warum » Harts goal. In between those chances, City

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Michelle Wie is becoming a regular contender in major championships, only now as an adult. She captivated womens golf as a teenager, contending in three straight LPGA Tour majors when she was 16. That was when she still was trying to compete against the men, when she didnt always look as if she was having fun and before injuries and criticism were a big part of her growing pains. On another tough day at Pinehurst No. 2, the 24-year-old from Hawaii held it together Friday with two key par putts and finished with back-to-back birdies for a 2-under 68, giving her a three-shot lead going into the weekend at the U.S. Womens Open. "I think you look at the way Michelle has played the last six months and you look at her differently," said Stacy Lewis, the No. 1 player in womens golf who was four shots out of the lead. "I think shes become one of the best ball-strikers on tour. She hits it really consistent. She knows where the balls going. And shes figuring out how to win. Thats the big thing." But theres a familiar name, and another teen prodigy, who joined Wie as the only players still under par. Lexi Thompson, who soundly beat Wie in the final round to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship for her first major title, powered her way out of the sand and weeds, running off three straight birdies to match Wies 68, the low score Friday. For all the interest in the men and women playing Pinehurst No. 2 in successive weeks, Wie and Thompson made the Womens Open more closely resemble the first LPGA major. Is it too early to start thinking rematch? "Definitely too early," Thompson said with a laugh. "Thirty-six holes in a major, thats a lot of golf to be played, especially at a U.S. Womens Open." For now, Wie had control. Her three-shot lead is the largest through 36 holes in the Womens Open in 11 years. She twice thought her shots were going off the turtleback greens, and twice she relied on her table-top putting stance to make long par saves. She finished with a 6-iron that set up a 12-foot birdie putt, and a 15-foot birdie on the par-5 ninth to reach 4-under 136. "End of the day yesterday, I was thinking if I just did this again, that would be nice," Wie said. "Finishing with two birdies is always great. Its a grind out there. Its not easy. Really grateful for the par putts that I made and some of the birdie putts that I made. I cant complain. Ill take it." Just when it looked as if this had the trappings of another runaway -- Martin Kaymer led by at least four shots over the final 48 holes to win the U.S. Open -- along came Thompson with a shot reminiscent of what Kaymer did last week. From the sand and bushes left of the fairway on the par-5 fifth hole, Thompson blasted a 5-iron from 195 yards just off the green, setting up two putts for birdie from about 60 feet. Kaymer was in roughly the same spot in the third round when he hit 7-iron from 202 yards to 5 feet, that pin position more toward the front. That was her third straight birdie, and she closed with four pars to reach 139. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., each shot 73 to finish the second round in a tie for 14th place. Pinehurst No. 2 wasnt in much of a giving mood on another warm day in the North Carolina sandhills, with a brief shower in the middle of the afternoon that didnt do much to soften a dry, crusty golf course. Lewis, who opened with a bogey-free 67, picked up a bogey on her first hole in a wild round of six bogeys, three birdies and a tough 73. Even so, the two-time major champion managed to see the big picture. "I hung around, and thats what youve got to do at this tournament," said Lewis, at even-par with Amy Yang (69) and Minjee Lee, the 18-year-old amateur from Australia who played bogey-free on the back nine to salvage a 71. Lucy Li, the precocious 11-year-old and youngest qualifier in the history of the U.S. Womens Open, isnt leaving town until Monday. She just wont be playing any more golf. The sixth-grader from the Bay Area started with a double bogey for the second straight day and shot another 78 to miss the cut by seven shots. The cut was 9-over 149. Na Yeon Choi had a 70 and was at 1-over 141, followed by a Paula Creamer (72) at 2-over 142. The group at 143 included Karrie Webb (73) and So Yeon Ryu (74), who saved her hopes with three straight birdies on the front nine, and narrowly missing a fourth. All of them are former Womens Open champions. This is a different Wie they are chasing. She already has won this year in Hawaii, and she has eight top 10s and is No. 2 on the LPGA money list. Attribute that to a putting stroke that she owns, no matter how peculiar it looks with her back bent severely, almost parallel to the ground. And she has learned to play the shot -- she has a full allotment -- instead of worrying about her score or her position on the leaderboard. "I knew I could get better," Wie said. "I knew I could improve. But thats the game of golf. I think thats whats so fun about it. You work hard, you work hard, its a challenging game. You can never quite perfect it. I love working on my game. I love working on different shots. Just trying to get better every day. I never really lost a sense of determination or drive." Air Max 90 Australia Sale . Sources tell TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger that the team is quietly gauging interest on the Senators captain, though Spezza has a limited no-trade clause and carries a large contract. Nike Air Max 90 Cheap Wholesale .twitter.com/TeZD3KOvlA — Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) September 24, 2014 Sorry for the delay, we just got back from lunch at Papa Vons #NBAFastFood pic. http://www.australiaairmax90cheap.com/ . - For years William Gay kept quiet. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . Needing to bulk up on both sides of the line, the Falcons agreed to terms with guard Jon Asamoah, defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle Paul Soliai. Asamoah and Jackson played last season with Kansas City, where Asamoah lost his starting job. Cheap Air Max 90 Australia .