Releases » more whacks at the rebound, but Niemi

HOYLAKE, England - Phil Mickelson rolled long putts across the practice green in front of the Royal Liverpool clubhouse, some of them going in, most of them the right distance. He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. Even that allowed him to reflect on a year of keeping golfs oldest trophy, and the confidence he finally has when he plays links golf. "Its a different feeling for me coming over here now having won this tournament," Mickelson said. "The way I felt was, Am I ever going to break through and play well on links golf and win an Open Championship? Now I know that I can. I know that Ive done it, and it takes a lot of pressure off me." Confidence in links golf? Yes. In his game? That takes a little more work. Not even Mickelson would have imagined when he left Muirfield last summer with the claret jug that he would not have another tournament anywhere in the world. This is the longest he has gone without winning in five years. And except for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January, where he was runner-up, Mickelson hasnt been particularly close. He has missed three cuts. He withdrew twice after narrowly making the cut because of injuries in San Diego and San Antonio. At the Masters, where he is a three-time champion, Mickelson missed the cut for the first time in 17 years. His lone top 10 on the PGA Tour was last August at The Barclays, a tie for sixth when he closed with a 65. So why the smile? "Normally, I would be discourage or frustrated, but Im just not," Mickelson said. "I feel like Ive had some good breakthroughs in some areas. I havent had the results. I know I havent played well. But the parts feel a lot better than the whole right now. And I dont know when it will all click together. I dont know if it will be this week. I dont know if it will be in three weeks or a month or what, but it should be soon." Hes running out of time. Mickelson is No. 12 in the Ryder Cup standings. He has qualified for every team since 1995 — two years after Jordan Spieth was born. He has reached the FedEx Cup finale for the top 30 at the Tour Championship every year since it began in 2007. With only three starts before the playoffs begin, Mickelson is at No. 97. Then again, its easy for Mickelson not to be overly concerned. He is 44 and has been on tour for half of his life, compiling 42 victories on the PGA Tour and five majors, including that claret jug. Its at least been a good year for the jug. He has taken it to golf clubs and corporate outings, shared it with friends and people he had never met. He has let his caddie, Jim Mackay, take it to pose for pictures. Mickelson had only one rule. "One of the things I stressed is that we have to treat the claret jug with reverence and respect that it deserves, and only put good stuff in it," he said. "No bad stuff was allowed. And each person that I brought it to had a different definition of what the good stuff was." One definition was a bottle of 1990 Romanee Conti, which can range in price from $16,000 to about $35,000. "Now, I didnt know what this was when I drank it," Mickelson said. "I just knew that it was really good. And that was the best bottle that was ever put in there." Like fine wine, Mickelson can only hope he gets better with age. Even though he had to overcome arthritis in the middle of the 2010 season, and only eight players older than he is right now have won majors, Mickelson doesnt see that as an obstacle. Sure, he has to work a little harder, train a little better, stretch a little more. "But I feel better than I have in a long time," he said. Padraig Harrington is the last player to repeat as Open champion. Tiger Woods repeated at Royal Liverpool in 2006. Tom Watson won back-to-back some 30 years ago. Winning majors is difficult enough. Winning the same one two years in a row is even harder. Monday was the first full day of practice for most players, while some took the day off. Woods didnt show up at the course after practicing both days on the weekend. Some players from the Scottish Open werent at Hoylake. Others, like Spieth, arrived Monday morning on a charter from the John Deere Classic and went on to play. Mickelson closed with a 65 at Royal Aberdeen to tie for 11th in the Scottish Open. He won the Scottish Open a year ago, and believes the lag putting into a crossing wind, along with seeing the ball react on links courses is a big benefit. Plus, hes never been so enthusiast about golfs oldest championship, mainly because his name is on the trophy. 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Gianluigi Buffon Jersey .com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night when the two teams collide at American Airlines Arena for Game 4.SAN JOSE, Calif. - More than four years after leaving Chicago, Antti Niemi still takes pleasure in beating the team he once helped win a Stanley Cup title.Niemi made 31 saves in his 31st career shutout and the San Jose Sharks won their third straight game by beating the Blackhawks 2-0 on Saturday night.Its still a little special even though its been a while, said Niemi, who left the Blackhawks for San Jose after winning the Stanley Cup in 2010. Theyre still one of the top teams in the league so its always good to win against them.Melker Karlsson scored early and Joe Thornton added an empty-net goal for the Sharks, who got their first regulation win over the Blackhawks since Feb. 10, 2012.Niemi did the rest against his former team as San Jose followed up wins over defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles and NHL points leader Anaheim with one against perennial cup contender Chicago.Antti Raanta made 19 saves for the Blackhawks, who were shut out for the fourth time this season. Chicago lost two of three on the post-All-Star break California swing, with the win coming Friday night in Anaheim.He played awesome, defenceman Brent Burns said. Hes real sturdy back there. We feel good when hes there. We know hes there to back us up if they get a good chance, and he showed it tonight.The Sharks struck early to take the lead when Raanta struggled to control a shot by Matt Irwin. Karlsson batted at the rebound and it deflected into the net for his eighth goal of the season.Niemi took the game after that, especially in a brilliant second period when he kept Chicago off the scoreboard despite a 15-6 edge in shots on goal.We just couldnt really get that one into the net in the second period, captain Jonathan Toews said. We were creating a lot of chances off the rushes we had.Niemi made a pair of tough saves early in the second on Andrew Shaw and Brandon Saad.dddddddddddd He then stopped Marian Hossa on a 2-on-1 rush midway through the period and came up with his best saves when the Sharks were on the power play late in the second.Toews came in alone on a breakaway and Niemi got a piece of his initial shot. The puck trickled past him and was on the way into the net before Niemi swept it off the goal line with his stick. Toews then got two more whacks at the rebound, but Niemi managed to stop those while lying on the ice with help from defenceman Brent Burns.Nemo made the first save, it was dribbling in. He made the second save, coach Todd McLellan said. We flew by the situation, which we shouldnt have, so we had to make the third and maybe even the fourth save. It could have been the turning point, it really could have, giving up a short-handed goal at that point. Nemo was there for us.Toews had the puck again for another shot, but the referees blew the play dead on a quick whistle.I wasnt too happy with that, Toews said. He thought it was frozen. It is what it is. We should have scored on the first rush.After Raanta made key stops on Barclay Goodrow and Matt Nieto early in the third to keep the deficit at one goal, Niemi responded again with a tough save against Saad.It was one of those games where you thought you felt something was going to come eventually and it didnt happen, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. I think we are on the right track here.NOTES: Niemi had two shutouts against the Blackhawks, beating them 1-0 on Nov. 23, 2011. ... Thornton assisted on Karlssons goal giving him at least 30 assists in 15 straight seasons. ... Sharks F Tye McGinn left the game after the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. ' ' '