PINEHURST, NC - As the years second major tees off on Thursday morning, here are a few things to consider: The Golf Course For the first time since the Second World War, there is no rough at the national championship. Rick Barry Jersey . Instead, there is whats being called Native Areas. This is how Donald Ross created the course and this is how Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore restored it.Rather than being one-dimensional and having to hack it out of the rough, hitting it off the fairway now means a bit of a lottery. You might end up with a perfectly clean, if somewhat sandy lie or you could end up in a tangle of the wiregrass. If that happens, its like old times and youll be hacking out to the fairway. Depending on whom you talk to, its either a 50-50 or 60-40 or 80-20 situation that youll get a good result in the scrub.It will make for some interesting times. The Phil FactorWe all know that Phil has been runner-up at the U.S. Open six times and that the first of those came here, at Pinehurst back in 1999. We also know that he wants to win this tournament more than any other, to complete the Grand Slam. But we also know that Phil hasnt played very well this year and has struggled on the greens to the point that hes changed his grip coming into this week. Hell use the claw grip, which he says is better for the six to eight footers that will be key for this week. As much as Phil will tell you everything is great, that he loves the course, that his game is coming around, you have to think that the odds arent in his favour here. Oh CanadaGraham DeLaet will complete the Grand Slam here this week – not in terms of winning but just teeing it up in his fourth major. Sometimes we forget that hes still learning his chops in the majors and its a big step up to the majors. Yes, he is ultra-talented with a game that is suited well to this type of set up. In some ways, what he doesnt know may actually help him. In golf sense, DeLaet will always live and die by his putter and this week he is also going with a new putter grip, adopting a left-hand-low style that he says is working for him. History is not on his side this week – the last time a first-time entrant won the Open was way back in 1913. Of course streaks are made to be broken. WeatherRight now, Pinehurst No. 2 is baked out and dry. There is lots of run in the course and the greens are firm. But the weather forecast is for rain over the next four days, (although so far, predictions of rain havent materialized). If that comes true, it will, as Rory McIlroy said, take the fire out of the course. It will aid the longer hitters and, if there are delays, make it tougher on those who have little patience. In short, it will change the number of golfers who can win this tournament and thats why a handful of players are doing the rain dance here this week. ImaginationIts a buzz word in golf. Along with creativity. But here at Pinehurst, there really is a need to think about just how youre going to hit a shot. With so many run-off areas around the greens, youre going to have to find the right way to get the ball close to the hole. So that means a) putting it up; b) chipping it close; c) use a hybrid to bump it; or d) some other club to get it close.The guy who puts its beside the cup will be deemed the most imaginative golfer of the week (instead of the champion golfer of the year). GreensThe greens at Pinehurst No. 2 arent necessarily small in overall size, but the effective area that can be used is tiny. In fact, on some of them, less than 25 per cent of the overall space can be used for a pin. These are not unlike Augusta Nationals putting surfaces, where hitting the right area – not just the green -- is a requirement. Some are more generous than others while a few are absolutely diabolical. McIlroy said the second is just such a green. He estimated that less than 20 per cent of the field will hit that green in regulation. Who Will Win?The golfer who will win this week is one who can drive it long as the course has some length. And it will be the player who can loft it way up in the air, as youll need some height to hold the greens. And it will be the player who has some creativity (see above) for those missed green recovery shots, and it will be the golfer who has a hot putter. Put those all together and I think your winner will be . . . Sergio Garcia. (Second choice – Jason Day) Donyell Marshall Jersey . Kerr said he had dinner with Jackson, his former coach with Chicago and the new Knicks team president, on Friday night and they talked again Saturday. Kerr is in New York to work the game between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors for TNT. Warriors Jerseys China . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. https://www.cheapwarriors.com/1289o-stephen-curry-jersey-warriors.html . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back.WINDSOR STATION, N.S. -- He may have stumbled in the second round of the Nova Scotia Open with a two-over 73. He may have finished his day with a sloppy bogey and there may be a hurricane bearing down on Ashburn Golf Club which will mean a long day of waiting around on Saturday, but none of it could dampen the enthusiasm Adam Hadwin has been showing this week. The resident of Abbotsford, B.C., slipped back on Friday but was still smiling in a post-round chat on Friday. Hadwin, who opened with a 66 on Thursday, was slow from the gate the second time around the course. "It was just one of those days," said Hadwin. "(Thursday) everything seemed to go right. I missed it in the right places, got up and down when I needed to, made a few putts. Today was the complete opposite. I didnt hit it very well starting out." The third-year Web.com Tour player made a double on the par-3 fifth hole after hitting a shank. Yup, a shank. He bogeyed the next par-3, the eighth, before righting the ship on the back side with birdies on the 10th and 12th. There were many more opportunities over the final six holes, but nothing dropped on the exceptionally difficult greens, which are starting to cause frustration among the field. "You take a look at the last hole, I had a four-footer for par and Im lagging it," said Hadwin. "I had a putt on 14 that I had to lag from 15 feet. I had 15 feet and had to play four or five feet of break. The greens are very difficult if you get out of position and I was perfectly in position yesterday and I wasnt today." The sour ending came when he just missed a 10-footer on the 17th for a birdie and then lipped out a four-footer on the 18th for a finishing bogey. In the past, that type of conclusion to the day may have kept Hadwin steaming for some time. But as a sign of how far hes grown as a professional, he was positively chipper as he walked off the course, smiling to his fans and acknowledging the applause. "I used to have troubles putting bad shots behind me," he admitted. "They would stick with me for a little bit and thats something that I worked really hard to improve on and to get better at, and know thats going to help make me a better player." There are many who expected hed already be that better player by now, already be on the PGA Tour. Those expectations were fueled in large part by his RBC Canadian Open performance in 2010, when he finished as low Canuck, and then again in 2011 when he came within a couple of shots of winning the Open outright in front of hometown fans in Vancouver. But, not surprisingly, Hadwin couldnt keep up the meteoric rise and has found himself trying to re-set his game and his career, admitting that he probably hadnt worked hard enough. At the start of this year, he decided to re-dedicate himself, taking a more professional approach to everything he did. Blessed with immense natural talent, hee realized that alone wouldnt be enough to get him to his goal of the PGA Tour. Woody Sauldsberry Jersey. He wanted to work hard every week and be prepared as best he could when he stepped on the first tee on Thursday. "That sort of continued from the end of last year," Hadwin said. "I thought I did a much better job of knowing the golf course, knowing where to miss and all that. Im still getting better, its still something I can improve on but Im giving it my best shot, trying to understand the golf course. . . when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive. Obviously Im playing a lot better this year than I have in past years so it must be working." You can make a good argument that Hadwin is the most popular Canadian golfer not playing the PGA Tour. His personality is positively effervescent and he is a marketers dream, smiling and engaging fans non-stop (just this week, he inked a new sponsorship deal with Shaw). He had the largest contingent of Haligonians on Friday, who followed him around and cheered his strong play. "It is noticeable for sure," Hadwin admitted. "It is a good feeling to know you have support. On Twitter and Facebook and all those social media outlets, to hear the words of encouragement and support even when Im not playing well, (its good to know) people are supporting me. Its nice and it makes getting over rounds like this easier." Of course his improved play this season doesnt hurt either. Hadwin notched a win earlier this year in Chile and has three other top-10 finishes to sit sixth on the Web.com Tour money list with just over $200,000. He is all but guaranteed of advancing to the PGA Tour next year by finishing inside the top 25. And he admits that there have been times when hes allowed his mind to wander and think about joining the big leagues. "Ive thought about it a few times," Hadwin said, "but at the same time including playoffs I think we have 10 events, 11 events left in the year. So theres lots of events left, lots of money to be made. When you get to the golf course and get into that competition mode its All right whats my next shot? How can I hit the best shot possible? Everything future-wise kind of goes out the window and youre just focused on getting the ball in the hole in the fewest shots possible." But when hes off the course, with time on his hands, say, riding out a long weather delay, it can be a little different. "When youre sitting through Hurricane Arthur in your hotel room with nothing to do, you might start to think Greenbrier looks pretty good right now," he chuckled. Ah yes, Arthur. The hurricane is on a collision course with Halifax and organizers have already announced that there will be no play until noon on Saturday at the earliest. Judging by the forecast, that might be optimistic. For Hadwin, however, hurricane or not, hell be ready to go whenever he next tees off. ' ' '