Inland Waterways » t Kuchar topped

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- If Sam Hornish Jr. could do it over, he would be more selective in the way he made the jump from open-wheel racing to NASCAR six years ago. Now, Hornish understands the value of having the right ride. So he relishes his shot to win in the Nationwide series this year -- even if those chances arent coming every week. Hornish, the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner and a three-time series champion in Indy-style racing, is racing a part-time Nationwide schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2014. Hes splitting the No. 54 car with Sprint Cup series star Kyle Busch, so hell only get to race when Busch cant. His next opportunity is Saturdays race at Road America, a scenic 4-mile road course that winds through the tree-lined hills of central Wisconsin. "There were a lot of people that had negative comments about the fact that I was running a part-time schedule," Hornish said. "But you need to look at what the 54 has done over the past couple of years, what the strength of the JGR organization is. I feel like Id rather have seven shots at it with an opportunity to win every time, rather than (a full schedule) and knowing that if I come home 10th, everybody on the team is going to be happy." Hornish took the part-time ride at Gibbs this year after losing his Nationwide ride at Team Penske; despite his second-place finish to Austin Dillon in the Nationwide drivers championship standings in 2013, his sponsorship dried up and the team didnt have a place for him. In three Nationwide races this year -- two in the No. 54 car and one in the No. 20 car -- he has a victory at Iowa, a second-place finish last week at Michigan and a fifth-place finish at Talladega. And he likes his chances at Road America, where he has finished fifth each of the past two years. Its one of Hornishs favourite tracks, one he visited as a fan on family vacations and raced on in open-wheel cars early in his career. "I remember sitting down in Turn 5 as a kid watching the Indy car race," Hornish says. "Any time you can go back to a place that you have these happy childhood memories from, from a vacation or whatever it happened to be, thats always a good thing." A win at Road America would add to the already compelling case Hornish is making for another shot at the top-tier Sprint Cup series, where hes still fighting the stigma of the disappointing first impression he made from 2008 to 2010. Getting back to Cup remains his ultimate goal, but he wont necessarily take any opportunity that comes his way. "Im going to be a little more choosy about that at this point in time, because I know that I cant carry the car," Hornish said. "Nobody can. You can put even the best drivers in the Cup series in a car thats not capable of running in the top 15, and they might get a 12th out of it a day here and there. But thats not enough to keep yourself where you want to be or to move up to that next ride." For now, Hornish wants to make the most of the opportunities he has while appreciating the additional time he has at home with his wife and three kids -- a different kind of full-time schedule. "I went to being kind of a glorified limo driver or taxi driver, taking kids here and there," Hornish says. "But its awesome. Theres been so many part of this year that I would have heard about, instead of being able to experience." Mike Scott Jersey . LA (SportsNetwork. Craig Biggio Jersey . Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Doug Martin broke the news that hes cleared for full activity moving forward. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/carlos-lee-astros-jersey/ . Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stood tall with 41 saves between the pipes, but it was defenceman Ryan McDonagh who got the first star of the game as he had a goal and an assist and now has two goals and four assists for six points in two games. Alex Bregman Jersey .C. -- Lucy Li made two double bogeys, a triple bogey and finished her historic round at the U. Roy Oswalt Jersey . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.MARANA, Ariz. - Rickie Fowler has a simple approach at the Match Play Championship. "You have got to beat whoever you play in match play or else youre going home," Fowler said Thursday after sending another top player packing. A day after beating European Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter 2 and 1, Fowler edged Jimmy Walker 1 up to set up a third-round match against Sergio Garcia. "Got Sergio tomorrow," Fowler said. "Thats all I know." After Fowler drove left into the desert and lost the short, par-4 15th, he squared the match with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. He won the par-4 17th with a par and finished off Walker with an 8-foot par putt on the par-4 18th. Fowler missed the cuts in his last three tournaments, while Walker leads the tour with three victories this season and opened with a 5-and-4 victory over Branden Grace. "Its just a couple of bounces here and there — either way, both guys," Walker said. The biggest bounce came on the 235-yard 16th. After Walker hit to about 25 feet, Fowlers ball went right and kicked left of a mound and settled 20 feet from the pin. "Thats just kind of the stuff that happens," Walker said. "He got to watch mine go down there and he ended up making it." Fowler knew he had some margin for error. "Ive seen that kick before and I knew I had room over there," Fowler said. "I was playing a club that was landing maybe front edge and I did miss it a little right of my line, but I knew I had somewhat of a bank there." He took advantage of the break by making the putt. "I told my caddie, Im going to make this one. I knew I needed to," Fowler said. He took the lead on No. 17, getting up-and-down for par from the back fringe. Walker drove into the right rough and his approach went left down a steep slope. "I wanted it to cut a little more," Walker said. "I think it landed right distance-wise, but it was left and took a hard kick to the left." After Walkers pitch went 9 feet past and he missed the putt to the right, Fowler holed a 7-footer to take the lead. "I knew I was going to have to make some putts," Fowler said. Fowler holed out from 69 yards for eagle to win the par-5 second after losing the first. "Good turn of events there," Fowler said. "Hes up there just short of the green. Hes making 4, so I knew I had to get a wedge in there close." Fowler nearly holed another wedge shot on the par-4 14th, hitting to a foot from 134 yardss for a birdie win that tied the match.dddddddddddd Garcia beat Bill Haas 3 and 1. ___ MR. MATCH PLAY: Defending champion Matt Kuchar birdied the 18th hole to beat Ryan Moore 1 up and improve to 17-3 in the event. "Match play is fun," Kuchar said. "Its unique, its different. We play 72-hole stroke play every week. Its nice to change things up. Certainly makes for a lot of excitement. Its an 18-hole battle." Third in the 2011 tournament, he opened with a 3-and-2 victory over Bernd Wiesberger. Kuchar has won eight straight matches at Dove Mountain and 12 of his last 13. "This course has been good to me," Kuchar said. "Im hoping to keep the good luck going." He set up a match against 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, a 5-and-4 winner over Thomas Bjorn "Man, I got my work cut out for me," Kuchar said. "Hes been playing some awesome golf, hits it a long way and putts it great." Hunter Mahan, the last player to beat Kuchar, is 17-5 in the event after edging Richard Sterne 2 up. Mahan beat Kuchar 6 and 5 in the 2012 quarterfinals en route to the title, and lost 2 and 1 to Kuchar in the championship match last year. "I love playing in this event," Mahan said. Mahan will play Graeme McDowell on Friday. ___ STILL STANDING: Nine of the 27 U.S. players in the 64-man field advanced to the third round, the most Americans to survive the first two rounds since nine also made it in 2004. There have been five all-American matches so far. On Thursday, Rickie Fowler beat Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar topped Ryan Moore, and Webb Simpson edged Brandt Snedeker. In two more all-U.S. matches Friday, Kuchar will play Jordan Spieth, and Harris English will face Jim Furyk. Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Victor Dubuisson were the players in Europes 25-man contingent to survive. Justin Rose, the only one of the five English players to win Wednesday, dropped out Thursday, and all three Swedes were eliminated. Three of the six South Africans advanced. U.S. players are 14-7 against European opponents, going 4-1 on Thursday. ___ DIVOTS: Harris English, Jordan Spieth and Victor Dubuisson are the only tournament newcomers to reach the third round. Nineteen players were making their first appearance in the event. ... The second-round losers received $99,000. The winner will get $1.53 million from the $9 million purse. Second place is worth $906,000, third $630,000, and fourth $510,000. The quarterfinal losers will get $280,000, and the third-round losers $148,000. ' ' '