the Team USA roster for the Olympics, many suggested that Ryan was crushed by the bad news and went into a prolonged slump. He scored just two goals in 12 games in the month of January and looked like a shadow of himself at times. Certainly, the Team USA snub hurt him on a personal level, but its rather obvious that the physical pain of a sports hernia injury was the bigger factor for his declining numbers. Ryans limited ice time was also a source of controversy in this market, as fans and media openly questioned MacLeans deployment of his No. 1 sniper. He was taken off a unit with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur and was given third-line minutes instead. When the Sens were swept in Alberta earlier this month, Ryan played fewer than 15 minutes on each night – causing some to wonder aloud if there was a rift between star player and coach. In reality, the reduced ice time was likely the result of his nagging injury. In a statement to the media on Thursday, general manager Bryan Murray indicated that Ryan tried to play through the injury and doesnt appear to be concerned about how he was used by MacLean. "I know there were some times in games that he felt like he couldnt contribute very muchh but he stayed on the ice as required by the coaching staff and tried very hard to be a big factor for our team," Murray said. Fake Wizards Jerseys. "I think he was and obviously we like that kind of person and want to treat him right in return." If you look at Ryans on-ice production from this season (time on ice to produce a point), you can see a significant drop-off once the calendar flipped to December: Month Time on ice/point October 20:32 November 16:17 December 24:42 January 33:10 February 46:40 March 41:47 Ryans struggles were a red flag for many Ottawa fans, who were concerned about his lack of productivity and compete level down the stretch. With a contract set to expire at the end of next season, there were more than a few fans who were suggesting it was time to move on from the 26-year-old winger. But now that we have a clear picture of Ryans health, its a little more accurate to say that his first season was not a complete disaster. The fact that he led this team in goal-scoring with 23 despite the injury is fairly impressive. Considering the recovery time from this injury is about six weeks, GM Bryan Murray says there is every reason to believe that Ryan will come into training camp next season ready to return to his 30-goal form. "Well, he certainly started very, very well. He shoots the puck awfully well, he scored some goals, his line obviously carried the team early on. He was a big part of that," Murray said. "I think after the hernia started to get aggravated a little bit, he seemed to shoot the puck a bit less. Overall, very happy and satisfied with his overall play and we know hell be a real contributor going forward." That last comment from the general manager seems like the one that carries the most weight moving into this summer. Nobody is certain if the Sens will lock up Ryan with a long-term extension in the coming months, but one thing is clear: this organization hasnt soured on him after a disappointing season in which he played hurt. ' ' '
- Created: Dec 12 '19
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