Chat » kicked-in goals, expanding the trapezoid

PINEHURST, N.C. -- A tough Pinehurst No. 2 tried to make a game out of this U.S. Open. Martin Kaymer always had an answer. Already with one bogey on his card, Kaymers tee shot on No. 4 was so deep into the trees that his golf ball settled in sandy patch that had been washed out by rain, stacked up against 6 inches of pine straw. With nowhere to go and no relief available, he turned to USGA President Tom OToole and said, "If you have a way to play it, Ill follow you." Kaymer navigated his way out of trouble just fine. He escaped with a bogey by getting up-and-down from 165 yards. He followed with an eagle with a 7-iron from 202 yards out of more sand and weeds. And a birdie on the final hole gave him a 2-over 72 and a five-shot lead in a U.S. Open that finally lived up to its reputation Saturday. "I kept it very well together," said Kaymer, who was at 8-under 202. Now he has to do it one more time, with a different cast of challengers behind him. Rickie Fowler, with teen idol status in American golf, birdied the par-3 17th hole and shot 67 to get into the final group of a major for the first time. Even more unlikely was the other player at 3-under 207 -- Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who considers it a victory just to be playing golf. Compton ran off five birdies and an eagle for a 67 "If I were to win the tournament, it would be obviously something that would be extremely special, not only for me, but for my family and for those who have been around me, and I think also for the community and those who have been through some tough times," Compton said. "I might just sail off and never play golf again." Even so, this tournament is in the hands of a 29-year-old German who kept his cool on a broiling day of some wicked pin positions. Only one player in U.S. Open history has lost a five-shot lead in the final round, and that Mike Brady in 1919. "It would be nice if they make it difficult again," Kaymer said of the pins, several of which were on the edges of the Donald Ross turtleback greens. "Because then its all about ball-striking. I enjoy playing those courses a lot more than just a putting competition. ... So I hope they put them in tough positions. Not as tough as today. It would be nice if we could have some kind of a chance once in a while. But that is what you get at the U.S. Open. Its OK. You just have to play very well." Only six players remained under par, and considering no one has come from more than seven shots behind in the final round to win a U.S. Open, they might be the only ones left with a realistic chance to catch Kaymer. Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson each shot 70 and were at 2-under 208. Brandt Snedeker had a 72 and was another shot behind. Asked how much that birdie mattered on the 18th hole, Kaymer said, "One shot." "If youre four shots, five shots, six shots, if you play a golf course like this, it can be gone very quickly," he said. "You could see it today. So the challenge tomorrow is to keep going and not try to defend anything. So well see how it will react tomorrow, how the body feels and how I handle the situation." Kaymer had his way with a softer, gentler Pinehurst No. 2 by becoming the first player to open with 65s to set the 36-hole record at 10-under 130. Some players wondered what tournament he was playing. There was no doubt what it was on Saturday. "Theyve set it up so that no one can go low," Retief Goosen said after a 71. "Some of the pins look like theyre about to fall off the greens." Toru Taniguchi shot an 88. Brendon Todd, playing in the final group with Kaymer, had a 79. Phil Mickelson had a 73 and was 13 shots out of the lead. Hell have to wait until next year to pursue the only major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. Adam Scott, the world No. 1, made bogey on all but one of the par 3s and was 11 shots behind. Kaymer nearly joined the parade of players going the wrong direction. He ended an amazing streak of 29 holes without a bogey by failing to get up-and-down from short of the second green. Trouble really was brewing on the fourth hole, when he pulled his tee shot into the trees and couldnt play his next shot. After being denied relief, he took a one-shot penalty drop and punched out to the fairway. From 165 yards, he hit his fourth shot to 15 feet right of the flag and lightly pumped his fist -- big emotion for Kaymer -- when it dropped for bogey. The other mistakes were sloppy. Kaymer hit a birdie putt off the green on the par-3 sixth and had to scramble for bogey. On the back nine, he twice took three putts for bogey, once from off the green. But he closed with his best shot of a long day, and still had control of this U.S. Open. Mike Brady is the only other player to lose a five-shot lead. That was in 1919 at Brae Burn Country Club in Massachusetts. He shot 80 in the last round, and Walter Hagen beat him the next day in a playoff. Kaymer is all about looking forward, not back at history, hopeful of winning his second major before turning 30. In the last 20 years, only Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els have done that. Barry Sanders Youth Jersey .