Ravens Prepare for St. Louis

Posted Aug 21, 2008

By BaltimoreRavens.com



Get all the information you’ll need for this weekend’s matchup with the Rams.


The Baltimore Ravens will play their third preseason game, the second road test, when they face the St. Louis Rams this Saturday, Aug. 23. Kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome is 8 p.m. The Ravens, who dropped a 23-15 decision to the Vikings at M&T Bank Stadium last Saturday, take a 1-1 record to St. Louis. The Rams are also 1-1 after stopping the visiting Chargers, 7-6, last Saturday.

Playing without 10 starters against Minnesota, the Ravens mounted an impressive opening drive behind the running of rookie (second round) running back Ray Rice and quarterback Troy Smith, who started the game. Rice finished the game with eight rushes for 77 yards, including a 42-yard scamper on the Ravens’ lone offensive touchdown drive. Running back Travis Minor scored the Rams only touchdown in the win over San Diego, which played without signal-caller Philip Rivers and running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

The Ravens return to their Owings Mills complex this week after 26 days of training camp at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. While the two-a-days of camp are behind them, head coach John Harbaugh says that “we will still have a camp-like atmosphere” this week. “The emphasis is on teaching, installing and evaluating instead of game planning,” Harbaugh said.

Following the trip to St. Louis, the Ravens will have little time to prepare for the preseason finale against the visiting Falcons, who will play in Baltimore on Thursday, Aug. 28. The Ravens then have nine days to prepare for AFC North rival Cincinnati, which comes to M&T Bank Stadium on Sept. 7 for the regular season opener. The Rams finish August with their annual clash against the Chiefs – at Arrowhead Aug. 28. St. Louis opens at Philly Sept. 7.

Visit the Gameday page for all your game information and complete coverage of the Ravens's preseason matchup with the St. Louis Rams.

Steve LeBrun leads PGA Tour Q-School by one stroke after first of six rounds

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Steve LeBrun birdied four of his final five holes at PGA Tour Q-School on Wednesday to grab the first-round lead.

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Series: PGA Tour

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Steve LeBrun shot an 8-under 64 on Wednesday on PGA West's Stadium Course to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour qualifying tournament.

Edward Loar, Alexandre Rocha, Jin Park and Kris Blanks were a stroke back. They also opened the six-round event on the Stadium Course.

Sweden's Robert Karlsson, an 11-time winner on the European Tour, shot a 66 on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course. Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton had a 67 on the Stadium Course.

The top 25 and ties will receive 2013 PGA Tour cards and the next 50 and ties will earn Web.com Tour cards.

LeBrun birdied four of his final five holes, and birdied six par 4s during his round. He is making his fourth appearance in Q-School, and has failed to earn his PGA Tour card in his three previous starts (2003, 08, 11). He made the cut in 14 of 21 starts on the Web.com Tour in 2012, with four top-10 finishes, and wound up No. 56 on the money list.

Loar started on the back nine and closed that side with a pair of birdies to turn at 3-under. He added five more on the front, including four in a row (Nos. 4-7) before closing with a bogey at No. 9. Loar is making his fourth appearance in Q-Scool, finishing tied for 58th in 2006, tied for 109th in 2010 and tied for 18th a year ago. Last year, Loar opened with a 5-under 67 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course and was tied for 10th after the first round. He later added a 67 at the Stadium Course in the fifth round.

Loar made only seven cuts in 23 starts on the PGA Tour in 2012 and wound up No. 210 on the money list. He also earned his first career win on the Web.com Tour when he won the second event of the season, the Panama Claro Championship.

Rocha closed his round on the front side with consecutive birdies for his 65. Rocha is making his third straight appearance, and earned his PGA Tour card in both 2010 and 2011. Rocha made 11 cuts in 21 starts on Tour this year and wound up No. 131 on the money list. His best week was a playoff loss at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Blanks put together six birdies in a seven-hole stretch and went on to shoot a 65. He made just 11 cuts in 23 starts on the PGA Tour in 2012 and had only one top-25 finish – a tie for 11th at the Valero Texas Open. He ended the season No. 161 on the money list.

Karlsson also played bogey-free in the first round, shooting his 66 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. This is only Karlsson’s second appearance -- he missed the 72-hole cut back in 1995. Since 1996, Karlsson has made 287 starts on the European Tour, with 10 wins, 10 runner-up finishes and 10 third-place finishes. He has also made 103 starts on the PGA Tour. He lost playoffs in consecutive years (2010-11) at the FedExSt. Jude Classic. Karlsson made 11 cuts in 17 starts in 2012 and finished No. 160 on the money list. 

Adam Crawford of Queensland, Australia, fired a bogey-free 66 on the Stadium Course in his first Q-School appearance. Crawford, 37, has been playing on the Australasian Tour and finished seventh on the 2012 Order of Merit. He has also made 23 starts on the European Tour since 2002.

A total of 110 players in the starting field of 172 posted sub-par scores. Last year, 106 of 173 players were under-par after the first round.

Top-ranked Rory McIlroy looks to end his year with win at European Tour finale

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A victory at the $8 million DP World Tour Championship would allow Rory McIlroy to overtake Tiger Woods as the all-time leading money earner in a single season.

