Timbers keeps it dry and wins Players Championship.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A weekend packed with sharp words between Padraig harrington and Sergio Garcia came into one last showdown Sunday inside the Players Championship, this one staged on the water in a minor, terrifying section of that TPC Sawgrass.

If there was special satisfaction in beating Garcia all over again, Woods kept that to be able to himself. What mattered was having an opportunity to win, closing it out like he does often, and capturing the richest prize relating to the PGA Tour for the first time in a dozen a long time.

"We just go to choose from and play, " Timbers said. "I had an opportunity to win the golf tournament while i was tied for this lead today, and I thought I handled the specific situation well and really played well today to look at really needed to. That's something I'm excited regarding this. "

Woods allowed the end hour to turn in a tense duel by hooking his tee shot into the water on the fourteenth hole for double bogey. But his short performance bailed him out to save par on the 15th and generate a critical birdie on that 16th, and he was solid relating to the final two holes in a 2-under 70.

Garcia was located on the 17th tee chance, staring across to the island green to enjoy Woods make his par. He took aim in the flag with his sand iron and hung his brain when he saw a ball splashed down in need of the green. Then, Garcia hit another one in the water on his technique to a quadruple-bogey 7. The meltdown was finished when Garcia hit his tee shot inside the water on the eighteenth.

"It's always nice to get a chance at beating a No. 1 player globally, but unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to this week, " Garcia proclaimed.

Woods was in a scoring trailer when he watched on TV as Swedish rookie David Lingmerth missed a tough birdie putt that would have forced a playoff. It raced from the cup, and Lingmerth three-putted to get bogey.

He won The Players for the first time since 2001 and grew to be the fifth multiple winner at Sawgrass for the reason that Players moved to this particular former swamp in 1982. It was eventually his 78th career win in the PGA Tour, four except the record held simply by Sam Snead. And it was his first time winning in reference to his girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, at this tournament.

Lingmerth closed with a 72 and finished two shots behind along with Kevin Streelman (67) in addition to Jeff Maggert, who also was tied for any lead until finding the tank on the 17th for making double bogey. The 49-year-old Maggert birdied the 18th for the 70.

There was a four-way tie for any lead after Woods built his double bogey, as well as the infamous 17th green needed out Maggert and Garcia. After Garcia went on the water twice, Lingmerth missed an 8-foot birdie putt that would have tied him for ones lead.

Given their public sniping at each other over the weekend, it's only fitting that Garcia had the very best chance to beat Trees and shrubs.

Their dispute started Sat when Garcia complained in a very TV interview that his shot within the par-5 second fairway ended up being disrupted by cheers through the crowd around Woods, who was some 50 yards away within the trees and fired them up by removing a fairway metal because of his bag. He said Woods need been paying attention, and yes it became a war for the words the next several days.

"At least I'm authentic to myself, " Garcia retorted. "I figure out what I'm doing, and the crna can do whatever he wishes. "

When they finished the storm-delayed third circular Sunday morning, Garcia secured at it, saying which Woods is "not the nicest guy on excursion. "

Garcia, when asked if although have changed anything about the flap with Woods, sent a reply, "It sounds like I was the theif here. I was a victim. I don't have got any regrets of all sorts of things. "

"When you've got water in front of the green, that's not fun to be short in the green. You know, it's close, " Maggert stated. "What can I claim? A wrong shot with the wrong time and the user gets penalized on this golf course. "

It was with the 17th hole five in years past where Garcia won That Players Championship, when Paul Goydos hit inside the water in a sudden-death playoff. Now, the island green gotten its revenge on him. Garcia hit a wedge and felt he caught it slightly bit thin, which is frequently all it takes.

"That hole has recently been good to me typically, " Garcia said. "Today, the application wasn't. That's the way it can be. That's the kind of hole it is. You've got to adore it for what it is normally. "

Woods earned $1. 71 thousand thousand, pushing his season total to over $5. 8 million just using seven tournaments. This is the 12th season bigger won at least 3 times — that once were the standard of a superb year before he linked the PGA Tour in 1996 — this also was the quickest they have reached four wins inside of a year.

