One of the best players who never won a major would love a crack at one now. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Matt-Ryan-Jersey/ . Colin Montgomerie used to say it was harder than ever to win a major because each year it seemed that Tiger Woods won two of them, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh won another and that left only one for everyone else. Those days, at least for the moment, are gone. Over the last five years, 18 players have won the last 20 majors, none of them named Woods. And the winner? It could be anybody. Darren Clarke won in his 54th major. Keegan Bradley won in his first. Rory McIlroy won when he was 22. Els won when he was 42. The next chance is the 142nd British Open, which returns next week to Muirfield for the 16th time dating to 1892. Muirfield is reputed to be the fairest of the links courses on the rotation, mainly because there are no tricks and very few blind shots. The course consists of two loops running in opposite directions so that golfers will face the wind in every direction by the end of the day. Muirfield is perhaps more predictable than the others. Not so predictable is finding a player at the top of his game. The search ordinarily would start with Woods, and for good reason. The worlds No. 1 player already has won four times this year, and during a two-month span in the spring, he won three out of four tournaments, the exception a tie for fourth in the Masters. Now, more mystery envelops Woods. He offered limited details at the U.S. Open about an injury in his left elbow that had been bothering him for a month. Woods has not played since he tied for 32nd at the U.S. Open, and he cant guarantee hell be at full strength when he arrives at Muirfield. "I would like to be 100 per cent, but I dont know," he said this month. "It depends on how the body heals. Well see how it goes." McIlroy is one of two players to win multiple majors in the last five years -- Padraig Harrington, with back-to-back major wins in 2008 is the other -- only Boy Wonder has become an afterthought this year. After building a big lead atop the world ranking at the close of 2012, he made a wholesale equipment change at the start of the year and has had only one reasonable chance to win, at the Texas Open. After missing the cut at the Irish Open, he said he felt "lost." Graeme McDowell has three wins, second only to Woods this year, though even he isnt sure what to expect. In his last eight tournaments, McDowell has won three times and missed the cut the other five times. At this rate, theres simply no telling what kind of game hell bring to links along the Firth of Forth. "When its been good, its been really good," McDowell said. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., is the only Canadian in the British Opens field. If there is a trend in this years majors, it is the emergence of quality players whose careers were elevated by winning a Grand Slam event. Most players would have been devastated to lose a four-shot lead with four holes to play as Adam Scott did last year in the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Scott later said he would have been crushed had he been watching a performance like that from home. Poised as ever, he realized he played the best golf for 68 holes and took that to understand he could do it again. And thats what he did, winning the Masters in a playoff to end more than a half-century of Australian misery at Augusta National. Scott hasnt been Down Under to celebrate since he slipped on that green jacket. In his mind, the year was still young. There was much left to achieve, more majors to win. And there is a feeling of redemption he brings to the Open, even though he seemingly atoned for that collapse by winning his first major. "Im really looking forward to going back and trying to get myself in a similar kind of situation, a chance to win the Open," Scott said. "The hardest thing is going to be curbing the expectations right from the start. But its exciting. Every tournament, I feel, is an opportunity for me now ... to just build on this." Not long after winning the Masters, he sent a text to Justin Rose that "this was our time." Rose lived up to his end of the prediction by winning the U.S. Open with three clutch shots at the end for a two-shot win. They have been friends and colleagues throughout their careers, born two weeks apart, both having endured their share of struggles. "It hit me really at the U.S. Open that if youre not willing to experience the heartache and heartbreak of losing a major, then you cant really truly play your best stuff and be free enough in the moment to get it done," Rose said. "If youre kind of apprehensive to what it might feel like to lose, I think for me thats just what struck me. I was good with the fact that you just have to put yourself in that moment time and time again, and be willing to just keep knocking down the door. "Thats kind of what I learned as well from Adam." Woods cant relate to any of this, of course. He won his first major as a pro with a record performance at the Masters. He had the career Grand Slam when he was 24. He was on his way to a calendar Grand Slam in 2002 when Muirfield and some fickle weather stopped him. But he is seeing more players emerge to challenge him -- McIlroy the last two years, Scott and Rose this year. During the 12 years that it took Woods to win 14 majors, only three players who won majors were younger than Woods -- Ben Curtis in the 2003 British Open, Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 U.S. Open and Trevor Immelman in the 2008 Masters. Since his last major in the 2008 U.S. Open, there have been 12 players younger than Woods who won majors, including six of the last seven. This is as deep and well-rounded as golf has been in years. And Woods isnt getting any younger. "If you look at most golfers, their prime years are usually in their 30s," Woods said. "It takes a while to learn how to win at this level and learn how to do it consistently. I think that youve got to learn what you can and cant do. Theres so much to learn out there, and I think that generally you see some of the guys dont mature into their games until their 30s." That doesnt make this major any easier to predict. Even so, Muirfield has a way of bringing out the best. Dating to World War II, the seven players who won a British Open at Muirfield are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Matt-Schaub-Jersey/ . