LOS ANGELES -- Dustin Johnson moved down the coast of California and brought his game with him Thursday in the Northern Trust Open. [url=http://www.cheapwisconsinjerseys.com/]Cheap Wisconsin Gear[/url] . So did Jimmy Walker. Johnson made six birdies on a warm, sunny day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, gi

LOS ANGELES -- Dustin Johnson moved down the coast of California and brought his game with him Thursday in the Northern Trust Open. Cheap Wisconsin Gear . So did Jimmy Walker. Johnson made six birdies on a warm, sunny day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead when the opening round was suspended by darkness. Walker birdied his last three holes and was in the large group at 67 that included Francesco Molinari of Italy and Torrey Pines winner Scott Stallings. Four days ago, Johnson closed with a 66 in the grey, cold weather of Pebble Beach to finish one shot behind Walker. In conditions that could not have been any different -- and could not have been any better -- he made birdie on all of the par 5s at Riviera and only had one bogey on his card, at the long par-3 fourth. The only comparison was the quality of his golf. "It was cold, windy and wet at Pebble on Sunday. Here, its not a lot of wind and perfect conditions. Its sunny and a really nice temperatures," Johnson said. "Its still golf, though. Youve still got to adjust no matter what youre doing." That was no trouble for Walker, whose victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was his third of the season. He drove his RV down from the Monterey Peninsula, got up at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to appear on Golf Channel, and then went right back to work. Walker was in the middle of the pack until his tee shot on the par-3 16th settled just over a foot from the cup. He nearly reached the par-5 17th in two to set up a simple birdie, then finished with one of his best shots -- an 8-iron from 184 yards out of a flyer lie in the rough to the back of the green and a 30-foot putt. "Its four more days of golf," Walker said. "You can ride the momentum of really good play. But everyone started at even and you just have to be like, Lets go get it again." It was a glorious day off Sunset Boulevard, and Riviera was in ideal shape -- firm and fast, particularly on the greens. The warmth meant a little more distance, such as the 349-yard tee shot Johnson hammered down the middle of 13th fairway, a slight dogleg left framed by eucalyptus trees. That left him only 97 yards, and he stuffed it. And on the par-5 17th -- 608 yards up the hill, no help from wind -- he reached it in two and had a two-putt from just over 20 feet. His only glitch was coming up just short of the green and in the bunker on the 225-yard fourth. Johnson isnt playing a lot this season, but when he does, he plays well. He already has a win at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He shared the 54-hole lead at Kapalua and tied for sixth, and then took off four weeks before returning at Pebble Beach. That was a good sign for Johnson, who said he doesnt have a good history of playing well in the first event after a long break. "This time, I stayed with it. I worked hard at home," Johnson said. "It was tough at Pebble because of the weather, and it was hard to keep your concentration." Life is bliss right now for Walker, who is going for his third win in California this season, starting with the Frys.com Open at CordeValle in October. The only struggle was a bogey on the par-5 11th when his tee shot just missed the fairway and buried in a small indentation in the long grass. He followed that with another bogey on the tough 12th, and then rallied at the end. "I dont know what its like for some of those guys that are winning 40 times and they have done this a ton," Walker said. "But right now, enjoy it. Its fun. Its a good place to be." Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler were among those at 68. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., opened with a 1-under 70. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 71. Jordan Spieth looked as though he might be among the leaders after holing out from 125 yards for eagle on No. 7 to reach 3 under. He was in position for a birdie on the 11th until leaving a shot in the greenside bunker and missing the par putt. Spieth caught a huge break on the next hole when his tee shot was hooking out-of-bounds until hitting a tree, though he had to scramble for bogey. He also made three par putts in the 5-foot range to hold it together, but dropped a shot on the 18th when he tried to punch a hybrid around some Eucalyptus trees. He had a 73. Spieth was playing with Fred Couples -- the 20-year-old Texan was born a year after Couples won the Masters -- and the old guy held his own. Couples had a lost ball on his second shot at No. 11 and made double bogey, rallied with two birdies and then made bogey on the final hole for a 72. Couples is playing the Northern Trust Open for the 32nd time. DIVOTS: The 10th hole was perilous as ever at 314 yards, especially for Scott Verplank. He took two shots from the front bunker and three from the back on his way to an 8. "That was fun," Verplank said. The rest of the day wasnt. The 49-year-old Verplank, who has been battling injuries the last few years, withdrew with a bad back. ... Billy Hurley missed last week at Pebble Beach because his wife, Heather, gave birth to their first daughter (and third child), Madison Joy. Then, he got in as an alternate when Harrison Frazar withdrew. Hurley opened with a 70. Russell Wilson College Jersey . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. Authentic Wisconsin Jerseys .D. Martinezs ninth-inning sacrifice fly scored Torii Hunter with the winning run and the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Sunday. http://www.cheapwisconsinjerseys.com/?tag=wisconsin-john-clay-college-jersey . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday.TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers several questions each week. This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. 