HOYLAKE, England - Phil Mickelson rolled long putts across the practice green in front of the Royal Liverpool clubhouse, some of them going in, most of them the right distance. He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. Even that allowed him to reflect on a year of keeping golfs oldest trophy, and the confidence he finally has when he plays links golf. "Its a different feeling for me coming over here now having won this tournament," Mickelson said. "The way I felt was, Am I ever going to break through and play well on links golf and win an Open Championship? Now I know that I can. I know that Ive done it, and it takes a lot of pressure off me." Confidence in links golf? Yes. In his game? That takes a little more work. Not even Mickelson would have imagined when he left Muirfield last summer with the claret jug that he would not have another tournament anywhere in the world. This is the longest he has gone without winning in five years. And except for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January, where he was runner-up, Mickelson hasnt been particularly close. He has missed three cuts. He withdrew twice after narrowly making the cut because of injuries in San Diego and San Antonio. At the Masters, where he is a three-time champion, Mickelson missed the cut for the first time in 17 years. His lone top 10 on the PGA Tour was last August at The Barclays, a tie for sixth when he closed with a 65. So why the smile? "Normally, I would be discourage or frustrated, but Im just not," Mickelson said. "I feel like Ive had some good breakthroughs in some areas. I havent had the results. I know I havent played well. But the parts feel a lot better than the whole right now. And I dont know when it will all click together. I dont know if it will be this week. I dont know if it will be in three weeks or a month or what, but it should be soon." Hes running out of time. Mickelson is No. 12 in the Ryder Cup standings. He has qualified for every team since 1995 — two years after Jordan Spieth was born. He has reached the FedEx Cup finale for the top 30 at the Tour Championship every year since it began in 2007. With only three starts before the playoffs begin, Mickelson is at No. 97. Then again, its easy for Mickelson not to be overly concerned. He is 44 and has been on tour for half of his life, compiling 42 victories on the PGA Tour and five majors, including that claret jug. Its at least been a good year for the jug. He has taken it to golf clubs and corporate outings, shared it with friends and people he had never met. He has let his caddie, Jim Mackay, take it to pose for pictures. Mickelson had only one rule. "One of the things I stressed is that we have to treat the claret jug with reverence and respect that it deserves, and only put good stuff in it," he said. "No bad stuff was allowed. And each person that I brought it to had a different definition of what the good stuff was." One definition was a bottle of 1990 Romanee Conti, which can range in price from $16,000 to about $35,000. "Now, I didnt know what this was when I drank it," Mickelson said. "I just knew that it was really good. And that was the best bottle that was ever put in there." Like fine wine, Mickelson can only hope he gets better with age. Even though he had to overcome arthritis in the middle of the 2010 season, and only eight players older than he is right now have won majors, Mickelson doesnt see that as an obstacle. Sure, he has to work a little harder, train a little better, stretch a little more. "But I feel better than I have in a long time," he said. Padraig Harrington is the last player to repeat as Open champion. Tiger Woods repeated at Royal Liverpool in 2006. Tom Watson won back-to-back some 30 years ago. Winning majors is difficult enough. Winning the same one two years in a row is even harder. Monday was the first full day of practice for most players, while some took the day off. Woods didnt show up at the course after practicing both days on the weekend. Some players from the Scottish Open werent at Hoylake. Others, like Spieth, arrived Monday morning on a charter from the John Deere Classic and went on to play. Mickelson closed with a 65 at Royal Aberdeen to tie for 11th in the Scottish Open. He won the Scottish Open a year ago, and believes the lag putting into a crossing wind, along with seeing the ball react on links courses is a big benefit. Plus, hes never been so enthusiast about golfs oldest championship, mainly because his name is on the trophy. Justin Jackson Jersey . Although head coach Randy Carlyle jokingly wondered how much actual training Bolland got done while in London. "I dont know how much training goes on when you go back to the junior team that you played for so I wouldnt read too much into that," laughed Carlyle after the Maple Leafs were put through an up-tempo practice that concluded with a 10-minute bag skate on Thursday. Vlade Divac Jersey . -- Kenneth Faried made a turnaround hook shot over Draymond Green with a half-second remaining, and the Denver Nuggets made Golden State wait at least one more game to secure a playoff berth with a stunning 100-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday night. http://www.cheapsacramentokingsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-skal-labissiere-jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Bruno Caboclo Jersey . