Kritik und Lob » mistake, but Rahul was careful. And decisive too -

ATLANTA -- Phil Mickelson paused a good while before answering the question, realizing immediately that how it was answered had the potential to look bad. Of course he would love to win the Tour Championship this week and all the potential riches that go along with it.But really, Lefty admitted, the goal is next weeks Ryder Cup. And getting the issues in his game straightened out here at East Lake is more important than how he fares at the PGA Tours season-ending event.That might not sit too well with the PGA Tour brass, or tournament sponsor Coca-Cola or perhaps even those who come to the course to watch him in person.By now, however, all should know that Phil is going to be Phil.Well, Ive won two Tour Championships, and Ive only been a part of two winning Ryder Cups, Mickelson said Friday after saying that he made an equipment change to better help him next week. Id kind of like to be a part of a third.So not to diminish this [tournament], but Id rather win next week. For me, at this stage in my career, it means a little more to me.Give Mickelson credit for honesty. At 46 and in the World Golf Hall of Fame with 42 victories and five major championships, Mickelson stuck his neck out two years ago at Gleneagles when he basically criticized Tom Watson and the PGA of America for the approach that has seen the Americans lose the Cup eight of the 10 times Mickelson has been part of it.His comments were controversial, and he knew taking on a legend like Watson would not be popular. But it helped force a change he is fully behind, one that saw more player input into the captain, the points standings and the pairings.But now Mickelsons game looks shaky, and he explained why he had hit just a single fairway during the opening round and only five more on Friday, giving him a total of six out of 28 for two days: He put a different driver in play, one with a longer shaft.That was a result of the practice round he had on Monday at Hazeltine National, site of the Ryder Cup.When I went to Hazeltine and saw how long of a golf course it was, I went to a longer driver again, said Mickelson, who brought three drivers that have a shaft an inch-and-a-half longer. I hit this driver 18, 20 yards longer. Thats a significant difference. I carry it a lot farther, and I think its going to be an advantage at Hazeltine if I drive it well.But I needed to get some play with it. I cant just show up and expect to drive it. Yesterday was a different one. Today was the one Im going to end up going with. I drove it great on the back nine. I hit cuts like I did in 2004, when I drove it well, and they were soft cuts. I was able to swing it to the target, and the ball went there. It was great.Ahhhh. ... You can all but see the cynics cringing, hear the doubters groaning.It is certainly fair to wonder if Mickelson is overthinking this. Hes having his best year since winning The Open in 2003, nearly winning this year at Royal Troon, finishing second at Pebble Beach and making his 11th Ryder Cup team. He is ranked 14th in the world.The swing instructor he has been working with since last fall, Andrew Getson, has been with Mickelson for numerous tournaments, including two weeks ago at the BMW Championship and this week. Mickelson has often credited Getson for his improved play in 2016.And part of the reason for that success is the shorter driver, one that helped him keep the ball in play with more frequency.I sacrificed a lot of distance here in an effort to get the ball in the fairway, said Mickelson, who even with that improvement still ranks just 154th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, hitting just less than 56 percent of the fairways. I drove it a little bit straighter.But I needed the length, and Ive picked that back up. And Im starting to, after today, feel pretty good with it. I hit a lot of good drives. The stats dont always say. Yesterday the misses were huge. Today the misses were minuscule. On a normal length fairway, I probably would have hit 10, 11 fairways. But these things are tight, theyre tilted, and theyre very difficult to hit.Mickelson has been down this road previously. At the 2008 U.S. Open, for example, he famously played the tournament without a driver. He has, at times, used two drivers, taking a long iron or a wedge out of his bag. Another time he had a period of using a strong 3-wood that served as his driver.Whatever the case, Mickelson clearly had his mind made up after Mondays practice round with several other U.S. players that this was the way to proceed.Thats why playing a practice round is so critical, because you realize what your course setup, your bag setup, your club setup needs to be, he said. You work on the shots youve been hitting, you need to hit. You have to have time to prepare for those.Had I not gone and seen it, Id be showing up there on Monday or Tuesday with a short driver panicking like I need that extra 20 yards. So it was a good thing.Mickelson spent a considerable amount of time on the driving range Wednesday and again after his round Thursday, when he admitted there was concern after hitting just one out of 14 fairways. On Wednesday, he settled on the correct settings for the drivers he would employ, and then it was a matter of determining which of the two drivers hed narrowed it down to was best.The answer, apparently, came Friday, when his back-nine 34 resulted in a score of 2-over 72. He opened the tournament with a 74.I expect this weekend Ill drive it well, Mickelson said. I think Im going to play well because the other holes, everything is fine with my game.I drove it a lot better today. Today went much, much better. Even though the numbers dont warrant it, all my misses were within a yard or two of the fairways. But you just cant play this course like that.Mickelson is tied for 26th in the 29-man field (Jason Day withdrew), already 13 shots back of leader Dustin Johnson. He wont be winning the Tour Championship, and any incremental gains earned in prize money and bonus money are of little consequence to him at this point of a career in which hes made millions.So its all about the Ryder Cup now, where not a penny is on the line but there is plenty at stake.Air Max 720 Scontate Outlet . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Air Max 720 Outlet . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. https://www.scontatescarpeoutlet.it/nike-air-max-720-italia-scarpe-outlet-c3266.html . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Scarpe Nike Scontate Al 70 . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Air Max 95 Scontate Bianche . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer.India 358 for 5 (Rahul 158, Pujara 46, Chase 2-91) lead West Indies 196 by 162 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFlawless innings are fairly rare in Test cricket. After all, the bowler gets to dictate some of the terms too. KL Rahul listened to them patiently, respected them when they made good points but did not cede his upper hand. His career-best 158 thrust India into the lead.At the other end was Cheteshwar Pujara, who spent a full hour running away from making runs. He was 18 off 57 overnight and stayed on 18 until he faced his 92nd ball of the match. Much was made of his run-out after lunch. Facing 159 balls and being dismissed in that fashion evokes critique but there were mitigating circumstances.Runs and records awaited anyone willing to show a little application on this Sabina Park pitch. But like a grandparent doting on their favourite grandkid in the middle of a party, it did embarrass them on the odd occasion. Notably, when Pujara nudged a short delivery from Jason Holder into the leg side. He meant for it to go a lot finer, but the ball had come onto the bat slower than expected and went off it in the same way, allowing Roston Chase, who was in front of square, to cut across and throw the stumps down. Pujara, who was face-down on the ground at the non-strikers end, knew all his hard work had come undone by one dreadful mistake.Meanwhile, Rahul kept cruising. He had driven extremely well and by now wasnt afraid to extend the arms and hit over the top. A good IPL - whether it makes one ready for international cricket or not - certainly does wonders to his confidence. Rahul had outshone Chris Gayle in the last season and his attacking game was on point in Kingston.West Indies, it seemed, were at the other end. There was no ambition. They did not take the new ball when it was available and instead fed a new batsman with spin. Considering that new batsman was Virat Kohli, who is susceptible to the seamers outside the off stump, it was quite baffling. With very little resistance, a ninth - out of 14 - Indian partnership crossed 50 in this series.Things changed after tea. West Indies took the new ball and put it in Shannon Gabriels hands. With him coming back from an ankle injury, it seemed like his team was perennially juggling chances of victory with those of him going out of commission again. Hamstring trouble for Miguel Cummins complicated matters further; the debutant was the only one to consistently aim at the stumps. Ask Pujara, who was beaten on the inside edge, outside edge and rapped on his top hand.Gabriel had had nine overs downtime when the new ball had become available, but the additional respite seemed to have helped since he took out Rahul and troubled Kohli too. The India captain had been perturbed by outswingers - 8 off 33 at one point - and while his guard was up for that, he couldnt prevent an inswinger thudding into the pads. Heighht saved him in umpire Aleem Dars judgment.ddddddddddddWest Indies got Kohli and R Ashwin in the final hour of play but Ajinkya Rahane took the lead past 150.Things were better in the morning. There werent many runs scored - 59 in 26 overs; there werent many fans around - sad for a Sunday; there were no wickets but there was a contest.With clear skies welcoming the players on the second day, the likelihood of the ball seaming about had reduced. It was time to go back to camping just outside off stump for as long as it took to spot the rare, flirty Indian outside edge. Gabriel found one in his second over, but it didnt carry to second slip.Rahuls scariest moment came when the length was much shorter, a 144 kph delivery that seamed in at his ribs. He probably assumed the line was a lot wider and committed into a cut shot and only barely avoided being caught behind. Gabriel was the aggrieved bowler, and fit the profile too, with a look that loosely translated to where are my *$&#^ wickets? His first spell was five overs - the longest he has bowled on the trot in this series - and gave away only three runs.The last time India played in Jamaica a Rahul scored a century. So it was again when this Rahul came down the track and smacked the offspin of Chase into the stands at long-on. It was a shot definitive of the knock, showing how the batsman had read the threat of the ball early and how firm he was with his footwork. The only thing it didnt make clear was how effective he had been in keeping the good ones out. A delighted fist-pump, an authoritative raise of his bat and a hug from M Vijay, who came out with drinks, were part of the celebrations.Coming into the Jamaica Test, Rahuls top five scores in descending order read: 110, 108, 16, 7, 5. Symptoms of a good player, but a nervous starter. So even with the 75 runs he had overnight, there were questions that needed answering. West Indies had a set plan at the start - the extra pace of Gabriel allied to Holders wide-outside-off lines to restrict run flow and create pressure. An anxious batsman could have been led into a mistake, but Rahul was careful. And decisive too - when he went back, he went right back. When he went forward, he was more or less meeting the ball on the half-volley. Not since Mohammad Azharuddin in 1984-85 had an India batsman converted his first three fifties into hundreds.Rahul is working towards making himself undroppable. Vijay, currently injured, Kohli and Rahane are Indias best Test batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan has shown an improved judgement outside his off stump, an area he had previously struggled with. Pujara hits big hundreds, his inability to do so on Sunday hurt him. Will it hurt his chances for the next too? One of them cant make an Indian XI with five bowlers. ' ' '