1. The Toronto Blue Jays demoted Kevin Pillar in a surprising move today. As Scott MacArthur noted in this piece , it was at least in part due to the rookie showing up his manager. Your thoughts on this move and the way it was done, as opposed to a quiet word with the kid? When I signed to play professionally in 1981 out of high school I went to Kingsport, TN to play rookie ball. I signed my contract after a protracted negotiation and reported in July after the season had already started. One of the first rules my manager told me when I walked in his office was to never show up him (the manager), the coaches or any of my teammates. Every season after that, my manager proclaimed the same rule in the very first meeting with the team. It is a commandment of baseball: ""Thou shall not show up the manager." Kevin Pillar violated that commandment when he threw a temper tantrum for being pinch hit. I understand that Pillar wanted the opportunity to deliver for his team and to solidify a role on the roster. What he doesnt seem to understand is that every at bat is an audition for the next at bat. Players dont get to pick and choose when they get used and how they get used. If he wanted that at bat then he should have earned it in his previous at bats. Now I like players who want to play. I would be disappointed if a player wasnt disappointed to get pinch hit for and lose an opportunity to be a hero. But Pillar needs to learn it isnt about him. It is about the team; a first place team at that. I love that the Jays demoted Pillar over this. There are times when handling things quietly behind closed doors is appropriate. I am not big on airing dirty laundry in public. But this was an opportunity for Gibbons to make a statement to all 25 players on his major league team as well every kid in the minor leagues. The Blue Jays are about team and not individuals. Over the course of the season, every player coach and manager does something selfish at some point. The severity of the selfishness as well as the way it is handled by everyone impacts the chemistry of the team. Gibbons and Anthopoulos moved swiftly and firmly on Pillar and the Jays organization is better for it. My hope is that the Pillar will learn from it and not feel like a victim or hold on to resentment. He messed up and had to pay the consequences. Pillar set it on a tee and Gibbons knocked it out of the park. Manager of the year? 2. Based on the current All-Star voting, is there a player that stands out as not getting the respect he deserves from the fans? The fan balloting for the All-Star game is a popularity contest and not always a true indicator of the quality of the players seasons. There are always players who get a raw deal. It happens every year. Certainly the player votes coupled with the fan votes gets us close to the right participants even though we may not have the proper starters. This year we can see where the injustices are a headed after the fan votes. Hopefully the players will rectify the problems. Currently there is a great race at the NL third base position. The Brewers Aramis Ramirez is barely ahead of Mets third baseman David Wright. Pablo Sandoval of the Giants is within striking distance as well. However Todd Frazier (.283/17 HR/ 45 RBI, 50 runs) of the Reds isnt even in the top five and he is having the best season of the group. I understand that Frazier is a relative unknown to the fans and has come out of nowhere at an underperforming position in the league, but he deserves the nod. In the outfield in the NL, Andrew McCutchen (PIT), Yasiel Puig (LAD) and Carlos Gomez (MIL) lead the way. All three are having All-Star worthy seasons but I do think that Miamis Giancarlo Stanton (.310/21 HR /59 RBI/55 runs) would edge out Gomez on my ballot. The greatest injustice in the NL is at the catchers position. By far, Jonathan Lucroy (.328/8 HR/ 40 RBI) of the Brewers is having the best season. He is trailing Yadier Molina by close to 700 votes. Lucroy will likely make the team but he should be the starter. Molina (.282/6HR/27 RBI) is winning by reputation and not performance. In the American League it seems inevitable that Derek Jeter will win the fan vote for shortstop. The White Sox Alexei Ramirez has earned the starting role on the field this year but Jeter will get it for long and meritorious service. And he should. Baltimores Matt Wieters is leading all AL catchers in voting which tells you how weak the field must be. Wieters is out for the season with an injury and surgery. They should just draw names out of a hat to see who goes. Robinson Cano of Seattle leads the second base vote followed by Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia. All three have been All-Stars previously and are recognizable names. The guy who should represent the AL at second base is Jose Altuve of Houston. His .334 batting average leads the league as do his 30 stolen bases. The AL outfield has a big omission too. Jose Bautista and Mike Trout are one and two in the balloting and deserve it. Currently Melky Cabrera is in third place. He is having a nice year but with all due respect probably shouldnt be in the top five candidates for the team. Oaklands Yoenis Cespedes deserves consideration before Cabrera but mostly it is Michael Brantley of the Indians who is getting short-changed. Brantley is tied for third in hitting in the AL with a .325 batting average to go with 51 RBI. He is having a breakout season and deserves appropriate recognition. I credit Blue Jays fans for their support of Melky because I dont believe that he is gaining big time votes from fans around the league. 3. The Padres fired GM Josh Byrnes this week. Where did it go wrong for him in San Diego? I always hate to see generaal managers get fired. J.J. Watt College Jersey. It doesnt only impact them but also their families and their entire staff. You know the routine; a new GM will want his own people and many more will lose their jobs. It is the nature of the job and the industry but it still stinks. In many ways GM jobs are thankless. You can make the right decision and things can still go wrong. Expectations of owners can often be the downfall of general managers. Ownership in San Diego said they expected more from this roster. They had approved Josh Byrnes increasing the payroll from $68 million to $90. When payroll goes up so do expectations from owners. They are tied together. However, even with the increase San Diego has the lowest payroll in the NL West. The Dodgers have the highest payroll in all of baseball ($235M) while the Giants are seventh ($154M). The Diamondbacks and Rockies are spending $5M-$6M more than the Padres as well. In his two plus year Byrnes made a number of trades. Most of which have been fairly successful although none in a significant way. It is the contract negotiations which burned him. Shortly after his arrival in San Diego he traded for Carlos Quentin from the White Sox. That in and of itself is no big problem. It was the signing of Quentin to a three-year, $27M contract which hurt. Quentin has been hurt and unproductive as a Padre. He signed three more players, Cory Luebke, Cameron Maybin and Nick Hundley to pre-arbitration multi-year deals and got burned by injuries and underperformance again. Then this spring he signed second baseman Jedd Gyorko to a $35M extension after only one season in which he hit .243 with 23 homers and 63 RBI. This year, Gyorko rewarded Byrness confidence with a .162 batting average in 200+ at bats before getting injured. The Padres are baseballs worst offensive team by far. In fact, their offence is offensive. They are last in the baseball in runs scored and have been outscored by 38 runs by the Braves who have the second fewest runs scored. Their slash line of .213/.273/.337 is the worst in each category. There is more than enough "stuff" for the owners to make a change in San Diego. That is tough to dispute. But did the owners actually have expectations that they would be dramatically better than they are? I never saw it. They are undermanned in every aspect of the game. I am not sure who will get the job next. But whomever it is, has their work cut out for them. Omar Minaya, former Mets and Expos GM is part of the three-man team running things now. He is a creative guy and may have the right style for a small-market team. Gary Larocque is another name you will hear. He is in charge of minor leagues and scouting for the Cardinals. They always seem to have major league-ready talent in St Louis. Larocque may be able to work his magic in San Diego as well. Padres President Mike Dee came from the Red Sox so there is speculation that Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen could be in the running as well. By the way, I like the weather in San Diego…Im just sayin 4) In most sports we all love to play the blame game. When something goes wrong, someone is surely to blame. Typically that person pays with his job. We saw that exact scenario play out with the San Diego Padres with GM Josh Byrnes dismissal. Typically changes are made when expectations are not met. In Texas over the last few years, there have rightfully been big expectations. They have had tremendous success. This year was no different. They had acquired Prince Fielder in the off-season and seemed poise to battle for the top position in the AL West. Injuries and underperformance have crushed them. They have 14 players currently on the DL including seven pitchers. In many organizations the training staff could find themselves in trouble with this many injuries. Strength and conditioning coaches have been axed. I have seen organizations that have changed team doctors. Even general managers have paid the price for a roster depleted by injuries. Owners dont want to hear excuses about injuries they just want results. There is not a single current Ranger employee that I would hold accountable for the injuries this year. Sometimes the best executives know when to get out of Dodge before things go badly. Last October, Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan, stepped down from his position. It was unclear as to why exactly he left, but he did. I am not saying that he knew what might happen in Texas with the massive number of injuries but his absence is making playing the blame game a bit more difficult. Remember it was Nolan Ryan who made such a big deal about how pitchers are babied today compared to the past. He expected more from his pitchers. Pitch counts wouldnt dictate performance in his organization. He wanted the organizations pitchers to be like he was when he pitched. Nolan Ryan was a freak of nature. He was a big strong powerful workhorse of a pitcher. He played 27 seasons accumulating over 5,300 innings, the fifth most of all-time. He even had a year where he pitched 332 innings. My experience has been that a great player who becomes an instructor often expects players to do what the star did in his career. It just isnt possible. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that pitchers get hurt by throwing too much. Ryan wanted his pitchers to throw more not less. Is it any surprise that seven pitchers are currently on the DL, while several have undergone surgery? It isnt to me. I know it is not a popular position to take on a baseball icon. It is a losing battle typically. Remember when Robin Ventura charged Nolan Ryan after he hit him with a pitch? Ryan got him in a headlock and pummeled Ventura. At the risk of being pummeled I would like to suggest that Mr. Ryans view that pitchers need to throw more not less is flawed beyond belief, and despite the fact that he is no longer there, his presence is still really being felt. Authentic Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Tennessee Titans Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Washington Redskins Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Denver Broncos Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Green Bay Packers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike New England Patriots Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Oakland Raiders Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Carolina Panthers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Cleveland Browns Jerseys Cheap Cheap Throwback Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Atlanta Braves Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Baltimore Orioles Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Boston Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago Cubs Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago White Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cincinnati Reds Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cleveland Indians Jerseys ' ' '