PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. cheap jerseys paypal . -- After breaking 70 for the first time in seven weeks, Tiger Woods headed to the back of the practice range at the TPC Sawgrass to fine-tune his swing. That was much better than going to the clubhouse to clean out his locker. The Players Championship featured Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson and Kevin Na atop the leaderboard Friday. What it lacked was some of the golfs biggest names. Rory McIlroy stumbled to a 76 and became the first player at No. 1 in the world ranking to miss the cut at Sawgrass since Greg Norman in 1996. Steve Stricker had made a PGA Tour-leading 49 cuts in a row until he shot 74 and ended a streak that began in August 2009. And with 11 holes left in his round, Woods was two shots over the cut line and in jeopardy of missing back-to-back cuts for the first time in his career. The thought never crossed his mind. Instead, he blistered a 5-wood into the breeze on the eighth hole -- the toughest par 3 on the course -- and watched it catch a slope on the edge of the green and roll 8 feet away from the cup. That was the first of four straight birdies for Woods, who wound up with a 68. He said he was only thinking about a 66 to get momentum going into the weekend, and he missed by two. "I was trying to shoot my number today," Woods said. "Sixty-six was my number today. I figured that would have been a good way to go into the weekend, being probably four or five back. But Im still with a good chance." Everyone has a chance going into the weekend, including Woods and Phil Mickelson, the Hall of Fames newest member. They were six shots behind. But they are chasing the gang from Sea Island -- home of Kuchar and Johnson, along with PGA Tour rookie Harris English, who was one shot out of the lead. Johnson made five birdies on the back nine until a bogey on the 18th hole, though he matched the best score of the second round with a 66. Kuchar, who made a strong run at the Masters last month, played bogey-free over his last 13 holes for a 68. Na started the back nine with three straight birdies for a 69. "Its fun to be back in position with a chance to win again," Kuchar said. They were at 8-under 136, meaning only eight shots separate first from worst going into the final 36 holes on a most unpredictable Stadium Course. The top 14 players on the leaderboard were separated by only three strokes. English birdied the 17th and 18th for a 67, while the group at 6-under 138 included past champion Adam Scott (70). Graham DeLaet (73) of Weyburn, Sask., and David Hearn (75) of Brantford, Ont., are both at even par through two rounds. McIlroy, who only last week lost in a three-way playoff at Quail Hollow, opened with a birdie and didnt make another one the rest of the day. He missed the cut for the first time in more than a year, though it wasnt unusual at the TPC Sawgrass. In three appearances at The Players Championship, McIlroy has never broken par or made the cut. "Hopefully, Im coming back here for another 20 years," McIlroy said. "If I dont figure it out on my 20th, theres something wrong." Woods followed his birdie at No. 8 with an iron over the trees and into a bunker, only about 10 feet from being perfect. He still made birdie, along with a 5-footer on the 10th and a two-putt birdie from the fringe on No. 11. "I hit a good shot there at 8 and made the putt, and from there I really hit some good shots," Woods said. "I probably could have gotten one or two more out of it. But I really played well today. I was just very consistent, and nothing spectacular, just real solid golf." Martin Laird was solid for 33 holes and was the only player to reach double digits under par for the week. He was at 10 under with three holes to play when he lost four shots on the last three holes. His hopes for eagle turned into bogey with a 4-iron into the water on the 16th, and he dunked one on No. 17 for double bogey. The good news? "Im glad it happened on a Friday, and not on Sunday," Laird said after a 73 put him in a large group two shots behind. Ben Curtis and FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas were in the group at 5-under 139, while the group at 3-under 141 included Quail Hollow playoff winner Rickie Fowler and Luke Donald, who at least has a chance to go back to No. 1 in the world now that McIlroy has missed the cut. Lee Westwood also was at 141. Johnson started with two birdies and felt in control for most of the sunny morning. "I never really gave the golf course much," he said. "In other words, I kept it where you need to keep it. My misses were proper. I was aggressive when I could be aggressive. And I caught a couple nice saves in there, too. But when you shoot that kind of score around this golf course -- any day in the year, or any week -- youre putting well. Clearly, thats what Ive been doing the best." Laird went to 10 under with his birdie on the 15th. Then, he hit a beautiful tee shot on the 16th and was in perfect range to think about an eagle. "It was one of those ones that I had an absolutely perfect number for a 4-iron," Laird said. "Its one of those ones that you almost wish that you dont, and you play a little safer. I hit three or four great iron shots in a row right at the flag and kind of got a little greedy there and tried to fade one in the wind. So that was the first mental mistake Ive made all week. If you do that on your 16th hole in the second round, youre doing pretty well." He went into the water on the 17th, and his third shot was some 50 feet away. He ran the bogey putt to the back edge of the green, and made a 12-footer for double bogey. He then failed to get up-and-down from right of the 18th green. Even