"Sorry, Momma, " he said within the camera. "I think she can have had a heart attack. I was in control of the tournament, and I just strike the worst shot We can possibly hit. "

Typical of Woods right now, there were questions on the subject of where he took your drop — some 255 yards through the hole. NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller suggested that it was a "borderline" where your dog took the drop. However , Mark Russell, vice president of competition to your PGA Tour, said there was nothing wrong with this drop. Woods conferred along with Casey Wittenberg, who said there would be "no doubt" that Woodlands took the drop inside right spot.

"He asked me just where it crossed, " Wittenberg proclaimed. "I told him I thought it crossed relating to the corner of the bunker, appropriate where he took her drop. And it's all good. "

Woods wound up with a double bogey, and he nearly fell right out of the lead on the 15th until he saved par with an 8-foot putt.

"The taken that turned the tide was the putt concerning 15, " Woods stated. "To go double bogey-bogey would have been huge. But to save a putt there and become some momentum going to the next three holes was significant. "

Woods and Garcia played four tension-free holes Sunday morning to complete the third round, and shook hands without words right after they finished — Woods using a 71, Garcia with a 72 to share the 54-hole lead by means of Lingmerth.

With a three-way tie up, Garcia wound up within the final group because he was initially to play in the beginning of the third round of golf.

He assured Sky Sports, "I'm not travelling to lie, he's not my favorite guy to play using. He's not the best guy on tour. " And be able to he told Golf Funnel, "We don't enjoy every different other's company. You don't really need to be a rocket engineer to figure that out. "

Woods downplayed the attack and said it do not matter who joined him relating to the tee. "I'm tied for the lead, so I'm there. "

And that's where by he usually wins. Woods now is 53-4 in his PGA Tour career when bigger at least a share in the lead going into the end round.

FC Barcelona's 22nd La Liga Title Belongs Entirely to Messi - Yahoo! Sports

Without having to play, FC Barcelona on Saturday accomplished the formality of mathematically winning the La Liga title, which had been regarde d as a fait accompli many months before the official outcome. Any year in which Barça wins the league crown against fierce rival Real Madrid must be regarded as a good year, so Blaugrana fans, Catalans or just citizens of the world, will celebrate this title, the fourth in five years and the 22 th in club history, for which the players and coach Tito Vilanova and his chief assistant Jordi Roura deserve congratulations.

Yet no Barcelona supporter would say that this season, which had started so spectacularly, with Barça winning 18 of its first 19 league games for 55 points of 57 possible, made him entirely happy. It has been a strange season, with ups and downs, unexpected occurrences, recurring cancers, more injuries than ever, a permanently porous defense like an incurable disease, many comebacks and surprising announcements.

In fact, most Barça fans haven't yet digested the recent 4-0 and 3-0 losses to Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League which, combined, account for the club's most humiliating defeat ever in international competition. This happened no more than 16 months after Barcelona crushed Neymar's Santos 4-0 in the final of the FIFA Club World Club and people were asking themselves not if Barça is the best team in the world, but if this was the best team in the history of football.

Barcelona remains undoubtedly not only one of the world's most popular clubs, but also one of the best (three or four) teams, though certainly not the best at this moment. A healthy Messi would have alleviated only the severity of the German correction, not the outcome of the confrontation. While Barça dominated La Liga-though getting only one of six points against Real Madrid-the team was not impressive in CL competition throughout the entire campaign, playing just one really good game, the second one against Milan.

When Lionel Messi was winning his fourth straight FIFA Ballon d'Or as the world's best player in January his detractors (some born in Madrid, some blinded by ronalditis) tried to lessen his accomplishment by saying: "sure, Xavi and Iniesta, the world's best creative centrocampistas , play for him, let's see what he does with Argentina." Well, friends and foes, it's the other way around. Look yourselves in the mirror and try to answer this question: where would this Barça be without Messi?

The truth is that this title is entirely Messi's. He has had a fabulous season, adding to his legend, cementing his legacy and carrying on his shoulders a team without a coach, with aging, absent-minded, overrated, unhappy or unwanted (by exasperated fans) teammates. He has scored 46 goals in 27 games in his 31 league appearances, including scoring at least one goal in 21 straight games.

It's hard to recall another team in the last quarter of a century that depended so much of one single player as Barcelona depends of Messi. Messidependencia is not just the mot du jour , it's a reality, and it's not a disease, it's a blessing. It is the best situation possible to depend on Messi, not on Pedro, Villa, Alexis, Fabregas or Victor Valdes. Messi will turn 26 next month, he has at least five great years ahead, and with the right supporting cast can take again four of five La Liga titles from Real Madrid and perhaps beat Guardiola's new team for renewed world supremacy.

