kickers -- and holders, snappers and blockers -- do nee

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Rickie Fowler kept bogeys off his card for the second straight day and closed with a 5-foot birdie putt for a 3-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed going into the final round of The Barclays.Fowler has gone 45 holes without a bogey at Bethpage Black, the site of two U.S. Opens and among the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. Along with his three birdies Saturday, he made three par-saving putts of at least 10 feet, including one from 25 feet early in his round.And he needed them all.Reed overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and was tied for the lead on the back nine until the final two holes. Reed missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th, and his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole missed weakly to the right.Fowler, who was at 9-under 204, is in prime position to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in a year and play his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team.This is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots for the Ryder Cup matches at Hazeltine at the end of next month. Fowler was at No. 12 going into the opening FedEx Cup event with its $8.5 million purse and needed at least a third-place finish to earn a spot.Reed, who is No. 8 in the Ryder Cup standings, settled into his round and wound up with a 71, putting him in the final group with Fowler. Right behind was Adam Scott, who also saw his share of putts go in, especially a 45-foot birdie on the 15th hole. Scott started out his round by holing a lob wedge from 98 yards for an eagle, and his 65 was the lowest score of the tournament.Scott, who hasnt seriously contended since his back-to-back victories in Florida five months ago, was two shots behind at 7-under 206. Martin Laird (69) and Emiliano Grillo (71) were three shots back, while Justin Thomas got into the game a 66 and was in the group at 5-under 208, which included defending champion Jason Day (70).CANADIAN PACIFIC WOMENS OPENPRIDDIS, Alberta -- Ariya Jutanugarn missed a chance to take a big lead into the final round of the Canadian Pacific Womens Open, making two late bogeys at Priddis Greens.A week after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, the 20-year-old Thai player bogeyed the par-4 16th and par-5 18th for a 5-under 67.At 17-under 199, she had a two-stroke advantage over South Koreas In Gee Chun.Jutanugarn won the Womens British Open in the event before the Olympics to tie Lydia Ko for the LPGA Tour victory lead with four. After a late meltdown in the major ANA Inspiration in April, Jutanugarn picked up the nickname May with three straight victories in the breakthrough month.Chun shot a 66. South Koreas Sei Young Kim and Northern Irelands Stephanie Meadow were 12 under. Kim had a 68, and Meadow shot 69.Three-time champion Ko (70) was tied for 10th at 10 under, and Canadian star Brooke Henderson (68) was nine strokes back at 8 under. Ko won the event three of the last four years, the first two as an amateur.BOEING CLASSICSNOQUALMIE, Wash. -- Gene Sauers took the Boeing Classic lead, two weeks after his breakthrough victory in the U.S. Senior Open.The 54-year-old Sauers two-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Joe Durant. The three-time PGA Tour winner had a 12-under 132 total at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.Sauers birdied four of the last five holes, making three in a row in Nos. 14-16.Durant birdied the last for a 65. He won the 3M Championship three weeks ago in Minnesota.Tom Byrum and Stephen Ames were 9 under. Byrum had a 68, and Ames shot 69.Kirk Triplett, tied for the first-round lead with Sauers after a 65, had a 71 to drop into a tie for fifth at 8 under.Bernhard Langer also was 8 under after a 67. The 58-year-old German star won the 2010 tournament and finished second behind Billy Andrade last year. Langer has three victories this year, two of them majors.MADE IN DENMARKFARSO, Denmark -- Wales Bradley Dredge shot a 1-over 72 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the European Tours Made in Denmark tournament.Dredge had a 12-under 201 total at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort. American David Lipsky (67) was second along with Spains Adrian Otaegui (68) and Belgiums Thomas Pieters (69). Cheap Jordan Shoes Sale . PAUL, Minn. Air Jordan Shoes Canada . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. http://www.canadaairjordan.com/ . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Air Jordan Cheap Authentic . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Air Jordan Cheap Wholesale . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. The idea was to put some excitement into NFL extra points. On Sunday, it became unwise to head to the fridge when the kickers came in.A dozen times in Week 11, those 1-pointers became no-pointers. Blame the swirling winds. Blame the suspect blocking. Blame sloppy holding.Or point fingers at the toes of Mike Nugent and Robbie Gould, who each missed a pair of PATs. Not to mention Stephen Gostkowski and Steven Hauschka. Connor Barth and Kai Forbath. Matt Prater and Cody Parkey. And Jason Myers, who failed on seven extra points last season -- yep, seven -- and still kept his job with the Jaguars.It just drives me crazy to have a poor performance that contributes to a loss, said Nugent, whose Bengals fell 16-12 to Buffalo. Had he made both extra points, a field goal late in the game could have won it for Cincinnati.Thats the second time thats happened this year, that Ive contributed enormously to a loss. If I did what I was brought here to do, wed have two less losses, in my opinion.Several kickers noted they were compensating for the wind, particularly the Giants Gould and the Bears Barth, who coincidentally replaced the veteran Gould in Chicago this season. Kicking in the Meadowlands has never been a picnic, and conditions figure to get worse there and in many other NFL cities as the schedule moves along.But one of the main reasons for bringing in veteran kickers -- Myers is in his second pro season, Hopkins and Parkey their third, but the rest are pretty seasoned NFLers -- is their ability to handle such challenges, mentally and physically.They failed in record numbers Sunday.The first one I hit was where I was hitting them in pregame, Gould said. I thought I made it and it went outside the left upright. The second one I just didnt hit a good ball. Today was tough, but I have to make them.His coach, Ben McAdoo, was giving Gould the benefit of the doubt.It was a tough day to kick the football, McAdoo admitted, also knowing it was his decision to bring in Gould after the Giants waived Josh Brown in October following revelations about his abusive behavior toward his former wife.Well go back, well look at it, well talk about everything. The wind obviouslly was a factor every time you had a play in the kicking game today.ddddddddddddThat was not the case in Detroit. Ford Field is indoors, yet Prater and Myers had misses.So whats going on when a two-time All-Pro such as Gostkowski misses three PATs in the last five games? Or Hauschka has an extra-point kick blocked in successive games?Not to mention perhaps the play of the year last weekend, when Denver ran back a blocked extra point against New Orleans for a defensive 2-point conversion that won the game?A 33-yard kick should be automatic for virtually every NFL kicker, yet we know, 12 times over on Sunday, that is not true.Among the factors contributing are pressure, over-analysis, poor mechanics, weak blocking and, well, bad luck.Before last year, when the new rule placed the ball at the 15 for extra-point kicks, little thought or preparation was needed for such chip shots. Now, kickers -- and holders, snappers and blockers -- do need to think about the kicks. But they dont get a whole bunch of extra practices on them.Kickers traditionally are a quirky bunch. That isnt necessarily a bad thing; just look at how successful Sebastian Janikowski has been for the Raiders.But they also are prone to thinking too hard about kicks. Why else would opposing coaches try to ice them?Bad weather, particularly slippery surfaces and wind, have a huge effect. A wet ball is much harder to boot accurately, as well as more difficult to snap and hold. Uncertain footing plagues kickers legs and psyches.As for the wind, thats the enemy of everyone but defenders on a football team.So those excuses sometimes work, though, again, not in the friendly kicking confines of a dome.The biggest issue for kickers comes when they get in a rut. Unlike other positions that require deep knowledge of a playbook, kickers and punters are much more on their own. When placekickers cant find the middle of the uprights, they usually find themselves on their own and off the roster.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL. ' ' '