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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S. Brett Kern Jersey .C. -- Luke Donald believes hes got the right game on the right course -- and is ready to make up for so many near-misses at the RBC Heritage. Donald had an eagle and six birdies to shoot 66 on Saturday and take a two-stroke lead over John Huh after three rounds at Harbour Town Golf Links. The Englishman has done just about everything on Harbour Town the past five times hes played -- except win. He fell in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker here in 2011, part of a run of four top-3 finishes since at the tricky, Pete Dye design. Now, hell carry the lead into the final day and is ready to make it stand up on Sunday. "If I can go out as relaxed and confident as I was today tomorrow," he said. "If I can control the trajectory (of shots) as well as I did today, then hopefully Ill be sitting here as the winner." It has been a long time since Donald has been able to say that. Once the worlds top-ranked golfer, Donald has changed coaches and the transition back to the top has not come as quickly as planned. The last of his five PGA Tour wins came in 2012, his best showing this year was a tie for fourth at the Valspar Championship last month and he was quickly bounced at the Masters after shooting 79-70. Donald acknowledged he has grown anxious waiting to win again. "I was the former world No. 1 and was there for a long time and obviously slipped down," said Donald, currently 29th. "But I havent felt my game had gotten that much worse." Certainly not at Harbour Town. Donalds round got started with a 25-footer for eagle on the par-5 second hold. He added four more on the next six holes. Donald then tied leader Nicholas Thompson with a birdie on the 14th before stretching his lead with a final one by rolling in a 15-foot putt on the par-3 17th. Donald nearly closed with a flourish when his approach on the closing, lighthouse hole nearly landed in the cup on the fly before bouncing to the edge and settling for par. Donalds not the longest hitter on tour and said some layouts are dragons he cant slay. "But this one I feel like I can plot my way around with low wedges," he said. "If you miss greens, you need to be pretty good at the short game. Certainly a course that favours my style of play." Huh shot a 68 and was at 6 under. Major champions Charl Schwartzel (68) and Jim Furyk (71), Nicholas Thompson (68) and Ben Martin (71) were tied for third at 5 under. Matt Kuchar, ranked sixth in the world, shot 70 as part of a group of five golfers another shot back at 4 under. Donalds performance capped a long day at soggy Harbour Town, where 65 golfers had to finish the second round before the third could begin with K.J. Choi, Furyk and Ben Martin tied for the lead. But by midafternoon, the moisture had softened things and competitors were treated to slick greens easily accepting approach shots. At times, it looked more like a local club shootout than a PGA Tour stop. Thompson, whose sister Lexi won her first LPGA Tour major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this month, got things going with five birdies on the front nine to lead at 7 under. But bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes dropped him back into the group at 208. Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, was among those with an early start and jumped into the chase with a third-round 68 to move to 5 under. He said the course held up well despite more than 2 1/2 inches of rain that fell here Friday. Schwartzel has not won on the PGA Tour since his surprising run to the green jacket, when he birdied the final four holes. "I think if I can continue the ball striking and giving myself chances, I can make a few (birdies) tomorrow and give it a shot," he said. Furyk, the 2010 winner at Harbour Town, made birdie on his second hole to take the lead at 6 under. He failed to build on that hot start, but held on to stay in the hunt. The craziest day might have belonged to Kuchar, the highest-ranked player competing at Harbour Town after the seasons first major. He followed his fifth-place showing at the Masters last week with a strong bogey-free 66 on Thursday to take the lead. Things went the other way quickly Friday, with Kuchar posting a pair of double bogeys before the rains came and suspended play. Kuchar struggled some more with a bogey on the eighth hole once he restarted Saturday. Then he made four birdies on his back nine to climb back in it. Kuchar has finished fifth or better in his past three events and has a chance to do it again at Harbour Town. "To be playing some good golf and be in contention is fun," he said. "Im excited to have my fourth shot at trying to take a title." Steve McNair Authentic Jersey . -- The new starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs is a former first-round draft pick on a one-year deal whose career thus far has been a disappointment. Michael Griffin Authentic Jersey . The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom. Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ryan Getzlaf hates missing hockey games, and the Anaheim Ducks just arent the same when their captain isnt there. After one agonizing playoff game away, Getzlaf came roaring back to put the Ducks in command of their series with Dallas. Getzlaf had a goal and two assists in his return from injury, and the Ducks scored four power-play goals in a 6-2 victory over the Stars on Friday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series. Getzlaf became the Ducks career post-season scoring leader with a dynamic performance that betrayed no problems from his undisclosed upper-body injury -- except maybe, he acknowledged, on a horrendous first-period giveaway to Jamie Benn for Dallas first goal. "I thought I got better as the game went on," Getzlaf said. "I felt more and more comfortable. The crowd was unbelievable. Everything was fired right up. They give us so much energy." Game 6 is Sunday in Dallas. The Ducks captain, who got hit in the face with a slap shot in the series opener, now has 66 playoff points, surpassing Teemu Selannes 64 in franchise history. Corey Perry also had a goal and two assists for the top-seeded Ducks, who broke open a tight game early in the third period and confidently moved to the brink of the second round after dropping the last two games in Dallas. Getzlaf and Perry led the way, putting Anaheim one win away from just its second playoff series victory since its only Stanley Cup title in 2007. "Every time you get your captain back, its going to make you feel better," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Its like your big brother is back. Guys felt a little more secure, and he came out and had a great game." Nick Bonino, Mathieu Perreault, Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, which set a franchise record for playoff power-play goals. The Ducks chased Kari Lehtonen with five goals on their first 21 shots. Shawn Horcoff also scored for the Stars, who couldnt score on seven power-play chances. Despite the lopsided final score, the Stars regretted a missed opportunity. "The second period, we just utterly dominated," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "We hit post. We hit crossbar. Spent the whole time down in their end. Its tough. We lost the special-teams battle, which was the difference tonight." Frederik Andersen made 34 saves after getting pulled from Game 4, but the Ducks gave him plenty of offennsive cushion in a hard-hitting, whistle-filled game. Warren Moon Jersey. Anaheim scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the third period and set a club playoff record for power-play goals, scoring at least one in every period. Selanne also returned to the Ducks lineup after coach Bruce Boudreau kept him out of Game 4 as a healthy scratch, infuriating most of the Anaheim fan base. The home team has won every game in this bad-tempered, physical series, and it got even uglier when Dallas forward Ryan Garbutt got a game misconduct in the first period of Game 5 for spearing Perry in the groin, leaving the Ducks top goal-scorer on the ice in agony during a line change. "I was just coming back to the bench and got careless with my stick," Garbutt said. "It was deliberate," Boudreau countered. "It wasnt an accident. It was pretty dirty." After Boninos opening goal, Anaheim had a five-minute power play after Garbutts spearing penalty. After Getzlaf handed Benn his third goal of the series, the Ducks went back ahead 26 seconds later when Francois Beauchemins slap shot deflected off Rakell, the 20-year-old Swedish rookie appearing in just his second career playoff game. Horcoff trimmed Anaheims lead with his first goal of the series on a loose puck in the slot. After the Ducks barely thwarted a prolonged Dallas push to close the second period, Silfverberg got his first goal of the series early in the third with a one-timer off a behind-the-net pass from Cogliano. "I thought our second period was pretty good," Benn said. "We came in here, tried to regroup and come out with the same effort, but they jumped on us early. We took a stupid penalty, and that was it." Getzlaf chased Lehtonen after Perry forced a turnover by Brenden Dillon. Perry then got the Ducks fourth power-play goal 2:19 later after Trevor Daley left him alone in front of Tim Thomas, the 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Boston. NOTES: The Ducks scratched D Hampus Lindholm with a stiff neck and dressed D Luca Sbisa for the first time in the series. Boudreau praised Sbisas performance. ... Dillon suited up for the Stars for the first time in the series after getting hurt late in the regular season. Dallas scratched D Patrik Nemeth, who got injured in Game 4. .... Rakell, who has 22 games of regular-season NHL experience, became the first player in Ducks history to score his first career goal in the post-season. wholesale jerseys ' ' ' |
