ORLANDO, Fla. -- Graeme McDowell is in a better place than he was a year ago, starting with a 17-shot improvement at Bay Hill. McDowell had an eagle-par-birdie finish Friday for a 9-under 63, giving him a share of the lead with Jason Dufner among the early starters in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tiger Woods, who teed off in the afternoon, ran off four straight birdies and shot 32 on the front nine to get in the mix. McDowell faced an impossible encore at this time a year ago. He was the U.S. Open champion, the Ryder Cup hero in Wales, and he finished his dream season with a record comeback against Woods. He knew something was wrong when he opened with an 80 at Bay Hill and missed the cut. "That 80 was a wake-up call, but I didnt wake up for another four months or so," McDowell said. "It was more of the panic button. It was a pretty awful four or five months for me. "But like I say, I feel like you learn more from those types of experiences than you do from shooting 63 at Bay Hill. Theres not much to learn out there except that if you play great and hole some putts, you can go low." Thats just what he did. Dufner set the early pace until he tried to reach the par-5 sixth green with a 3-wood, misjudged the wind and went into the water. He had to scramble for a bogey, though he still managed a 69. Dufner and McDowell were at 9-under 135, and then it was a matter of seeing if that were good enough for the lead. McDowell opened with a 72 and felt he had played well, except for making the putts. He made up for that on another warm day at Bay Hill. After a pair of tap-in birdies, he rolled in a 25-foot putt on the seventh and a 30-foot birdie putt on the eighth. He saved his best golf for the end of the round, with an approach to 8 feet for eagle on the 16th and another fine approach over the water to 10 feet on the last. "Shooting 63 on a golf course like this is always a lot of fun," McDowell said. "Its a golf course that I feel like I can get it around." McDowell shot a 66 in the final round the first time he played Bay Hill, which turned out to be enough to get him into the Masters for the first time. Even though he has missed the cut the last two years, he still has some good memories. He also has a lot of work in front him. Dufner has looked solid through the Florida swing. If the lead holds, it would be the fifth time in 14 rounds in Florida that he has been atop the leaderboard -- yet never on a Sunday. Dufner is still looking for his first PGA Tour win. "The biggest thing is Im just really comfortable with where my game is at right now," Dufner said. I think any given day, I can go out and shoot 5 or 6 under, do it pretty comfortably. If the putter were to get hot, I feel like I could shoot some lower scores. "There has not been a lot of stressful situations that last two or three weeks." Sergio Garcia shot a 67 and was in the group at 5-under 139 that included Bubba Watson (70) and past champion Vijay Singh (68). Ian Poulter and defending champion Martin Laird were at 140. "If you were swinging well, you could score out there," Garcia said. For McDowell, it was a case of managing his expectations, and after a year like 2010, that was difficult. Suddenly, he was among the top 10 players in the world and felt he was supposed to perform at his best on every shot, at every tournament. He recalled reading a book by sports psychologist Bob Rotella, in which a U.S. Womens Open champion started judging every shot by her status as a major champion. "Your expectation levels crank up and your patience levels crank down, and you have to balance those out," he said. "I didnt accept my mistakes last year. I didnt accept hitting bag shots. Its all in the 6 inches between the ears. Its a game played in the head, for sure." Now, he goes into the first major of the year in a better place. McDowell has decided not to go to Augusta National until the week of the Masters. He is playing Bay Hill and the Houston Open, and its his plan this year to play the week before every major to see what kind of competitive shape hes in. When he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he took the week off the week before. Then again, he was coming off a win at the Wales Open, "so I had a little bit of partying to do and I needed a week off to do that." "I knew my game was there," he said. "Im the type of animal who needs to know where Im at, and putting a card in my pocket is the only way I can do that." And if he were to win Bay Hill? Would he need time to celebrate? "Yeah, but I can do that quickly on Sunday night," said McDowell, who lives at Lake Nona. "My local pub is only 20 minutes away." cheap jerseys from china . Evans, a two-time Tour de France runner-up, has survived a crash-marred first week of racing which saw several contenders bow out of the race. He stands third in the overall standings, the best placing among the favourites. Cheap Florida Marlins Jerseys . Ramsay, contacted on Sunday by the Winnipeg organization, has also agreed to an interview as part of the process. Although Winnipeg is considering other options, Ramsay has not been terminated. http://www.jerseyscheapnfl.us.com/ . Official word came Thursday that for the second time, the team will host it. Less than 10 months after the city served as the site of the annual Winter Classic