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Levine-Toilolo-Jersey/ http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Ra-Shede-Hageman-Jersey/ . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Batted balls. Wounded ducks. Interceptions. Passes into the turf. The Oakland Raiders opened their three-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday with a passing offence that looks far from a finished product. From presumed starter Matt Flynn to the only returning quarterback Terrelle Pryor to rookie Tyler Wilson, none of the quarterbacks fighting to replace Carson Palmer as the starter in Oakland are standing apart from the competition. With more than six weeks until training camp and nearly three months until the season opener, none of the competitors or coach Dennis Allen seemed overly concerned at this point. "Each and every day were going to want to come out and complete every pass and throw 10 touchdowns," Flynn said. "But realistically right now everyone is still learning, everyone is learning each other, everyone is learning a new playbook. Things are coming. Things are formulating. But we have a long time until game one." Flynn said he has seen lots of progress in how receivers are learning to adjust routes against certain coverage, the communication between the quarterbacks and offensive linemen about protection schemes and the ability to get in and out of the huddle more quickly. Allen said the biggest issue so far through three weeks of OTAs and now the start of minicamp has been establishing consistency, especially in a passing offence working with its third co-ordinator in as many years with Greg Olson now in charge. "I dont allow that to frustrate me," Allen said. "I understand where were at in the season. I understand that weve got a lot of new pieces, a lot of new guys working together and I dont concern myself with that. I know weve got a lot of work to do, but the way our guys are working, were going to get where we need to be." For most of the veterans in Oakland, they are learning a third offensive system in as many years after spending last year with Greg Knapp and the previous two with Hue Jackson calling plays. There were few passes completed downfield by any quarterback during team drills Tuesday. Two of those came on fluttering passes down the sideline by Flynn that Marcel Reece and Denarius Moore managed to catch after leaping over defenders. Much more common were passes that were batted down at the line by defenders, others that wentt into open space after miscommunications between quarterback and receiver and others that were off-target or into coverage. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Jake-Matthews-Jersey/. Pryor said he had four balls tipped at the line and Flynn had two in what he called a "nerve-racking" experience. But he said that is bound to happen when linemen arent in pads and are unable to get down low and whats most important at this time of year is making the correct decision. "It kind of makes you mad but, at the end of the day ... as long as the ball is going to the right spot, its good," Pryor said. "In terms of our movement, getting in and out of the huddle, for all of us, we did a great job with protection calls, getting the guys going. But blocked balls, it was a factor today." Pryor started the season finale a year ago when Palmer was hurt and went 13 for 28 for 150 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 24-21 loss to the Chargers. He also ran for 49 yards and a score and looked more than capable running the offence. But even though Palmer is gone, Pryor is not expected to be the starter after the Raiders traded for Flynn in the off-season. But a year ago at this time, Flynn was the presumed starter in Seattle after being acquired by the Seahawks in the off-season but ended up being beaten out for the job by rookie Russell Wilson. "Its still a long time before even the first preseason game," Pryor said. "So, that talk is nonsense. It doesnt matter right now, as long as were helping each other, and were getting better and building team chemistry. Thats the main thing, working with each other. Right now, not knowing who the starting quarterback is going to be and whos getting talked about, thats the thing thats not very important right now, to me." The third quarterback in the mix is Wilson, a fourth-round pick out of Arkansas who might have the strongest arm in the group. But Wilson is still adjusting to the speed and complexity of the NFL game. "Theres a lot being thrown at us," he said. "Obviously, the defence is doing some things, and the offence is trying to put a lot on the table and see what sticks. Its a process for all of us going through it, and its good. I think we made plays on both sides of the ball today. On the offence, sometimes it wasnt pretty, but we got through it, we made plays." Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '