Kritik und Anregungen » dnesday and is not eligible to return

AKRON, Ohio -- Matt Kuchar finished with a 12-foot birdie at the Bridgestone Invitational, which had no bearing on the outcome but still had a few ramifications.Kuchar tied for third, so that putt was worth an additional $249,250. It cost Jordan Spieth enough world ranking points that Dustin Johnson moved ahead of him to No. 2 by the slimmest of margins.And that birdie putt could send Kuchar to the Olympics.Whether he earns a spot in Rio de Janeiro is now out of Kuchars hands. The Americans are allowed the maximum four players because all of them are among the top 15 in the world ranking, and the birdie allowed him to move to No. 15. Still to be announced is which four Americans will go to Rio.Of the top four in the world ranking -- Johnson (2), Spieth (3), Bubba Watson (5) and Rickie Fowler (7) -- Watson is the only one who has said he is going. The biggest question marks of that group are Spieth and Fowler. Thats why Kuchars birdie putt was so important, because if two Americans choose not to go, those spots could end up going to Patrick Reed and Kuchar.Kuchar wants to play in the Olympics, though its still a long way off. Not only does he need at least two players to withdraw, he has to be sure he stays among the top 15 in the world ranking after this week.Olympic qualifying is based on the world ranking published next Monday, and that brings Phil Mickelson into the equation. Mickelson would have to finish alone in second at the Scottish Open -- he won the last time it was held at Castle Stuart -- to move ahead of Kuchar and be in position for any Olympic withdrawals. If Lefty were to win, he would have a mathematical chance to move ahead of Reed as the first U.S. alternate.J.B. Holmes, Shane Lowry and Chris Wood also are at Castle Stuart and could bump Kuchar from the top 15 if they were to win. A victory by Wood likely would be enough for him to reach No. 15 and give the U.K. three players.---HURLEY Game notes Billy Hurley III already delivered one of the most inspirational stories of the year when the former Naval officer won the Quicken Loans National at Congressional not far from his Virginia home, a tournament created to honor the military.Then, he chose to give up his spot in the British Open to honor a family commitment -- his sisters wedding.And it keeps getting better.For the last few years, PGA Tour rules officials and other key employees have been receiving handwritten notes from Hurley thanking them for their work. When asked about this, Hurley smiled and said, I write a lot of notes.Its a lost art that goes back decades. Arnold Palmer once showed the way to a young Jack Nicklaus on writing thank-you notes to tournament directors in the 1960s. Hurley goes beyond that.I write to the tournament director, the superintendent and title sponsors, at least at the tournaments Im playing, he said. And then the whole tour staff. Theres a lot of people that make this possible.Hurley doesnt know where he picked up this habit.I just think its the right thing to do, he said. They work hard for us. I dont know what their salaries are, but its not what ours are.---HOME SWEET HOME: Shane Lowry is playing the PGA Tour as a member for the first time this year, and what he hopes is many years to come.But he has no plans for moving his home base away from Ireland. His role model is Padraig Harrington, a PGA Tour member for more than a decade who has never followed other Europeans by getting a home in Florida.I cant see myself moving to the States at all, Lowry said. As everyone knows, Im quite friendly with Padraig, so hes done it for the last 15 years, traveled over and back. Im not finding it too difficult.Lowry typically plays two or three weeks in a row before going back to Ireland. He usually can get out Sunday night and be home Monday.Dublin is my home now in Ireland, and I see that being the case for the next while, he said.And how does he practice in the winter?I dont, Lowry said with a laugh. The weather is obviously not great. You can get out and hit shots for an hour. I just need to keep the rust away for me. ... I might play nine holes with my friends. Im not one of these guys that feels like I need to practice all every day. If I play nine holes four, five times a week, Im pretty happy.---McGIRT DOES EUROPE: Memorial winner William McGirt is excited about his first trip to the British Open, mainly because of links golf, but also one other oddity.Ive never been to Europe, McGirt said.Yes, he has a passport. McGirt played in South America when he was on the Web.com Tour, and he played in Malaysia in 2012. He qualified for the Open by being in the top 20 in the FedEx Cup, and hes going over on the charter from Philadelphia.Im looking forward to playing a completely different style of golf, he said. I grew up playing a golf course not manicured anywhere close to what we have out here. So I learned to play bump-and-run shots. Being able to use your imagination, thats the biggest thing Im looking forward to, where theres no such thing as a standard shot.---DIVOTS: Bubba Watson is all in for the Olympics, but he is leaving caddie Ted Scott at home. Watson said longtime friend Randall Wells will be on the bag for him in Rio. ... Jean Van de Velde, who lost a three-shot lead on the final hole in the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, is making his PGA Tour Champions debut this week in the Dicks Sporting Goods Classic. ... The Greenbrier Classic has been canceled because of deadly flooding, but the charter flight to the British Open is still going. The same plane that takes players and others who would have been at The Greenbrier is the one that takes them from Scotland to the Canadian Open. The only difference? It now leaves Sunday night from Philadelphia. ... John Daly will be keeping a busy schedule the next two months. He begins his stretch of majors at Royal Troon for the British Open and Carnoustie for the Senior British Open. Then, its back over the ocean to New Jersey for the PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Two weeks later, he has the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto in Ohio before heading back across the Atlantic to play the Czech Masters on the European Tour.