CHASKA, Minn. -- For those U.S. golf fans imagining what its like to have the Ryder Cup residing in America again, there were always going to be three words of caution:Davis Love III.When the U.S. captain sat down to fill out his lineup for Sundays 12 singles match, he had a healthy -- and rare -- 9 1/2-6 1/2 lead. On paper at least, Love also had a considerably more talented group of individuals. Consider: The average American player would be ranked 16th in the world; his European counterpart, 28th. The Americans have only two rookies; European captain Darren Clarke is saddled with six.But its worth remembering that the numbers were only slightly different heading into the final day the last time Love was in charge of a U.S. squad. That was in 2012 at Medinah, the biggest difference being that his team was leading 10-6. What happened next made golf history:European captain Jose Maria Olazabal front-loaded his best players, while Love took a too-cautious approach. He saved several of his best players for the last few matches, including Tiger Woods as the anchor. The Europeans won the first five matches and the day, 8 1/2-3 1/2, stealing a win and matching the largest comeback ever in the bargain.Love may have learned his lesson. This time around, hes got it right.No secret that they were going to load the boat, he said.And indeed, Clarke did just that, deciding to stash four of his rookies in the last five slots.Anticipating that, and needing only five points to win, Loves lineup looks balanced and very much based on an idea put forth by Jack Nicklaus, the greatest player ever but a more modest 1-1 as a Ryder Cup captain.Nicklaus argued against stacking your best players at either the front or the back. Instead, he came up with a compromise: Two of your best players to start, two more in the middle and the last two at the end. He felt that gave his team a chance to build momentum, but also to slow the other teams, not to mention some insurance if the result turned on the final matches. Love put Patrick Reed, an absolute bulldog at Hazeltine, off first, where hell face Rory McIlroy, Europes hottest player and its emotional leader thus far. Jordan Spieth is at No. 2, drawing British Open champion and Olympic silver medalist Henrik Stenson.From there, the U.S. looks less formidable -- J.B. Holmes, Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker are Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively -- but so does Europe, with Clarke forced to start salting in some of his newbies. Rookie Thomas Pieters goes third, followed by Justin Rose and then another rookie, Rafa Cabrera Bello.Phil Mickelson (5-5) and Sergio Garcia (3-4-1) clash at No. 6. Both are veterans with less than distinguished records in singles. But the longer the competition goes, the better the Americans odds look.U.S. rookie Ryan Moore gets Lee Westwood, 0-3 and mired in his worst Ryder Cup performance, at No. 7. Brandt Snedeker goes next against Andy Sullivan, whos appeared only once and has been locked in Europes team room ever since.In fact, the only match in the final four that looks close -- again, on paper -- pits U.S. rookie Brooks Koepka against Masters champion Danny Willett at No. 10.Its worth noting that Love was on both sides of the historic comebacks in singles. He played for the U.S. squad that first pulled off an 8 1/2-3 1/2 stunner. That came at Brookline in 1999, when Ben Crenshaw was his captain.Crenshaw handed in his front-loaded line-up and left the interview room Saturday night down by a 10-6 deficit -- but not before wagging his finger at reporters and saying, Ive got a good feeling about this.In the team room later that evening, future President George W. Bush read the Death or Victory speech given by Col. William Barrett Travis at the Alamo. Thus primed, the Americans piled up wins in the first seven matches and the Ryder Cup enjoyed a rare stay in the United States.Love was asked what might be discussed in his team room Saturday night, including whether what happened at Medinah four years ago would come up.Me bringing it up? In the team room? he asked.No, Love answered his own question a moment later. We keep looking forward.---Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and https://Twitter.com/JimLitkeNew England Patriots Pro Shop . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. 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Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup.LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders bring a surprising surge of momentum into a Wednesday game against the red-hot Los Angeles Kings.New York (6-8-4) broke a four-game losing streak by winning a franchise-record, 14-round shootout and emerging with a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. The road victory was the first of the season for the Islanders, who are 1-4-1 overall away from Barclays Center during an early-season schedule heavily weighted toward home contests.Thomas Griess was the key to victory, stopping 39 shots through regulation and overtime then 10 more in the shootout for his first victory since Oct. 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nick Leddy became the first defenseman in Islanders history to score a game-winning shootout goal but deferred credit to his goaltender for earning the two points.I was a little nervous, Leddy said of his shootout chance. Johnny Boychuk and I were talking saying there was a good chance we were gonna go in the shootout, but Thomas came up huge for us in the net.Griess said, Its great to get the win. Thats the most important part. Its big and great for the morale of the team.The Islanders may have to play Wednesday without Cal Clutterbuck, who left the Tuesday game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Anaheims Josh Manson. He did not return, and it was presumed he was being evaluated for a possible concussion.Despite the win, New York remains last in the Eastern Conference and is tied with Arizona for the least amount of regulation wins in the NHL (five). Coming off a 102-point regular season and a playoff series win against the Florida Panthers, expectations were high as the season started. The slow start has fueled speculation about the status of Jack Capuano, but general manager Garth Snow gave the embattled coach a vote of confidence last week.While the lone win wont quiet the speculation, it gives the Islanders a foothold in the hopess of turning their season around.dddddddddddd. Standing in their way is a Kings team that has battled through injury adversity to regain the form that will be needed to contend for the Pacific Division title.The Kings 10-9-1 record was fashioned by both winning and losing streaks. At present, Los Angeles is on a four-game winning streak after defeating the Ducks 3-2 Sunday. The winning streak is more impressive considering it comes at the conclusion of an eight-games-in-13-days segment of the schedule and accomplished without the presence of Anze Kopitar, the Kings top center and leading scorer for the past eight seasons.In his absence, Jeff Carter stepped up, recording four goals and two assists to earn the NHL First Star for the week ending Sunday. Overall, Carter leads the team with nine goals and 17 points in 20 games, including his 600th career point in the Anaheim victory.You lose a guy like Kopitar, everybody has to step up, Carter said after the Sunday win. One guys not going to fill his spot. Guys have done a good job.Kopitar is close to returning after missing six games with a wrist injury sustained in a 2-1 loss at Ottawa on Nov. 11. Although he skated with the extra players Tuesday, a source said he will attempt to return against the Islanders. The Kings trail the division-leading Edmonton Oilers by two points entering the contest.Kings coach Darryl Sutter was forced to rely on rookies through the teams first 20 games. An injury to top-four defenseman Brayden McNabb caused Derek Forbort to be promoted to the top defensive pairing and led to the recall of Kevin Gravel. Forbort and Gravel struggled on Los Angeles last road trip but stabilized their play during the winning streak.Theyre probably not going to be in the lineup if were fully healthy, Sutter admitted. ' ' '