Vladimir Moraru played soccer for 15 years and has watched it for 60. He hasn't seen a player like Messi and a team like FC Barcelona.

Via: Champions League: Heynckes says the main difference with Klopp "is the age... and the experience"

Why mental dominance lives in isolation.

When you are mentally owned by your arch rival, the shift in dynamic is so drastic that nearly ANY 'real' improvement you make in the physical world from fitness to form to whatever, is incapable of filling the ENTIRE void. It's not a coincidence that all famous or non-famous rivalries, independent of discipline, have turned out the way they eventually did. Once the beast takes hold, it's impossible to shake off.

The daily-repeated spectacle of coming SO close to turning it around is nothing more than an even more emphatic validation of above. That last door is closed shut forever - no matter how close you come to it.

From Frazier to Agassi to Federer to maybe even Nadal, the theme is constant and certain. How many times have you watched the underdog holding match points only to unravel and keep the streak alive? How about earning truck load of break points without success? You think that's just coincidence? Get freaking real.

Nadal may have defeated Djokovic on clay back to back to back last year @ Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros but that happened under a heavy cloud of mitigating condition (grandfather). To make sure that stuck, the very next match on clay was won by Djokovic (2013 Monte Carlo) - in straight sets - exactly a year later. Granted Nadal may not have fully recovered from the break but that may not have been as big a part as is made out to be. I mean, Nadal won a hard court Masters 1000 title just before that.

It's possible that Nadal may NOT have hit the threshold that's irrevocable as is the case with Federer or was with Agassi but everything appears to be coming together right about now for Nadal to PROVE it. Even though Djokovic is not at his best, he lacks as massive a crutch as his grandfather to earn the benefit of doubt second time around.

It could turn out to be the proverbial tipping point releasing a pent up force able to destroy everything in it's path. It's hard to imagine both Djokvoic and Nadal co-existing like Federer and Nadal did before Nadal mastered other surfaces. ONE will take over from here and unleash a stretch not ever witnessed. With Murray left as the only foil then, it's easy to imagine a journey called home free - with an occasional annoyance from the defeated one of the two - independent of the surface.

If, however, Nadal HAS passed that irrevocable station, he will wish for another knee injury to take him out of the misery as the beat down will be embarrassing AND humiliating. Still Nadal may be able to live with that given the ground already covered. For Djokovic, it will hurt - forever. That's like being shown the delicious cake from a distance - with a strict and dire warning to never ever touch it, forget eating it.

Link: Coentrao: "From the first day looks like that I do not want in the Real Madrid"

3pm's hockey funnies: Is there no end to Rio Ferdinand's rapping skillz... -- Mirror. co. uk.

Your highlight of Manchester United's victory parade a week ago? Undoubtedly when the timid and retiring (from England) Rio Ferdinand grabbed the mic in Albert Square and did start to sing chants in complete of his team-mates.

Paul Scholes was caught upon camera jokingly calling him or her a "knobhead", while on MUTV we were looking at even more dismissive. Sniffed Paddy Crerand: "Rio is convinced he's Snoop The Dogg. "

As two legends go to retirement, there is evidence this Sir Alex Ferguson has already taken a new job, with Sky's captions department.

But as this sad scene from your discounted book store shows, Michael Owen's next career might lie away from literature…

During City's title-winning season, while preparing for a TV interview, Joe Hart was sought after what the Italian was actually like. He replied: "Don't discover. He's only spoken in my opinion four times this yr! "

Times have changed through the days when Sven Goran Eriksson went yachting along with the Fake Sheikh. On this morning after Chelsea's Europa Group victory against Benfica, The united kingdom manager Roy Hodgson had been spotted flying back because of Amsterdam on Easyjet.

But Chelsea fans didn't understand it all their own way with the Dutch capital. One supporter turned as many as the game absolutely soaked having fallen into a canal some hours before kick-off.

And others reported seeing a group of young ladies waving for them from a window huge above Dam Square. Once they waved back, the lasses unfurled some red banner reading 'Rafa's Best suited – Your Fans Are generally Shite'.

Which superstar is edging with the exit door after a training ground bust-up caused just by his constant flirting which has a team-mate's wife?