---STAT OF THE WEEK: The winners of the three World Golf Championships this year all won in their previous start -- Adam Scott (Honda Classic, WGC-Cadillac Championship), Jason Day (Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Match Play) and Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational).---FINAL WORD: I work in the Army 14 years. ... And training every morning, thats why we come to play golf, I think really easy. -- Thongchai Jaidee, a former paratrooper in Thailand, after his eighth European Tour victory in the French Open. Cheap Adidas Lightning Jerseys . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Cheap Lightning Jerseys . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. http://www.cheaplightningjerseys.com/ . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. Cheap Lightning Jerseys Authentic . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Cheap Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. LOS ANGELES -- Rob Segedin swung his way into the Los Angeles Dodgers record book a year after he was ready to walk away from the game entirely.The 27-year-old Segedin set a Dodgers record with four RBI in his major league debut, Adrian Gonzalez hit his 300th career homer and Los Angeles beat the Boston Red Sox 8-5 on Sunday night.Its been a long road. To just go through the ups and downs, to get to be here and get the rewards of it, thats the surreal part, Segedin said.With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Segedin drilled a 2-0 pitch from David Price over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts for a two-run double, his first big league hit in his second at-bat.Segedin came up again with two outs in the fifth and the bases loaded, and he lined a single to right to give the Dodgers a 6-2 lead. He was lifted in a sixth-inning double switch.Segedin was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday after 561 minor league games. A third-round pick by the Yankees in 2010, Segedin spent six seasons in the minors with New York and nearly retired last summer after a tough demotion.I was ready to go last year, he said. It was my wifes and my second anniversary and Id just got sent down from Triple-A to Double-A, it was one of those things where I felt I was going backwards, that maybe I wouldnt get the opportunity.His family talked him into continuing his career, and he was acquired by the Dodgers in January before embarking on his seventh minor league season. He played left field and batted eighth for L.A. on Sunday.That was awesome, Gonzalez said. Seggies game was incredible. Great ABs, stay under control, and get two big, big hits for us.Gonzalez became the seventh active player to reach 300 homers and 400 doubles.Its pretty cool, those are things that Ill really, really be able to enjoy them and cherish them when I retire, Gonzalez said. Right now, the focus is on the Phillies and tomorrow. But its pretty cool to take a step back and enjoy it for a few hours.Gonzalez had three hits for the second game in a row. He hit a 2-2 pitch from reliever Junichi Tazawa high over the wall in right-center field in the seventh for his 10th home run of the season.Howie Kendrick followed Gonzalez with a homer four pitches later, marking the third time this season the Dodgers have hit back-to-back home runs.Justin Turner hit his 20th home run, and seventh sincee the All-Star break, leading off the fourth.ddddddddddddPrice (9-8) fell to 2-7 over his last 14 starts, and Boston fell to 5-6 on this 11-game trip. Price has not won since July 10.Andrew Benintendi had three hits, two RBI, scored a run and stole a base for Boston, which selected the 22-year-old with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft and called him up on Tuesday.Its gone by real fast, but Im trying to take things in and learn as much as possible, Benintendi said. Everyone here has made me feel extremely comfortable from the beginning. I think that the more games that I play, the more I feel comfortable.Los Angeles starter Brandon McCarthy struggled with control from the outset, walking five and hitting a batter over 3 2/3 innings.Jesse Chavez (1-0) got the win with 1 1/3 innings in relief.Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 34th save.CLAYTON CATCHClayton Kershaw resumed baseball activities by playing catch prior to Sundays game as he continued his attempt to return to the mound this season.Sidelined since his last start on June 26, Kershaw (mild herniated disc) was moved to the 60-day disabled list on Wednesday and is not eligible to return until Aug. 27.TRAINERS ROOMRed Sox: DH David Ortiz walked as a pinch hitter Sunday after coming up sore from his first start of the season at first base Saturday. 1B Hanley Ramirez was also reduced to pinch hitting -- he struck out leading off the ninth -- after reporting more soreness in his wrist when he arrived at Dodger Stadium. ... OF Chris Young went through an aggressive baserunning session prior to Sundays game. Boston will wait to hear how Young feels Monday before deciding when to begin his rehab assignment.Dodgers: LHP Rich Hill, scratched Saturday because of a blister, has been penciled in to start on Friday against the Pirates. ... OF Trayce Thompson was transferred to the 60-day disabled list and wont be eligible to return to the Dodgers until Sept. 9.NEXT UPRed Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (14-3, 3.46) will start in Tuesday nights opener of a three-game set against the Yankees at Fenway Park.Dodgers: Rookie RHP Julio Urias (1-2, 4.98) will make his first start since July 21, his 10th for the Dodgers this season, Monday night against Philadelphia. ' ' '