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders.To not win a European Cup for two years is more than understandable for most teams in world football but not this current Barcelona. They remain a long way away from winning it again, of course, but their performance in Manchester on Tuesday night was a sign of intent, a message they very much intended on delivering the moment their attention turned on the last 16 clash. When they landed on English shores this week, there was a sense of a new dawn, the opening of a new window for this current crop of winners to accomplish something relatively new. To many, it wasnt new at all. They did have eight of the 11 that started the triumphant 2011 final against Manchester United on the pitch from the start at Manchester City on Tuesday evening, but after they were massacred by Bayern Munich in last seasons semifinal, a line had been drawn on the past and it was time to concentrate on the future. All great teams need motivation to continually reach the top and this is it for Barcelona 2013-14. "Maybe (City) do not fear us anymore, because in the last two years, we didnt win the Champions League," said defender Gerard Pique on Monday. "We can still be the best, but we have to show the world we can do it. Tomorrow is a great chance." It was in England, at Wembley, in May of 2011 that they indeed cemented their place as one of the greatest club teams of all time. Pep Guardiola was hoisted in the sky by his players after securing their second European Cup in three years. It was a time for reflection but also of great excitement at what the team could go on to achieve. However, the great unscripted drama that is sport, went on to tell a story of a different Barcelona in the next two seasons of Champions League football. As so often happens in knock-out competition, things didnt always go to plan. Chelsea ended their quest in 2012 when they defended brilliantly at the Nou Camp while last season Barcelona were never quite at the level they had set in years previous. A loss in Milan at this stage last season gave us a glimpse of what was to come. A superb comeback at home showed us again just what they are capable of but two draws against an up-and-coming PSG side in the next round squeezed them through to the battle with Bayern that was so one-sided a new legacy had to be started. "It is not the end of an era," Andres Iniesta claimed at the time but that is not what the future will say. If this Barcelona team are to go on to accomplish more European success, it will be considered a new era; one without Pep, or Tito Villanova, a team under Gerardo Martinos wing influenced more now by Cesc Fabregas and, in time, Neymar. The finals against Manchester United in 2009 and 2011 were similar in how they dominated but also in how they took around 10 minutes to get going. Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about it often in the lead-up to their second final together. United needed to take advantage of that time if they were to win. Not surprisingly Barcelona had more of the ball but United had much more of it in that phase than at any other time, just like in Rome two years earlier. At Wembley, Barcelona completed just 10 per cent of their total successful passes in that opening 10 minutes but United completed 15.5 per cent of all of their successful passes. Once Barcelona got going, United, even when they got it back to 1-1, never got any rhythm into the match. All great teams need to keep reinventing themselves and, having waited 10 weeks since the group stages to show what they could do, this current Barcelona team exploded out of the blocks against Manchester City. There was a genuine purpose about their start annd for 100 seconds, shortly after the first minute was over, City never touched the ball.dddddddddddd Four minutes in and Barcelona had already completed 60 successful passes. The Spanish giants dominating possession is nothing new but them starting this way in the Champions League is. "Maybe we gave them too much respect in the beginning," reflected City skipper Vincent Kompany, whose mind was drawn back to a time in the game that City couldnt get out of their own half. Yet, despite this, it was hard to fault City for their style. At 0-0, they defended excellently and as the first half wore on, showed just why some had thought this was a very dangerous tie for Barcelona. Martinos men will always dominate possession to protect but it is against teams that counter efficiently and remain calm with the ball that they can look vulnerable. In Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, City have two outstanding midfielders who can ensure a team does exactly that. The pair were magnificent in the first half and it would have been interesting to see what more the Brazilian midfielder could have done, had he not tired playing with just 10 men after being injured for over two weeks. Both were pivotal in a key phase before half-time when City put 22 straight passes together. Not many teams can make Barcelona chase a ball for over a minute without getting it back but Manuel Pellegrinis men did that and were encouraged when they walked off at half-time at 0-0. Six minutes after the interval, however, the tie turned when Jesus Navas went down and Barcelona countered. It looked like a foul on Navas but he also seemed to try and sell it and at that point, left his team exposed. With them attacking, City had Toure and Fernandinho further away from their back four than normal and one magical pass from Iniesta sent Lionel Messi through on goal before he was chopped down by Martin Demichelis. Demichelis had to be sent off but had played well up until that moment. Well, however, may not have still been good enough and, certainly, was probably the peak of what he could have achieved. He was, for example, never going to be the rock that Kompany was throughout the match. All great teams have a way of exploiting their opponents main weakness and Barcelona did that in the 53rd minute and, later, in the dying minutes when Neymar and Dani Alves combined to rip apart Joleon Lescott and Gael Clichy on Citys left side. The Brazilian right back had a fine match and almost scored earlier when he did the same to Citys defensive pair but shot just wide of Joe Harts goal. In between those chances, City had their best period of the match when Barcelona showed a conservative approach showing just how vital an away victory in a knock-out stage was crucial. The red card didnt help City but neither did the presence of Lescott and Clichy, who can look nervous against Swansea let alone Barcelona, and the decision to take off Aleksandar Kolarov and leave on David Silva to protect them on the left proved costly. Barcelonas fantastic four Spaniards gave another football clinic on how to treasure the ball - 409 successful passes from 434 attempts (94.2%). Some call it boring, but once again, they were at their best when their team needed them to protect. Xavi and Fabregas….. Sergio Busquets and Iniesta….. Barcelona arrived in England this week with some fear because Man City were arguably the toughest team they could have been drawn against. They left knowing the stern test was passed, likely marching them into the last eight and a step closer to reaching the same level of success in Europe as they are accomplishing domestically. ' ' '