sy and youre not ready to do the hard things, then it ends up being very difficult." After a scoreless second period, the Wild pai

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rory McIlroy is making this PGA Championship feel like 2000 all over again at Valhalla. Back then, it was Tiger Woods who was making the game look easy as he started to pile up majors. Now its McIlroy, the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland who produced superior shots with his long game and made all the right putts Friday for a 4-under 67 that gave him a one-shot lead over Jason Day and Jim Furyk. Catch third round coverage of the PGA Championship on TSN, Saturday at 11am et/8am pt. You can also see Par 3 and marquee group coverage on TSN.ca. "When Im playing like this, its obviously very enjoyable," McIlroy said. "I cant wait to get back out on the course again tomorrow and do the same thing all over again." For Woods, such feelings are becoming distant memories. He missed two short putts early — one for birdie, one for bogey — and looked as if he should never have tried to play the final major of the year with a sore back. Two birdies on his last three holes only kept it from being worse. Woods shot another 74 and missed the cut in a major for the fourth time. "I tried as hard as I could," Woods said. "Thats about all I got." Oddly enough, McIlroy opened with the exact same scores (66-67) as Woods did 14 years ago at Valhalla, when he barely outlasted Bob May in a playoff for his third straight major of the season on his way to an unprecedented sweep of golfs biggest events. McIlroy, who was at 9-under 133, isnt nearly at that stage. And his competition going into the weekend is a little more experienced. Furyk, a former U.S. Open champion who was runner-up last year at the PGA, got up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 18th for birdie and a 68. Moments earlier, Day capped off the best round of a soggy day with a birdie on the 18th for a 65. Day has three runner-up finishes in the majors. Right behind were Ryan Palmer (70) and Rickie Fowler (66), a runner-up in the last two majors. Even so, McIlroy is dangerous when he gets in the lead, especially at a major. He learned his lesson at Augusta National in 2011 when he tried to protect a four-shot lead and wound up shooting 80. He bounced back for an eight-shot win at the U.S. Open, won the PGA Championship by a record eight shots a year later and only last month went wire-to-wire to win the third leg of the career Grand Slam at the British Open. "My mindset has stayed the same since that day at Augusta," McIlroy said. "If Im two ahead going into the weekend here, Im going to try to get three ahead. And if Im three ahead, Im going to try to get four ahead. ... Im just going to try to keep the pedal down and get as many ahead as possible." He didnt take his first lead until the par-5 18th hole, the midway point of his round. McIlroy blasted his driver and couldnt quite see where it went against a cloudy sky. "Is it good?" he asked caddie. "Beautiful," was all J.P. Fitzgerald said. McIlroy hit 4-iron to the front of the green, and his eagle putt rammed into the back of the cup as if it had nowhere else to go. It was a moment where the No. 1 player in the world looked as if he had just seized control of the PGA Championship. Except it wasnt that easy. In sloppy conditions, McIlroy took bogey on the tough par-4 second hole, and then had to scramble for four straight pars. But on the par-5 seventh, after another big tee shot on the left side of the fairway, he hit a 5-wood over the water to 8 feet, a shot that reminded everyone why hes the class of golf. That was one of the few putts he missed — he still made birdie — and McIlroy finished with a 15-foot birdie on the final hole. "When he hits the driver that straight and that long, and the short game is incredible, its very difficult to beat him," U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer said. "His iron shots, they are very solid. He doesnt miss many golf shots. So you just have to respect it a lot, how good he plays. Theres nothing wrong with his game." Fowler saw it during the final round at Royal Liverpool last month. He knows what kind of work is left for the guys chasing him. It can be done. But they might need some help from McIlroy. "Hes the best player in the world right now," Fowler said. "And I would say a lot of that is his confidence right now with the way hes driving the ball. If he continues to drive it, hes going to continue to be in contention at a lot of golf tournaments and win a lot of times." Maybe. But the final major is only at the halfway mark. Day has been battling injuries to his wrist ever since winning the Match Play Championship, and he was pleasantly surprised to be in the hunt at another major. He is explosive, much like McIlroy, minus the experience of winning. The Australian showed that on the final holes with a wedge to 6 feet on the 450-yard 17th hole, and a nifty up-and-down over a bunker on the 18th. "Im clearly not the favourite," Day said. "Its going to be tough to beat him. But then again, theres a lot of great golfers behind us that are in form, as well." Woods had a one-shot lead over Scott Dunlap going into the weekend at Valhalla in 2000. Of the dozen players behind him that year, only Davis Love III had won a major. This leaderboard is more compelling. It even includes Phil Mickelson, who made eagle on the last hole for a 67 and was three shots behind. It just doesnt include Woods, who ended a sixth consecutive season without winning a major. And lately, he hasnt even been close. Rollie Fingers Jersey . Got Jacks? Pulling off a comeback for the ages, feisty Stephen F. Austin became the latest No. 12 seed to pull off an upset, tying the game on Desmond Haymons did-that-just-happen four-point play with 3. Tony Gwynn Jersey . She was a pioneer. She did things on skis that made the birds take notice. http://www.padressale.com/customized/ . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. San Diego Padres Jerseys . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. Ozzie Smith Jersey .Y. - Matt Harvey wants to make sure hes on the mound in late October — if the New York Mets get there for the first time since 2006.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild fell into a sloppy pattern of play with the puck after taking an early lead on the floundering Florida Panthers, who snapped to life to forge a tie. But the Wild proved they could learn a lesson -- and win a game. Charlie Coyle put Minnesota ahead with 8:22 remaining after Florida scored twice in the third period, and the Wild hung on to beat the Panthers 3-2 on Friday night for their sixth win in seven games. "We kind of fell into that trap a little bit after the second period, where we wanted it to be easy," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "We were hoping it was going to be easy the rest of the way. When you want it to be easy and youre not ready to do the hard things, then it ends up being very difficult." After a scoreless second period, the Wild paid for their mid-game sluggishness by giving up goals to Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Huberdeau about 5 1/2 minutes apart. Minnesotas top line was buzzing all night, though, and came through when it counted. Mikko Koivu, who had two assists, controlled the puck along the end boards and leaned forward for an off-balance pass to Coyle, who was muscling for position in the crease with Mike Mottau. Coyle poked the puck in for his second goal in four games. "He put it right on my stick, so it found a way home," Coyle said. Since Coyle returned from injury, the Wilds lines have finally been settled. The results have been obvious. "Its nice to have, for sure, when you have guys that are going out there and they know what to expect out of their linemates," Yeo said. "At the same time we just have to make sure that we dont fall asleep here." Josh Harding stopped 22 shots to improve to 9-0 at home. The NHL leader in goals-against average has given up two goals or fewer in all but one of his 16 appearances. The Wild improved to 9-1-2 at home this season for 20 points, the most by any NHL team. At 12-4-4, they set a franchise record for most points (28) through 20 games. Zach Parise scored early in the first period during a power play off a pretty tic-tac-toe-style passing sequence from Koivu and Jason Pominville, and Pominville pushed the lead to 2-0 with his teaam-leading 12th goal.dddddddddddd The Panthers have been outscored 47-19 over the first two periods this season. "We just need to learn how to play 60 minutes because thats what kills us," Huberdeau said. "Were always down. We never score the first goal." Jonas Brodins own-zone turnover set up Kopecky for the first goal, his first this season. Then after Nick Bjugstad lost the puck on a rush when Ryan Suter forced him to lose control, Huberdeau swooped in behind him to snipe a shot high over Hardings glove to break a 12-game drought. "Even on the bench there was never any panic. We stuck with it," Pominville said. Tim Thomas made 17 saves for the Panthers, who played for the first time without Kris Versteeg. He was traded to Chicago on Thursday for a pair of prospects, including 6-foot-6 right wing Jimmy Hayes, who was scratched for this game. After firing coach Kevin Dineen last week and replacing him with Peter Horachek, Florida general manager Dale Tallon has promised more changes if the Panthers dont get in a groove. They started a five-game, 6,448-mile trip by falling to 1-8-1 on the road. Their last win away from home was the season opener at Dallas. "The good thing is that we showed character in coming back again, you know? A great effort," Thomas said. "But we have to find some way to quit getting down and getting behind right off the bat." The Panthers went 0 for 3 on the power play and fell to 6 for 69 this season. "It seems like theres the same picture coming back over and over again," Horachek said. "This is definitely a project for us to get over that mental part of the game." NOTES: Rookie Johan Gustafsson was recalled from the AHL to back up Harding, with Niklas Backstrom out because of an upper-body injury sustained Wednesday when Torontos Nazem Kadri levelled him in the crease. Kadri was given a three-game suspension by the NHL. ... The Wild are 10-2-3 against the Panthers, including 5-0-2 at home. ... Bjugstad, a star at Blaine High School and the University of Minnesota, played in Minnesota as a pro for the first time. He had about 70 friends and family members in attendance. 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