idnt seem optimistic. "Italy always battles for the final," he said. "This year is not going to be very easy. The

Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork. Stefan Matteau Golden Knights Jersey .com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. McDowells last victory on the European Tour came at the Alstom Open de France earlier this year, while his latest PGA Tour win was at the 2013 RBC Heritage. Obviously the course played fairly difficult today, said McDowell. The wind direction had switched completely from practice, some of the game plan had switched a little bit and some of the holes were playing pretty long. A big key to this golf course is driving the ball well and I drove it very well today. I think I missed only one fairway, which is very important. The greens are in fantastic shape and I actually putted very well U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark and Tommy Fleetwood are tied for second at 3-under 69 at Sheshan International Golf Club. Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, Hyung-sung Kim, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson, Jaco Van Zyl and Dawie Van Der Walt are all deadlocked at 2-under 70. McDowell, beginning his first round on the back nine, stormed out of the gate to grab the early lead and he never let go despite a couple miscues down the stretch. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland quickly got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 first. Following a pair of pars on 11 and 12, McDowell drained four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13, with a par coming on 15. After making the turn at 5-under with a par on 18, McDowell kept going strong with another par on one followed by a pair of gains on two and three. At 7- under through 12 holes, McDowell finally began to slow down as he dropped his first shot on the par-4 fourth. After a trio of pars from No. 5, McDowell bogeyed his second hole at eight, dropping him back to minus-5. He finished with a par at No. 9 to end there. Seven-under par through 12 holes was a beautiful start, and alghouth I dropped a couple coming in, all in all Im very, very pleased with 5-under par on what I thought was a reasonably tricky day, McDowell said. This is as tough off the tee as I think Ive ever seen this golf course. Kaymer, also playing the back nine first, made the turn at minus-1 after making birdies on 13 and 16 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kaymers second bogey on one dropped him back to even par, but birdies on two and five had him back in red numbers. Kaymer made his third bogey on six, but a pair of birdies on seven and eight got Kaymer to minus-3. He rounded out his day with a par on No. 9. Fowler started off with two straight pars on 10 and 11 followed by another gain on 14. Fowler traded a bogey on 17 for a birdie on 18 to make the turn at minus-3. Birdies on two and eight were canceled out by bogeys on four and seven as Fowler finished his day tied for second at 3-under. Snedeker had a solid front nine with birdies on two and seven. He dropped two shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, but gains on 14, 16 and 18 were good enough to put Snedeker at minus-3 through one round. Kirk made his move up the leaderboard on his first nine with birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kirk played his final nine at even par with a gain on six and a bogey on five. Fleetwood made the turn at minus-1 following birdies on two and five along with a bogey on six. Fleetwood fell back to even par after a bogey on 10, but he finished strong with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13. Clark started off hot with three straight birdies from two, but bogeys on five and seven gave two of those shots back. Another birdie on nine was canceled out by a bogey on 10. Clark then made three birdies in four holes from 13. He also bogeyed 15. NOTES: Of the 80 players to tee off on Thursday, only 27 of them finished the first round under par ... McDowell has 10 top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year, including his win at the Open de France ... McDowells only other victory in Asia came at The Championship at Laguna National in 2008 ... Kevin Stadler and Graham DeLaet both withdrew during their first rounds. Marc-Andre Fleury Golden Knights Jersey . Zdeno Chara scored with 13 seconds left in regulation after David Krejci tied it late, lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night in a game that saw Orpik taken from the ice on a stretcher. William Carrier Jersey .C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday. http://www.goldenknightshockeyshop.com/paul-thompson-hockey-jersey/ .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times.TORONTO -- AC Milans legends team looked better than a squad of former players should Wednesday night. The Italian side scored twice in a four-minute span in the second half to defeat former stars from S.L. Benfica 2-0 to win the Legends Cup at BMO Field. Christian Lantignotti finished off a cross from Ibrahim Ba in the 65th minute to get AC Milan on the board. Then in the 68th minute Milan forward Gauz was taken down in the area. Defender Massimo Oddo easily beat Benfica keeper Nuno Santos on the ensuing penalty kick to give his team a 2-0 lead. "I think AC Milan they play quite a few times a year, I heard 16 times together in a year. This was the first time we played together and I think we did very well," said Benfica coach Antonio Jerontomo. "If we start to play together more often, which we want to do, we will improve as well." Wednesdays match was played as a tribute to the late Mozambique native, Portuguese footballer Eusebio, who passed away Jan. 5 at the age of 71. Despite dominating the first-half possession and out-chancing Benfica the two sides remained scoreless at half. "I think it was a good performance by two good teams," said Jerontomo. "I think we started off well. Maybe AC Milan had a little bit more chances. Probably they have a little more options on the bench as we had a couple of injuries. "The players felt a little bit tired, but I think the spectators enjoyed seeing thidnt seem optimistic. "Italy always battles for the final," he said. "This year is not going to be very easy. The e ex-champions. Nate Schmidt Jersey. They still can play, but not as quick as before. It was a decent game. It was a good crowd, very good crowd." Ba had many quality chances for AC Milan. He nearly opened the scoring in the 14th minute, but collided with Santos and put his shot just wide of the goal. Two minutes later, Santos got just enough of Bas free kick from just outside the area to deflect the shot wide of the goal. In the 20th minute, AC Milan forward Christian Vieri had an excellent strike from the area, but put it just wide. "Weve been in Iran, were going to be in China so weve been all around the world. Weve had a lot of friendly matches and maybe well be back in Toronto," said Milans Palo Maldini. "The crowd was great. Were trying to put on a good show. People were excited to see the old Milan team." Benfica didnt generate much by way of scoring chances in the opening 40 minutes, but in the 32nd minute forward Nandinho had a great opportunity from just outside the box. However, he put the shot over the crossbar. As for Italys chances at the upcoming World Cup next month in Brazil, Maldini didnt seem optimistic. "Italy always battles for the final," he said. "This year is not going to be very easy. The quality is not so good, but we will have a chance to reach semifinal." AC Milan is a seven-time winner of Champions League while Benfica won last years Primeira Liga. Cheap Jerseys Store Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Cheap Authentic Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap ' ' '