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week. Zach Randolph Jersey . No pretty goals on this night, just get to the front of the net and fight for a chance. DENVER -- Though the Nashville Predators couldnt keep Colorado off the scoreboard, they did keep the Avalanche out of the record book. Colin Wilson had two goals and two assists, Viktor Stalberg added a goal and an assist, and Nashville beat the Avalanche 6-4 on Wednesday night. Craig Smith and Paul Gaustad also scored for the Predators, who stopped Colorados six-game winning streak. Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists for Colorado (12-2-0), which fell one win short of NHL history. The Avalanche were attempting to set a franchise record and match the 2007-08 Ottawa Senators for the best 14-game start in league history. "When you have a taste of winning -- to use a bad analogy -- its like a drug. You crave it more and more," Duchene said. "It feels terrible and weve felt this twice this year and it feels awful. It feels that much worse. When youre used to losing, its just another game, but when youre used to winning it hurts that much more." After finishing with the worst record in the Western Conference last season, the Avalanche are near the top this season. "As much as I wish to be 81-1, its a little tough," Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. "Theyre a good team; its a nice way for us to learn." It took a career game from Wilson, who has worked his way back from a shoulder injury in March that ended his 2013 season. He had four points March 8, the game before he was hurt. "Obviously, it was great getting some numbers, getting the puck in the net, just to remember I can do it," Wilson said. "It was a while ago that I got injured, so it was good to get back at it." The Predators appeared to take control when Gaustad and Wilson scored early in the second to give them a 4-2 lead. Paul Stastny got one back with a power-play goal with 6:27 left in the period, and Duchene tied it 4:23 into the third. Wilson answered with his second goal of the night when he beat Semyon Varlamov at 7:34. "I felt the pressure on my back and I was going to slip it five-hole but decided to move it really quick to my backhand," Wilson said. Varlamov finishedd with 22 saves while allowing a season high in goals.dddddddddddd "Its always tough to give up five goals," he said. "It was not my greatest game this year." The Avalanche pulled Varlamov for an extra skater with more than a minute left, and Gabriel Bourque scored into the empty net. Nashville goalie Carter Hutton made 11 of his 27 saves in the third to preserve the win. The teams, now in the same division, found a reason to ramp up the rivalry when Colorado forward Jamie McGinn left his skates to check Nashville rookie defenceman Seth Jones into the boards. Jones stayed on the ice for a moment before skating to the bench under his own power. He went to the locker room but returned late in the period. "My face kind of went into the boards, bit my teeth a little bit but my head was fine," Jones said. "I was (worried) but I kind of knew right away when it happened. I went directly to my teeth and I didnt have a headache." McGinn was given a charging minor and the Predators capitalized with Smiths third goal to give Nashville a 2-1 lead. "You could see Seth was putting the brakes on, hes got his back turned, hes exactly what we talk about being a vulnerable player," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "McGinn takes the two or three hard steps and then I thought he left his feet. "I just thought he hunted him out and he was a vulnerable player, and thats what were trying to take out of the game." Stalberg opened the scoring with his first goal of the season at 13:12 of the first, and P.A. Parenteau tied it with his fifth 2:11 later. Ryan OReilly scored early in the second for Colorado. NOTES: Ryan Ellis and David Legwand had two assists each for Nashville. ... McGinn returned to the lineup after missing three games with a knee injury. ... Nashville C Matt Hendricks missed his second game with an upper-body injury while C Mike Fisher missed his first game with a lower-body injury. Both players are day to day. ... Avalanche LW Alex Tanguay will miss two weeks with a knee injury sustained in Saturdays win over Montreal. 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