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DUBLIN, Ohio -- Charl Schwartzel made sure one hole didnt ruin an entire round Thursday in the Memorial. Schwartzel hit the ball so consistently well at Muirfield Village that the former Masters champion twice had stretches of four straight birdies. And when he made a double bogey with an 8-iron in hand and his ball on a tee toward the end of the round, he got rid of that bad taste with one last birdie for a 7-under 65. Schwartzel had a one-shot lead over Scott Piercy, who went from smashing it to playing it safe, and he was six shots clear of five-time winner Tiger Woods. Woods hit the ball well enough to be much closer, though he missed too many birdie chances and didnt make up any ground on the par 5s. "Thats probably the highest score I could have shot," Woods said after his 1-under 71. Woods was one shot worse than 53-year-old Fred Couples, the Presidents Cup captain at Muirfield Village this fall, and one shot better than 14-year-old Guan Tianlang, who has played more PGA Tour events than Woods over the last two months. Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, might be headed for another short week at the tournament Jack Nicklaus built. After opening with a birdie, McIlroy didnt putt nearly well enough to atone for some loose shots. McIlroy four-putted the par-3 12th for a double bogey, had a three-putt bogey on No. 7 and ended his round by missing a 4-foot birdie putt. That gave him a 78. "I dont really have many explanations for this," McIlroy said. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., was the top Canadian at 2-under 70. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., was at 1-under 71 and Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., opened at 3-over 75. Schwartzel played in the morning, when the slick greens were still smooth, and he made 10 birdies in his round. Most of them were in the 10-foot range, though he picked up a bonus with a 25-foot putt down a slight ridge on the 16th. As well as he played, he thought a great round might turn into just a good one with one swing. His 8-iron on the par-3 eighth hole drifted right and caught the downward slope of a bunker. The South African tried to put a little more spin on the difficult shot and wound up sending it over the green. He chipped past the hole to about 8 feet and missed that to take double bogey. What saved him was a 12-foot birdie putt down the hill on his final hole, allowing him to leave the course with a smile. Thats not to suggest that if he had made par on the last hole he would have been ready to retire from the game. "It would still be OK," Schwartzel said. "Its really when youve played that well and youre thinking you get these few rounds a year where you really strike it well and youre making lots of birdies and you walk off with your 8, 9 under. And today was one of those where I really did flush it. And youre think maybe another birdie, and then get knocked back with a little 8-iron making double." Woods, trying to win five times before the U.S. Open for the first time in his PGA Tour career, looked as though he might get much closer to the lead despite having to lay up on both par 5s on the front nine and failing to make birdie. He hit 5-wood into about 25 feet for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th, and then spent the last few hours giving away shots. He made bogey from the back bunker on the par-3 12th, missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 13th, and chopped up the par-5 15th despite getting a break off the tee when his ball hit a tree and went back into the fairway. He still had to lay up, but a simple wedge went some 40 feet long to the back collar, and Woods had to make a 5-foot putt just to save bogey. "Didnt capitalize on a few opportunities I had," Woods said. "Short irons, I didnt hit them close enough. All in all, it was a pretty high score." It wasnt nearly as high as what Nick Watney (82) and Nicolas Colsaerts (80) had on their cards. Woods plays in the morning for the second round and should be able to at least get closer to the top going into the weekend. Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar each had a 68, the best score of the afternoon. Piercy is one of the longer hitters on tour, so it would seem his game would be a good fit for the Memorial. He hasnt had much luck, so he decided to scale back off the tee and used 3-wood where he typically would hit driver to take it over the bunkers. Piercy had a 66, his best score in 10 rounds at Muirfield Village. Josh Teater, Russell Henley and Kyle Stanley were at 67, while Charlie Wi, Matt Jones and Michael Thompson shot 69. Piercy hit one of the longest drives on the 18th hole last year, leaving him a flip wedge to the green. Muirfield Village is a big golf course, with some of the widest fairways on tour and thick rough -- it should be thick for fairways that generous. But hitting driver never really worked for Piercy, so he decided to go with 3-wood, and he stuck with his plan. He still had relatively short irons into the green, and he knew he was onto something when he ran off five straight birdies on the front nine. "I thought Id hit a lot of 3-woods today and open up the fairways and allow me to get at some pins and knock them on the greens and make some putts," he said. "Maybe Im getting older." His 3-wood still goes plenty far. Piercy cut off a quarter-inch from the shaft, and found he was hitting it about 290 yards. Couples, meanwhile, was pleasantly surprised by his round of 70, mainly because he had a great round on the greens, taking 25 putts and making a couple of 8- to 10-foot par putts look easy. Then again, Couples plays with such a silky rhythm that he rarely looks stressed. He enjoys playing with Woods, and the bonus was having former PGA champion Keegan Bradley in the group. He had never played with Bradley and had no idea he hit the ball with such power. Bradley hit consecutive tee shots on the 10th and 11th holes close to 350 yards, leaving him a 6-iron into the par-5 11th. "Most guys lay up with a 6-iron," Couples said. Even so, Bradley could do no better than 71, not a bad start for an afternoon round.Nike Shoes Clearance Sale . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Buy Nike Shoes Ireland . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. http://www.cheapnikeshoesireland.com/ . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Nike Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Nike Shoes Online Ireland . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time.BARCELONA, Spain -- With Lionel Messi injured and Brazil striker Neymar yet to arrive, Barcelona still had little trouble beating 10-man Espanyol to leave the Spanish league champions only one victory away from equaling the Spanish leagues record point haul. Forward Alexis Sanchez scored in the 14th minute after a passing combination with David Villa. After the visitors had squandered several opportunities substitute, Pedro Rodriguez sealed the win four minutes from time after Espanyol midfielder Mubarak Wakaso received a second booking in the 80th. Barcelona has 97 points and can match Real Madrids milestone of 100 from last season with a victory over Malaga in the last round. The 21-year-old Neymar said on Saturday that he would be leaving Brazilian club Santos in the off-season to play for Barcelona for the next five seasons. "Neymar is the player we were looking for," said Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova, adding that the goal of reaching 100 points was now his teams focus with the league trophy wrapped up. "Even though it isnt a title, we will try to reach it." Also Sunday, which featured all 10 matches played simultaneously, Real Sociedad fought back to draw 3-3 with Real Madrid but lost its hold on fourth place and the last Champions League berth after Valencia downed Granada 1-0. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho didnt speak to the media after the match, maintaining his silence since club president Florentino Perez announced earlier this week that the Portuguese manager would be leaving after a season without a major trophy. "Mourinho is a great coach," said Madrid defender Marcelo. "He has helped me a lot and I wish him well." Manuel Pellegrini coached his last match at Malagas La Rosaleda in a 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna. The Chilean is expected to move to Manchester City. Osasuna will remain in the top flight after rallying to beat Sevilla 2-1, leading its fans to storm the pitch in Pamplona. Real Betis rolled over Real Zaragoza 4-0 to rise to seventh place behind Malaga and the Europa League positions. Rayo Vallecano downed Getafe 2-1 to seize the advantage in the fight for a Europa League spot. Athletic Bilbaos farewell to San Mames Stadium was spoiled by a 1-0 loss to Levante after Juanlu Gomez grabbed an injury-time winner. San Mames will be torn down and replaced by a modern facility after 100 years as Bilbaos home ground. No team has yet been relegated. Deportivo, Celta Vigo, Zaragoza, and Malloorca are all in danger with the bottom three destined to go down after the final round.dddddddddddd. Last-place Mallorca drew 0-0 at Atletico Madrid. Atletico defender Filipe Luis reportedly was taken to hospital after receiving a knock to the head. Celta Vigos 2-0 win at Valladolid was also dampened by goalkeeper Javi Varas injury to his right arm that appeared to break during a gruesome fall. Alexis confirmed his resurgence over recent months with perhaps his best goal in his two seasons at Barcelona, dribbling sleekly before a one-two passing combination with Villa to score in the 14th minute. Espanyol was fortunate not to fall further behind, with Cesc Fabregas hitting the post and Villa missing from close range, before Pedro clinched the win off Xavi Hernandezs pass. Madrid is on track for its most distant finish in La Liga since 1995-96, when it wound up in sixth place, 17 points behind champion Atletico. The 15-point gap with Barcelona would be the most Madrid trailed its rival at a seasons end since the Spanish league switched to three points for a win in 1995-96. Sociedad dominated Madrid in the first half, but went into halftime a goal down thanks to a defensive blunder by the hosts and Diego Lopezs inspired goalkeeping. With star forward Cristiano Ronaldo forced to watch from the stands with a back problem, Madrids attack was toothless. Yet little did that matter when Sociedad defender Mikel Gonzalez gifted Gonzalo Higuain the ball with a horrible pass, and the Argentine sized up goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and slotted in the sixth-minute opener. Sociedad surged forward and went close several times, only for Lopez to save Antoine Griezmanns header in the 19th and deny Imanol Agirretxe shortly afterward. Madrid looked set to ease to victory in Mourinhos second-to-last game when Kaka set up Jose Callejon to double the lead in the 57th. Sociedad, however, never gave up and Xabi Prieto pulled one back in the 64th by stroking in a penalty after Sami Khedira handled the ball in the area. Griezmann volleyed in a cross from Carlos Martinez to make it 2-2 in the 78th, with the game swinging back in visitors favour after Khedira scored from a pass by Mesut Ozil two minutes later. Sociedad had the last word when Prietos header went over the goal line just before the final whistle. That gave the veteran midfielder five goals in two games against Madrid this season. Valencia leads Sociedad by two points heading into the decisive round. ' ' '