Regeln » ouus ceiling.ddddddddddddHes been absolutely o

GULLANE -- By the time Tiger Woods finally made his way up to the 18th green, the bleachers were half empty and long shadows crept across the fairway. If Woods needed to be reminded how long this day was, the clock on the giant yellow scoreboard read 7:37 p.m. -- more than five hours after he teed off. The major championships are usually grinds, but for anyone playing in the afternoon Thursday the first round of the British Open proved more of a test than ever. The wind was blowing harder than expected, the golf course was drying up by the minute, and anything around par was a score to be respected. And there was Woods, feeling awfully good about a 2-under 69 that had to give him hope his five-year drought in the major championships might come to an end this week on a golf course playing like it is in the middle of a drought. "It was tough," Woods said. "The golf course progressively got more dried out and more difficult as we played. Im very pleased to shoot anything even par or better." A day that began with a near catastrophe off the first tee ended with a six-footer that found the centre of the cup on the 18th green. Hardly surprising since Woods had 10 one-putts as he scrambled his way around the links course for one of the better scores of the afternoon. He was three shots off the lead set by Zach Johnson, who was part of a morning surge of players who took advantage of easier conditions to set the pace. More importantly, perhaps, Woods has a morning tee time of his own Friday on a course that at least for the first day was set up to favour the early players. "The guys that played early had a huge, huge break," Phil Mickelson said after shooting a 69 himself in the morning. "Because even without any wind, its beyond difficult." That Woods managed to break 70 in the afternoon was impressive enough. That he did it after nearly snap hooking a 3-wood out of bounds on his opening tee shot and having to take an unplayable when the ball nestled in a deep clump of unruly grass was doubly so. "When I got over that tee shot I was (thinking), if I hammer it, this 3-wood is in that bunker," Woods said. "So maybe I should take something off it. Maybe I should hit 5-wood. Hence I hit a flip hook left and there she goes." Woods somehow managed to make a bogey five on the first hole even with a penalty shot by hitting his third into a greenside bunker and getting up-and-down. It set the pattern for a day of one-putts that not only prevented the round from getting away from him, but put him in prime position going into the second round. "Were supposed to get a different wind tomorrow," Woods said. "It will be interesting to see what the course setup is." Just how tough was Muirfield in the afternoon? So tough that the threesome Woods was playing in became a twosome when former champion Louis Oosthuizen withdrew on the ninth hole with an apparent injury after going 4-over-par through eight holes. So tough that his other playing partner, Graeme McDowell made two double bogeys and shot a 75 despite feeling he played well. So tough that Woods was 1-over at the turn before one-putting the next four holes to spark a 3-under 32 on the back nine. "Tiger played phenomenally well for his 2-under par," McDowell said. "Really ground it out well, did what he did best." Playing well early in majors hasnt been the issue for Woods in recent times, though. Closing it out on the weekend has been, the main reason why hes still stuck at 14 major championships and hasnt won one since beating Rocco Mediate on one leg in the 2008 U.S. Open. Last year he opened the British with a pair of 67s only to fade to a tie for third place behind Ernie Els. This year he was in the mix at the U.S. Open before shooting 76-74 on the weekend. He came here well rested and healed up from a strained elbow that was acting up at the U.S. Open, his last competitive event. He also came with the knowledge gained from years of playing links style golf on this side of the pond, including his two wins at St. Andrews and his other win at Hoylake near Liverpool. "Theyre so different, so different," Woods said. "I mean, this is almost -- its about as fast as Hoylake was. But theres knee-high rough here. And plus this golf course changes directions a lot. This is a totally different setup." Not so different, though, that Woods doesnt like his chances of winning a fourth claret jug.Custom Manchester City Jerseys . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Daniel Grimshaw Manchester City Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.com/Authentic-Leroy-Sane-Manchester-City-Jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Arijanet Muric Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Nicolas Otamendi Manchester City Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set.Players to build aroundRenee Miller -- Kevin Durant, SF, Golden State WarriorsOn huge, star-studded slates like Friday nights, I try to zero in on all the attributes I look for in a building block: high-scoring game, abundance of talent and reasonable price. Tonight you could argue that a lot of players fit that description, but none more so than Durant for me. The Warriors will attempt to get revenge on the Lakers in a game Vegas put a total of 229.5 on; Durant is filling the stat sheet every night with a low-variance average of 50 fantasy points; and he comes in as the fifth- (DK) or sixth-most-expensive (FD) player. Youd have to build 10-15 lineups to get exposure to every star you want, but Durant is the high floor, high-ceiling place to start.Jim McCormick -- Russell Westbrook, PG, Oklahoma City ThunderIs he wildly expensive? Yep. But hes also amazingly productive, as Westbrooks season thus far is second to only?Michael Jordans 1988-89 season in FanDuel points per game, according to numberFire. With a ridiculous usage rate of more than 40 percent and an inviting matchup with a Denver backcourt that ranks last in defensive efficiency against point guards, we can afford to pay the premium for a player with a floor above 40 points and a ceiling into the 80s. Its a huge slate rife with value, so we can find the requisite savings at other positions while acquiring elite cost certainty with Westbrook.Al Zeidenfeld -- WestbrookThe larger the slate the more opportunities were going to have to find value options, which makes it much easier to stuff Westbrooks salary into our lineups. An extremely high-scoring game is expected here, and it should be close and competitive, which gives him a higher chance to reach his enormouus ceiling.ddddddddddddHes been absolutely on fire for the past nine games scoring a minimum of 54 DraftKings points and routinely getting 60-plus. Ill take Westbrooks output and let my opponents figure out where to cobble together the rest.Players to fadeRenee Miller -- Anthony Davis, PF, New Orleans PelicansIm a bit of a broken record on this one, but so far its been an effective strategy to avoid paying up for Davis in road games. Tonight should be a real test of his minus-27-fantasy-point differential on the road because Portland is the leagues worst rebounding team and best PF matchup. With multiple players such as Durant, Westbrook, LeBron James, Steph Curry, DeMarcus Cousins and James Harden having similar upside and less downside, Davis is once again the odd man out for my DFS lineups tonight.Jim McCormick -- Jimmy Butler, SG, Chicago BullsIm avoiding this roster in general given the potential for the Bulls to blow out my Sixers, as Joel Embiid is sitting out and the sizable spread and modest point total reflects this potential outcome. Id rather take the savings with DeMar DeRozan or?C.J. McCollum?at shooting guard and instead pay the premium at point guard.Al Zeidenfeld -- Hassan Whiteside, Center, Miami HeatWith the way roster construction looks tonight, there are just too many great guard and win options for me to pay up at center in cash games. The value at the position also steers me clear of wanting to spend at the position as well. There are a variety of other options at a lower price that could realistically meet or exceed value at the pivot and allow me to spend elsewhere. ' ' '