outdoor game, commissioner Gary Bettman was in town to confirm the Consol Energy Center will host the next draft in June. Cheap New York Mets Jerseys . Its his 34-year-old body he sometimes wonders about. He skipped pre-game shootaround because his shoulders were tight, and he was feeling weary in overtime. jerseys cheap nfl . -- Down 11 points early in the second quarter, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson seemed more than satisfied with the way his team responded. CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox needed a big start from ace Chris Sale, and he nearly gave them something historic. Sale took a perfect game into the seventh inning before finishing with a one-hitter, and Chicago beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep. The left-hander retired the first 19 batters he faced before Mike Trouts sharp single to centre ended the perfect game bid with one out in the seventh, on his 70th pitch. "I knew warming up in the bullpen I felt loose. My arm felt good tonight," Sale said. "Warming up in the bullpen I felt like I was creating some good stuff and just wanted to transfer that out to the field, and it ended up working out tonight." Sale (4-2) struck out seven on just 98 pitches for his first career shutout and third win in his last four outings. The one-hitter was Chicagos first since Zach Stewart had one on Sept. 5, 2011, at Minnesota. The White Sox had lost two straight and were on the verge of being swept by a struggling Angels team. Before Saturdays loss, manager Robin Ventura called a meeting to discuss the teams woes. "He understands how its been going," Ventura said of Sale. "So its one of those you need a guy like that that can go out and put together a game like that and give you a chance." Sale pithed the third one-hitter in three days in the majors, joining St. Louis Shelby Miller and Bostons Jon Lester, who both had theirs on Friday night. Alexei Ramirezs two-run two-out single in the bottom of the seventh drove in Tyler Flowers and Tyler Greene to give Sale the lead and chase Los Angeles C.J. Wilson. Alex Rios then doubled off reliever Michael Kohn to drive in Ramirez, who had three hits and scored a run. Sale didnt require much more support than that in a game the White Sox needed badly. "I think he (Sale) just likes the big games," Flowers said. "I guarantee you he knows everyone was watching on ESPN and that whole thing." Wilson (3-2) gave up three runs and six hits while striking out three and walking four in 6 2-3 innings. He lost his second straight decision after losing to Houston on Tuesday. Wilson got no support from his offence. Other than Rios running catch against the wall on Howie Kendricks drive in the second, there werent any close calls for Sale. "It just goes back to that competitive streak in you. You want to get that guy out there," said Josh&nbssp;Hamilton, who was 0 for 3.dddddddddddd "Even though he is having a phenomenal night, you want to hit it hard somewhere, or barrel it up, if they make a play, they make a play, tip your hat. He did a good job." Except for the seventh, Wilson pitched well enough to give the Angels what would have been a welcome sweep and four-game winning streak. They had lost five of seven before the series and won the first two in Chicago but fell Sunday to 10 games behind in the AL West. "We need to carry some of the things we did well in this series forward," manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think if there is one thing we saw in this series, is that we have the ability to pitch well and I think we have to carry that forward." For their part, the White Sox would like to prolong what happened Sunday. Sale was eight outs away from the White Soxs 19th no-hitter in team history and their fourth perfect game after Philip Humber (2012), Mark Buehrle (2009) and Charles Robertson (1922). The 24-year-old said he started thinking about a perfect game or no-hitter around the fourth or the fifth, but didnt sound disappointed with the one-hitter. "I didnt wake up this morning and say Im going to throw a perfect game or a no-hitter," Sale said. "I come to the ballpark every day when Im pitching and say I just want to keep my team in this game and I want to win this game." NOTES: Scioscia said theres no timetable for starting pitcher Tommy Hansons return. Hanson was placed on the restricted list on Friday. ... Ventura gave DH/1B Adam Dunn "a day off." Dunn is hitting .137 overall, including .105 against left-handers. ... Angels shortstop Erick Aybar missed his third straight game with a tight right hamstring suffered Thursday against Houston. Scioscia said Aybar might be available Monday. ... White Sox LHP John Danks threw 101 pitches over six innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte. Danks will make another rehab start May 18 at Triple-A before the White Sox will determine whether to bring him back. Danks hasnt pitched this season after being placed on the disabled list last May 25. ... On Monday, the White Soxs Hector Santiago (1-1, 1.69) will face the Twins Pedro Hernandez (1-0, 5.96) in Minneapolis, while the Angels Joe Blanton (0-6, 5.66) is scheduled to pitch against Kansas Citys Luis Mendoza (0-2, 6.38). ... Ventura became the 27th White Sox manager to win 100 games. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '