or less. They either trailed or were tied at halftime in each o

AKRON, Ohio -- Sergio Garcia was in the trees left of the 18th fairway, looking through a gap in the branches to find a way out. Ahead of him was Rory McIlroy, giving his 35-foot birdie putt a little body English before it fell for birdie. Garcia never lost command of the Bridgestone Invitational on Saturday, even after a storm delay of just over three hours. He started with a three-shot lead, stretched it to six shots at one point and closed with three good pars for a 3-under 67, three shots ahead of McIlroy. The Spaniard just lost a small measure of comfort. McIlroy, coming off a wire-to-wire win in the British Open, might be the last player anyone wants to see right behind. "Ive got to keep doing the same thing, make sure that I have good confidence in myself, that I play nicely, and then see what happens," Garcia said. "If Rory comes out, or whoever is behind us comes out, and get crazy like I did on Friday, then it is what it is. But hopefully, Ill be able to play well again and be all the way up there tomorrow." Garcia, who seized control with a career-best 61 on Friday, was at 14-under 196. McIlroy birdied his last two holes for the second straight day for a 66, and he got his wish -- a spot in the final group. Sunday is set up as a replay of The Open -- only with the roles reversed. McIlroy had a six-shot lead going into the final round at Hoylake. Garcia, playing in the group ahead, made a spirited run at McIlroy and got within two shots late in the round until he faltered and Boy Wonder pulled away. "Obviously, Rory is playing great, and we get along nicely as of right now," Garcia said. "I think were both excited about it. Were definitely going to play hard. It will be nice to see if I can do the same thing he did to me a couple of weeks ago. So well see." This time, its McIlroy who has to chase. "My goal today was to try and get in the final group," McIlroy said. "Sergio didnt quite have that luxury of seeing what I was doing on the last. It will be nice to play alongside him tomorrow and at least keep an eye on whats going on. Try to apply a bit of pressure when I can, but just really looking forward to getting in there and having another chance to win a tournament so soon after what happened at Hoylake." Rickie Fowler also was in the hunt at Hoylake, though he took himself out of the picture on the final hole. He went from the left trees to a plugged lie in the bunker, having to brace his right good against the side of a hill. He left it in the bunker and wound up with a double bogey for a 72, putting him 10 shots behind. This isnt a two-man race for a World Golf Championship title. Marc Leishman had a 68 and was five shots behind, while Adam Scott returned from the rain delay carrying only his long putter, the only weapon he needed to convert one last birdie for a 65 that at least left him with a slim chance. He was six shots behind, along with Keegan Bradley (68) and Justin Rose (70). The race wont feature defending champion Tiger Woods. The eight-time winner at Firestone made only one birdie on Saturday -- he failed to birdie a par 5 for the second straight day -- and shot 72. He was 15 shots behind. Garcia, who won the Qatar Masters this year, has been building toward moments like this. Two weeks after his runner-up finish to McIlroy at Hoylake, the Spaniard has performed so solidly at Firestone that he went 37 consecutive holes without a bogey. Along with four birdies in 11 holes to start his third round, he built a six-shot lead for a brief moment until missing the 14th green long and failing to convert a 5-foot par putt. Three pars at the end helped keep in front. He pulled his lay-up shot on the par-5 16th into deep rough, which felt even thicker after the rain delay. Garcia managed to judge it perfectly to clear the water. He hooked his tee shot on the 17th hole and hit 8-iron safely onto the green. The biggest challenge was the 18th, where he had to clear trees with a shot from the rough. He opened up the face of a 7-iron to play a big cut with such elevation, and it cleared the back bunker, leaving him 75 feet away. "Where I hit it, I couldnt really do much more than that and hope to make a good two-putt," he said. He lagged it down to 5 feet, and lightly pumped his fist when it fell. Every shot matters, especially with someone like McIlroy right behind him. "The one on 18 is the one that felt the best," Garcia said, "because it was probably the toughest to make par." Wholesale Raiders Jerseys .During the week, McCoy told reporters he respected Hoyer for his intelligence, athleticism and how he conducts himself on and off the field. This wasnt an act, some attempt at psyching out Hoyer. Raiders China Jerseys . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. http://www.cheapraidersjerseysauthentic.com/ . Jimmy Howard made 44 saves and Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Floridas seniors, those four guys who fell just short of the Final Four the last three years, talked about cutting down the nets after clinching the Southeastern Conferences regular-season championship. It was a brief conversation. And a unanimous decision. The top-ranked Gators chose not to break out the scissors. If they keep playing like they did against LSU on Saturday, they might end up with an even bigger celebration. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, and Florida used a season-high 13 3-pointers to overwhelm the Tigers 79-61 and extend its school-record winning streak to 21 games. "Everybody on the team didnt feel comfortable cutting them down right now because we knew we have more of a journey to go," guard Casey Prather said. Prather and Michael Frazier II added 14 points apiece for the Gators, who also won their 31st straight at home. This one was never in doubt. Florida (27-2, 16-0 SEC) scored the first eight points of the game, opened up a double-digit lead with consecutive 3-pointers from DeVon Walker and Finney-Smith and put the game away early in the second half with a flurry of points in the paint. Prather made three consecutive driving finger rolls after the break. Patric Young had a dunk and then a left-handed hook shot. And Prather followed with a dunk and another driving layup that put Florida up 62-38 with about 11 minutes remaining. About the only thing left to see was whether Florida would cut down the nets. The Gators clinched the title Thursday night with Kentuckys loss to Arkansas, and many expected they would ceremoniously celebrate in front of a sellout crowd Saturday. It was never going to happen. Prather, Young and fellow seniors Scottie Wilbekin and Will Yeguete chose not to cut down the nets. "We felt it was given to us when Kentucky lost," Wilbekin said. "I was sitting on my couch watching TV. I didnt do anything." Coach Billy Donovan wouldnt have let them do it anyway, especially not with what happened in 2007. That team, the defending national champion led by Joakim Noah and Al Horford, cut down home nets after winning the SEC title and then lost its next two gamees.dddddddddddd. "I regret that," Donovan said. Although Donovan believes his senior-laden team can handle distractions, he figures its best to stay focused on the goals within reach. "You want to be playing well this time of year," Donovan said. "When you get to this point in time of the season, you dont want to play like youre trying to protect something, when youre back on your heels, We dont want to lose being No. 1 and we dont want to lose at home and we want to keep the streak going. "Once you get into trying to avoid things and trying to prevent things from happening, I think inevitably you get tight, you get frozen and you dont play. The biggest thing for us that Ive been trying to explain for our guys is there are things out there for us to chase. What are we going to chase? What are we going to go after?" Florida looked every bit like a championship-calibre team against LSU -- and in dominant fashion. The Gators had been in a number of nail-biters in recent weeks, winning their previous seven games by 10 points or less. They either trailed or were tied at halftime in each of those. This one was the complete opposite. The Gators never trailed. They led 41-25 at halftime and didnt even have a second-half lull. "It says a lot about the team," LSU coach Johnny Jones said. "They sit there and theyve already clinched the championship and for guys to come out and play as motivated and as hard as they did tonight. ... I think when you have a senior team like they are and guys are able to make plays like that and are used to winning, some great things can happen for you." Johnny OBryant III led the Tigers (17-11, 8-8) with 18 points. Jordan Mickey added 14 points and 10 rebounds for LSU, which lost its seventh straight on the road. There was little LSU could do to stop Florida, which just got hot from the 3-point line. The Gators made 13 of 23 from behind the arc. It was just the fourth time this season that they reached double digits in 3s. "I was happy our guys shot the ball with confidence and it was good to see the ball go in the basket for those guys," Donovan said. ' ' '