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. Calvin Johnson Jersey .The McLaren MP4-30 was launched on Thursday, with chief executive Ron Dennis saying it marks the start of a lengthy journey back to winning grands prix and eventually world championships.McLaren, which hasnt won a grand prix since 2012, will be using Honda engines for the first time since 1992, and has signed two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to partner Jenson Button for the upcoming season. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Jahlani-Tavai-Elite-Jersey/ . Ilonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb scoring conditions to end the day with a two-shot lead on the Fota Island course. Ilonen had just 26 putts on the occasion of his 300th European Tour event. Detroit Lions Jerseys .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Jarrad Davis Womens Jersey . Go to turbozone.ca to see more of his epic work and you can follow him on twitter (@Turbo_Zone). Gaurav Shastri - A tribute to the amazing fan base who stand outside during games at "Jurassic Park" and an unbelievable shot of Paul Pierce fearing a Raptor.NEW YORK, N.Y. - NHL general managers made some progress toward implementing a coachs challenge system, but could not finalize plans to do so at their annual Stanley Cup final meeting. At this point the issue is trying to define what cases would be subject to challenges and how the process would work. Because of that, GMs sounded optimistic something would be agreed on, but there was no certainty about whether it would start next season or in 2015-16. "It would be related to a coachs challenge and so instead of jumping right into it, maybe everybody understands when the coaches are going to challenge," Jim Rutherford of the Pittsburgh Penguins said. "So maybe just try it internally for a year. These are real tough changes so you want to get it right." Coachs challenges and the possibility of expanded video review dominated Wednesdays meeting several blocks from Madison Square Garden on the day of Game 4 of the Cup final. One thing that seemed clear was that goaltender interference would not be part of any such changes because theres so much room for interpretation. "I think Commissioner (Gary) Bettman says it best: You want certainty, you want black-and-white where we can say, This is it and, This is not it," Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes said. "Goals going over the line, thats certainty, black-and-white. When you start talking about goalie interference for example, now you start talking about judgment calls. ... Thats when it gets grey." What coaches might be able to challenge includes goals scored on plays that shouldve been offside, the puck hitting the protective netting, the wrong player getting penalized and the puck going over the glass for a penalty. Rutherford stressed that coachs challenges wont be there next season, while Maloney said he wasnt quite sure if it was too late for that possibility. That just added to the lack of clarity ouut of Wednesdays meeting.dddddddddddd Discussions also centred on cracking down on embellishment, and changing the draft lottery for 2015-16 and beyond to be more like the NBAs that allows the first three picks to be attainable. Any draft-lottery changes would not go into effect until 2016, leaving the much-anticipated Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel 2015 event subject to the same system there is now. GMs gave their approval on those competition committee recommendations, including allowing a more liberal definition of kicked-in goals, expanding the trapezoid, doing a dry scrape of the ice and changing ends before overtime, and making some faceoff changes. Consensus wasnt so clear on expanded video review out of Torontos situation room or coachs challenges. One problem is the possibility of delaying games, which Major League Baseball is dealing with in its first season with replay beyond home runs. "We dont want games to be 3 hours long, 3 1/2 hours long," Maloney said. "I find myself going to football games with the stoppages there, I really cant stand it." One thing GMs did seem to agree on is the desire to have more correct calls. "Thats all were concerned about: making sure we get it right," Dale Tallon of the Florida Panthers said. "And then if we do further reviews, weve got to make sure that when we do the reviews, its black and white. Theres still a lot of grey areas in all of this stuff." The discussion will continue. The NHLs board of governors convenes later in June and must approve any changes along with the NHLPA executive committee. "Were on the right track. We just have to make sure what were doing is giving us the results we expect," Maloney said. "The coachs challenge, expanding video replay — those are the big topics right now and were still searching for ways to help the game, not hurt it." ' ' '