so, hes still in the hunt going into the weekend. And thats all anyone wants on this course, anyway. "Ive just got to take out of it that I played the last three in 4-over par, and Im still third," Laird said. "So Im obviously playing some pretty good golf leading up to that. You dont lose that in the space of three holes. Ill be fine tomorrow." cheap jerseys . He says the team is further ahead than it was at the start of 2012, when they finished out of the playoffs with a 6-12 record, tied with Hamilton in the CFL cellar. "Definitely, offensively, were farther ahead than we were at this point last year," he says. cheap jerseys . On The Attack - Newton instantly became one of the most exciting players at his position early in 2011. http://www.overalljersey.com/ . The Padres may not even need Bell to close things out, but could always use his services in crunch time. They will try to avoid going to their closer tonight in the opener of a three-game interleague series versus the Kansas City Royals at Petco Park. wholesale nfl jerseys . Rakell, has played in four games with the Ducks this season, posting no points. The 30th selection of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, had been a scratch for the Ducks last seven games. cheap jerseys . The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Led by a new quarterback in Alex Smith and a new coach in Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs so far have looked nothing like the team that had the worst record in the NFL last season. The all-red outfits they donned for the first time Sunday drove home the point. Playing nearly mistake-free for the second straight week, Smith threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns against the ball-hawking Dallas Cowboys, and the Chiefs defence held when it needed to in the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-16 victory. "When youre trying to build something, you need to win games like this," said Smith, who also had a game-high 57 yards rushing. "These are the games you look at in November and December. You need these types of wins, not only the calibre of the win but the style of win. "Its not always going to be pretty," he said, "but you have to find a way to bear down." The Chiefs did that marvelously in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Bowes go-ahead touchdown catch and Ryan Succops field goal had staked them to a 17-13 lead, but the Cowboys were on the move in the closing minutes. After Tony Romo threw three straight incompletions, though, Dan Bailey had to kick a 53-yard field goal. The Chiefs regained possession with 3:55 left. Jamaal Charles helped them grind out a couple first downs, and a pass interference call on Morris Claiborne on third-and-10 gave Kansas City another set of downs. That kept Romo from having any time to orchestrate some late-game magic. "We ask a lot of certain players on this team and they showed up," Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers said. "We did a great job of holding them down." Romo, who was playing with bruised ribs, finished 30 of 42 for 298 yards. His favourite target was Dez Bryant, who had nine catches for 141 yards and the Cowboys only touchdown. "You got to realize, you cant forget all the work that you put in to go out and be a good football team," Bryant said. The Cowboys (1-1) forced the New York Giants into six turnovers in their opener, but couldnt turn the same trick against Kansas City. After preaching ball security all week, the Chiefs got through their second straight game withoout throwing an interception or losing a fumble. nfl jerseys china. "Takeaways and points, man, on both sides of the ball. We try to eliminate the turnovers and we try to score points," Reid said. "Its as simple as that." The Chiefs, coming off an uplifting win at Jacksonville, were amped for his first game as their coach at Arrowhead Stadium. A capacity crowd roared when they rolled onto the field in all-red uniforms, departing from traditional white pants to signify the start of a new era. They kept on rolling, too. Kansas City marched 77 yards on the opening series, the highlight coming when Smith scrambled 17 yards on third-and-15 and executed a Fosbury Flop over a defender for a first down. Smith capped the drive with a short TD toss to Charles. Thats when the Romo-to-Bryant connection got on track. Bryant outwrestled cornerback Brandon Flowers for a 53-yard catch that helped set up Baileys first field goal. He then hauled in a short TD catch to give Dallas a 10-7 lead. The Cowboys blocked Ryan Succops 57-yard try to carry their lead into halftime, and then Bryant caught three more passes to set up another field goal in the third quarter. But the Chiefs answered when Smith hit Bowe on a 12-yard slant for a 14-13 lead later in the quarter. Dallas fumbled on its next two possessions -- Lance Dunbar coughed it up first and then Romo was strip-sacked by Ron Parker. But its defence stiffened each time, first forcing a field goal and then getting a sack from Bruce Carter to push the Chiefs out of Succops range. The Cowboys marched deep into Chiefs territory one last time, but again couldnt find the end zone. And when Romo got the ball back, there was hardly any time left. "We had a good plan and did some things that gave us a chance to win this football game. We put ourselves in position, but we didnt," Romo said. "Ultimately, thats all that matters." Notes: Cowboys TE Jason Witten had three catches to pass Shannon Sharpe for second-most among tight ends. Witten has 817 in his career. ... Chiefs LT Branden Albert hurt his left shoulder but returned to the game. ... Cowboys DE DeMarcus Ware and Chiefs DT Dontari Poe each had two sacks. ' ' '