Hottest performer at last week's Vodafone Ghana Beats Awards? A young rapper who glories beneath the name Criss Waddle.

Hailed as the country's wealthiest performer after scoring a recently available big hit with Ayi, this Waddle's lyrics undoubtedly are a bit different to "Diamond Your lights, you're cold as ice to me". Once melody goes: "I like your girls thick tall using fat booty. Your love is making a Muslim defer religion. "

And if you consider that sounds daft, it makes somewhat more sense than saying David Beckham is absolutely not in the top 1000 Premier League players at all time…

"What I saw within Holland and Germany was that almost all people are Dutch in Holland and German within Germany" - PETER TAYLOR

"Manchester City are designed on sand and I don't show that because their owners are in the Arab countries" - KEVIN KEEGAN

We're getting involved in collecting your weird dreams approximately footballers – if you've experienced one, Tweet it by using #FootballDreams or email charlie. anglesey@trinitymirror. com

From @andrewtatt87: "Dreamed Zlatan Ibrahomovic was the leading role in Joseph and also the Technicolour Dreamcoat. It very much suited him. "

Coming from @TGigOfficial: "Moved in to somewhat of a new flat- fat Ronaldo ended up being my incumbent roomie. Suggested we choose a pint but he bolted for the local sex shop. "

Because of @roondogg86: "Dreamed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Jaap Stam, Joey Barton along with I joined the Ghostbusters. "

Well, nearly. Asked this week about Spurs' supposed curiosity about Croatian forward Ante Rebic, AVB smiled and said: "I'm sorry. I do not know who he is. "

Drivers aggravated while long queues on a A49 heading into Wigan yesterday morning got no joy through the traffic information signs local, which read simply 'FA Cup winners 2013'.

But elsewhere with the town, the signs will not be good – the council are experiencing to replace the significant 'Welcome To Wigan' indicate which hails it like "the home of Premiership football and Super League rugby".

Via: Novak Djokovic: "I have decided to win Roland Garros"

Power Ranking the most effective Tailgating Scenes in this SEC.

That Quad, a space of two square miles, contains the ruins of buildings burned within the Civil War buried underneath it, according to tour. ua. edu. Denny Chimes, a good statue that overlooks the Quad, contains the handprints of former Alabama football captains, according to pubclub. com.

Your Million Dollar Band games at Gorgas Library a couple hours before kickoff, consistent with pubclub. com. One hr before kickoff, the piece and Big Al a Elephant lead the group into Bryant-Denny Stadium, as per ua. edu.

"Kickoff relating to the Quad, " also known as Alabama's "official tailgate event, " begins three a lot of time before every home gameplay, according to ua. edu.

Space is bound inside the Quad, and folks usually reserve space with the season. University Strip, which unfortunately houses many bars, provides a great alternative for those unable to get into the Quad, according to pubclub. com. You may also try Presidential Park, some sort of newly established tailgating web site, which is about four football fields away from Bryant-Denny Stadium, according to help uagameday. com.

Alabama has won three in the last four BCS indigenous championships, so Crimson Tide tailgates possess perhaps more reason to remain celebratory than any others across the country.

Via: Coentrao: "From the first day looks like that I do not want in the Real Madrid"

Chelsea vs Manchester City in St Louis: Roll Call For Tonight’s Match

The excitement is building for tonight's post-season exhibition game between Chelsea and Manchester City, which will be played in St Louis. Players from both teams have been training in the States this week, with the Europa League champions Chelsea ready to play against Manchester City, the team that has been stealing all the headlines this week after their announcement of their MLS sister club, New York City FC.

Tickets for this match at Busch Stadium sold out in 20 minutes. If you have tickets to the match and you'll be there tonight, let us know in the comments section below. Where are you sitting, who do you want to win and how far are you traveling to get to the match tonight?

More Info: El Barca and Valencia win beating and the Kutxa labour triumphs over the loudspeaker in the playoffs

Newcastle vs. Arsenal: Key Battles to Watch on Premier League Final Day

The Premier League has some intriguing last-round matches, and Newcastle vs. Arsenal certainly falls into that category.

Newcastle doesn't have much to play for, but a spot in the Champions League is the prize for Arsenal should they win.

Link: Sergio García not avoids the controversy with Tiger Woods, but denies racist insults