HUMBLE, Texas -- Matt Kuchar didnt have the result he had hoped for while playing in the final pairing at last weeks Texas Open.
Vince Carter 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.
Norman Powell Jersey . Fans can also watch the game on the newly launched TSN GO (currently available to Bell TV and Rogers customers), which gives TSN subscribers the freedom to live stream the networks programming from their smartphones, tablets, and computers at no additional charge – just as they would watch Canadas Sports Leader on TV at home. The following week, MLS ON TSN is at BMO Field in Toronto to deliver live coverage of TFCs home opener vs. D.C. United on Saturday, March 22 at 4:30 p.
Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was feeling ill even before Friday nights game against Kansas City, so he told bench coach Gene Lamont in the second inning that he was heading upstairs. He missed having a front-row seat to watch his pitching staffs magic act. Just like Houdini making his greatest escapes, Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers bullpen wiggled out of jams in every inning. Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera drove in a run apiece, and that was just enough to give the AL Central-leading Tigers a 2-1 victory over the second-place Royals. "We really had to fight for this one," Tigers catch Bryan Holaday said. Sanchez (6-3) scattered eight hits without a walk over seven innings, Joba Chamberlain got out of a tense eighth, and Joe Nathan worked around a single and a walk in the ninth for his 19th save -- and give Detroit its fifth straight win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium this season. Nathan got Nori Aoki to ground out on a full-count pitch to end the game. "Obviously we have to play them a lot more," Chamberlain said. "We just have to keep grinding." Salvador Perez drove in the only run for the Royals, who squandered a solid start by Danny Duffy (5-9). He gave up both runs, only one earned, while losing for the fourth time in five starts. "Up against a guy like Sanchez," he said, "you cant make any mistakes." The Royals appeared to be 90 feet from tying it with no outs in the eighth, when Aoki swiped second base and went to third when the throw from Holaday squirted into centre field. While that was going on, though, plate umpire Chad Fairchild was calling batter interference on Lorenzo Cain for stepping into the way of the throw to second. Cain was out and Aoki was forced to make the long, slow trot back to first base. He wound up getting stranded by Chamberlain. "That was a big play," said Lamont, himself a former catcher. "Chad made the right call. Im sure the Royals fans dont think so, but he did make the right call." After the Tigers opened the series with a 16-4 blowout Thursday night, Sanchez and Duffy waged an entertaining pitchers duel. And justt like when they met in June, Sanchez was one run better.
Vince Carter Raptors Jersey. Duffy surrendered a leadoff double to Austin Jackson and an RBI single to Kinsler in the first inning, and then gave up another run in the third when Cabrera hit a lazy sacrifice fly. Duffy wound up allowing five hits while striking out six without a walk. He departed after hitting the Tigers Nick Castellanos leading off the seventh inning, but Kelvin Herrera -- who hit the first batter he faced -- managed to wiggle out of the jam without any more damage. Meanwhile, Sanchez was churning through the Royals lineup. They scored their only run in the first inning when Eric Hosmer stretched a single into a double and Perez followed with a base hit. Sanchez struck out Billy Butler to end the inning, and then kept Kansas City at bay over the next six -- though none of them was clean. Sanchez worked around a single in the second, a double in the third, a leadoff single in the fourth, and singles in the fifth and sixth innings without another run. His tensest moment came in the seventh, when Mike Moustakas doubled off the wall in centre field, missing a tying homer by a couple of feet. The Royals advanced Moustakas to third with a groundout, but Sanchez induced two more groundouts -- one a magnificent spinning stab by shortstop Eugenio Suarez -- to quietly end the threat. "Same thing we see every time. He was unreal," Moustakas said. "Hes so good at commanding his pitches and mixing speeds with different pitches and different counts. Hes a tough at-bat any time. He commands both sides of the plate with all of his pitches, and he adds and subtracts his fastball. He does whatever he wants." NOTES: Sanchez is 5-2 with a 1.08 ERA in his career against the Royals. ... Tigers DH Victor Martinez (strained left side) missed his fifth straight game. Kinsler replaced him on the AL All-Star roster Friday. ... The Royals were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. ... The Royals activated Aoki (strained left groin) from the DL and optioned INF Christian Colon to Triple-A Omaha before the game. ... Tigers RHP Rick Porcello faces Royals RHP James Shields on Saturday. ' ' '