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Michael Casey

Associated Press

Series: European Tour

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Even after wrapping up the European Tour money title a couple weeks ago, top-ranked Rory McIlroy still has plenty to play for when he tees off Thursday at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

A victory at the $8 million tournament would allow McIlroy to overtake Tiger Woods as the all-time leading money earner in a single season. Woods amassed a combined PGA Tour and European Tour earning record of $11,557,729 in 2007. A victory for McIlroy would put him $395,857 ahead of Woods.

''I would like to pick up two trophies at the end of the week,'' McIlroy said. ''I really want to play well this week, finish the season on a high. There's been a lot of high points this year, and it would be great to finish on one as well.''

McIlroy clinched the Order of Merit money title after finishing third at the Barclays Singapore Open, becoming the second golfer after Luke Donald to win the U.S. and European money titles in the same season.

The week is lacking the usual drama for the first time since the Race to Dubai was rolled out in 2009 because McIlroy wrapped up the money title so early.

But the No. 1-ranked Northern Irishman said the anti-climactic end to the season was not a reason to scrap the winner-take-all format in favor of something closer to the FedExCup in the United States. The American format features three playoff events that whittle the field down to 30, who then all have a chance to win $10 million in a final tournament.

''I played well during the FedExCup playoffs this year on the PGA Tour and felt a little hard done by, playing so well and not being able to win that,'' McIlroy said.

Donald won the Order of Merit title last year in Dubai, finishing third to hold off a late-season charge from McIlroy. The 35-year-old Englishman said the fact that the title has already been decided might be reason enough for the European Tour to reconsider the format.

''The European Tour may want to think about adding a scenario where that doesn't happen and incorporate either a playoff system or some other way to make sure that it does go down to the wire,'' Donald said. ''I think that makes it more exciting. I remember last year when I played. It felt like I had a target on my back.''

European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady is expected to discuss possible late-season changes to the tour on Sunday. But O'Grady told The Associated Press that the outcome year was not so much a result of a flawed system as the dominance of McIlroy. He ruled out any radical changes to the format.

''It's very hard to see it happening with the size of the prize fund this week and the size of the bonus pool,'' he said of the $3.75 million in bonus money that will be handed out to those finishing in the top 10 on the money list.

''He has had a phenomenal year, Rory McIlroy. It's as simple as that,'' he added. ''I think it's easy for our psychology to understand how you win this thing. The FedEx series in America is a very American concept with the playoffs. I wouldn't be immediately given to panic measures on this.''

Stacy Lewis rallies to win Mizuno Classic, fourth LPGA Tour victory of 2012

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Stacy Lewis started the final round of the Mizuno Classic seven strokes back, but birdied the last three holes in a row for an 8-under 64 and a one-shot victory.

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Series: LPGA Tour

SHIMA, Japan -- Stacy Lewis rallied to win the Mizuno Classic on Sunday for her LPGA Tour-leading fourth title of the year, birdieing the final three holes for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke victory.

Lewis, seven strokes behind South Korea's Lee Bo-mee entering the round, had 10 birdies and two bogeys to finish at 11-under 205 at Kintetsu Kashikojima.

"I don't think I've ever come back from this far," Lewis said. "I didn't think the low numbers were out there until someone shot an 8 under yesterday. I just went out there today trying to make birdies and got 10 of them, which is pretty good."

Lee shot a 72 to finish second.

"I'm disappointed with today's round," said Lee, a regular on the Japan LPGA Tour. "I didn't give myself enough chances for birdies.

"There was a lot of tension today. I had lots of worries like if I won whether I would join the LPGA or not. So I think that made me a little nervous."

Lewis made a 25-foot birdie putt on 16, then moved into a tie for the lead with a 12-footer on the par-3 17th. She took sole possession of the lead with another 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole then claimed the $180,000 winner's prize when Lee's long birdie putt on 18 went long.

"I felt it was coming yesterday," Lewis said. "I played really solid yesterday. I just didn't make any putts. But to makes those three putts I made coming down the stretch was unbelievable. I didn't really think I was playing this well coming into the week, but I just started playing better and better every day. Putts just started falling today and it was meant to be. "

Lewis also won the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in April, the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June and the Navistar LPGA Classic in September. She has five career victories, winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year.

Trying to become the first American to win the player of the year award since Beth Daniel in 1994, Lewis moved 58 points ahead of South Korea's Inbee Park in the player of the year standings with two events left. Each victory is worth 30 points.

Lewis trails Park on the money list, but said player of the year is more important to her.

"The money list for me is pretty much out of reach with two tournaments left," Lewis said. "My goal for this year is player of the year, which forces Inbee to win the last two tournaments, so to have that pretty much locked up is pretty cool."

Park, who opened the LPGA Tour's Asian Swing with a victory in Malaysia and finished second last week in Taiwan, shot a 70 to tie for 17th.

Lewis received a pearl-studded tiara and a strand of Japan's finest pearls.

"I haven't decided who I'm going to give them to yet," Lewis said. "I think my mom would love them, though."

Japan's Ayako Uehara shot a 67 to finish two strokes back, and top-ranked Yani Tseng had a 68 to finish fourth at 7 under.