that prior to the start of the 19th round in the Panthers-Caps

AKRON, Ohio -- Tiger Woods showed signs of a positive recovery Thursday at the Bridgestone Invitational. Not just from back surgery, but from making bogeys. Woods bounced back with birdies all three times that he made mistakes, opening with a 2-under 68 on a soft, gentle day for scoring at Firestone. It left him four shots behind Marc Leishman of Australia, and hopeful that this time he can build on a solid start. Woods opened with a 69 at the British Open two weeks ago, only to plunge down the leaderboard the rest of the week at Royal Liverpool. "I hit a lot of good shots," Woods said. "I dropped shots at three holes out there today (and) got it right back on the very next hole." For so many players, the opening round of this World Golf Championship felt like either a warmup or an audition for bigger events to follow. Ryan Moore was among three players at 65, a good start for someone looking for one big week to get him on the Ryder Cup team. Two more Ryder Cup hopefuls -- Patrick Reed and Francesco Molinari of Italy -- were among those another shot back. British Open champion Rory McIlroy, who next week will chase his second straight major, was among the leaders until not paying attention to packed sand in a bunker that sent him to a double bogey late in his round. He still wound up with a 69. Leishman has quietly gone about his work in reasonable form, with top 10s recently at Congressional and Royal Liverpool. He had the perfect formula for Firestone, a big golf course where good scores are available by keeping the ball in play. "I drove the ball well. It makes this course a lot easier when youre on the fairway," Leishman said. "Its pretty tough when youre playing from the rough. Then, I hit my irons really well and was rolling the ball awesome. So its a pretty good combination for a tough golf course like this, something I can hopefully keep going." Charl Schwartzel and Justin Rose joined Moore one shot out of the lead. Woods said only a mild breeze and soft conditions from overnight rain allowed for scoring, though he noted that no one went terribly low. The 64 by Leishman seemed like a good score, so maybe Woods was basing that on his own experience at a course where he has won eight times. Woods twice has shot his career-best 61 at Firestone, including last year on his way to a seven-shot victory. That he managed six birdies was a sign that he was making putts, even though two of his birdies were tap-ins. He still had a few wild moments, starting with a three-putt bogey from 10 feet on the opening hole. He hooked his drive so badly on the par-5 second hole that he worried it might not clear the lake on the adjacent third hole. It was far enough left to leave him a good angle with a 5-wood that he put on the green for a two-putt birdie. His only big mistake was a shot into the trees on the ninth hole. It took him two shots to get out, and from behind the green he couldnt get up-and-down and made double bogey. Just like two other bogeys in his round, he answered with a birdie with a shot into 6 feet on No. 10. "I feel like I made some progress," Woods said. "As I said, this is only my seventh round back. So its just going to take a little time. Im starting to get in the flow of things. If you look at my iron shots into the holes today, a majority of them were pin-high. So Im starting to get the feel back in my hands and get my trajectory under control." Woods missed three months following back surgery, and the six rounds he has played since returning have not been inspiring, except for that opening round at Hoylake. He needs more rounds like that to remind Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson he would be worth selecting, and to try to extend his season beyond the PGA Championship next week by moving up 90 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for the playoffs. Phil Mickelsons biggest struggle was with his health. He didnt arrive in Ohio until Wednesday night because of strep throat, and he opened with a 71. McIlroy appeared to pick up where he left off in England. He wasnt expecting a hangover from winning his third major and didnt experience one except for his mistake from the bunker on the eighth hole. "Theres still so much to play for," he said. "No. 1 spot is up for grabs. Trying to get myself as far up the FedEx Cup points as possible. I havent won a World Golf Championship before. Got another major coming up next week. It hasnt been that hard for me to refocus and get back to work." Justin Holiday Jersey . The win gives Canada its fifth title at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge. "Weve got to keep pushing," said Westlake, who led Canada with five goals in the tournament. "The second you let off the pedal, everyone catches up. Chicago Bulls Jersey . Yup, he definitely needed this one. Craig homered twice and had three RBIs Wednesday night to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Craig went 4 for 5 and Yadier Molina added three hits for the Cardinals, who salvaged the final game of a three-game set in hopes of staying within shouting distance of front-running Milwaukee in the NL Central. http://www.officialbullsfanstore.com/kids-denzel-valentine-bulls-jersey/ .com) - Tony Parker scored 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a comfortable 99-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Michael Jordan Jersey . - Titans quarterback Jake Locker will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, leaving Tennessee trying to rally with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Antonio Blakeney Jersey .J. - New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara left Monday nights game against the Indianapolis Colts with a torn biceps.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Good day, Kerry! I was watching the Panthers/Capitals shootout on Tuesday night and I got to thinking about what was going to happen once each bench had all been used up. Low and behold it all worked out fine and they were able to go through their roster again after everyone had a shot, but what if someone couldnt shoot before the end of the first go through? Say perhaps that someone had been given a game misconduct, left hurt, or the less likely scenario of playing one player short for salary cap purposes. What would happen after Team A had let 17 shooters go and their 18th player was unavailable? Would they be able to go back to Player 1 while Team B was forced to use player 18? This seems like a lopsided solution if it is the case! What is your interpretation of this rule? I sure hope that if the shootout ends up staying for much longer, we have a lot more games that run through this many shooters! Cheers, Corey Corey: The record setting 20-round shootout win by Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers over Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals was highly entertaining for sure. We saw fantastic saves by both goalies (sometimes with a little help from the iron) along with clutch goals scored by players of both teams in order to keep the shootout going. With the rally caps on backwards, both teams went completely through the batting order and two players shot twice before Nick Bjugstad bested Alex Ovechkin in the bottom of the 20th. Unless the outcome is determined by the first three shooters all remaining eligible players from each team can participate in the sudden death format. No player may shoot twice until everyone who is eligible has shot. All players are eligible unless they are serving a ten-minute misconduct, or have been assessed a game misconduct or match penalty.dddddddddddd. When a goalkeeper has been assessed a misconduct, the player designated to serve the misconduct penalty becomes ineligible for the shootout. If the misconduct is assessed to the goalkeeper during the course of the shootout, the player designated to serve the misconduct must be a player who has yet to shoot and thus becomes ineligible. To clarify, any player that was serving a minor, double minor or major penalty when the overtime period expired is eligible to participate in the shootout. You might also have noticed that prior to the start of the 19th round in the Panthers-Caps shootout, referees Tim Peel and Rob Martell took a moment to confer with the penalty time keeper to make sure every eligible player from both teams had taken a shot. This speaks to your question Corey concerning a potential imbalance of eligible players, which I will now address. Corey, your concern regarding the unfairness attributed to a possible numerical difference between the two rosters is clarified in rule 84.4. “If, because of injury or penalty, one team has fewer players eligible for the shootout, both teams may select from among the players who have already shot. This procedure would continue until the team with fewer players has again used all eligible shooters.” This is interpreted to mean that if Team A has only 16 eligible shooters compared to Team B’s 18 eligible shooters, once they enter the 17th round both teams are allowed to select a player that has already participated in the shootout. Team B is therefore not required to utilize the 17th and 18th shooters on their depth chart. Given the entertainment value that the shootout provides, I don’t think we have to worry about it being discontinued any time soon, if ever. 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