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After winning the Phoenix Open twice in a three-year span, J.B. Holmes was starting to make a name for himself on the PGA Tour. Thanks in part to his second victory at the greatest show on turf, Holmes made his first Ryder Cup team, and looked destined to be a long-standing member of U.S. international teams. That was all derailed when he began battling vertigo-like symptoms in the 2011 season. In his last three starts that year, he missed two cuts and had to withdraw from the PGA Championship. Shortly thereafter, Holmes was on the operating table undergoing brain surgery. He was diagnosed with structural defects in his cerebellum, or Chiari malformations. During the surgery, he had a quarter-sized piece of his skull removed. He came back and played a full season on the PGA Tour in 2012, but managed only two top-10 finishes, both of which came before the Masters. In March of last year, Holmes was roller-blading as part of his conditioning routine, but suffered an awkward fall in which he broke his left ankle. As he rehabbed that injury, Holmes decided it was time to go under the knife, again. This time, Holmes was going to have his troublesome left elbow fixed. Why not? He wasnt fully ready to come back to the tour anyway. Once the calendar changed to 2014, Holmes was ready to go. He waited until late January at the Farmers Insurance Open to make his debut. It has been a slow build to fully get back into game shape. He had more finishes outside the top 50 -- five -- than he had inside the top 20 -- four. However, all four of those top-20 finishes came in his last five starts before the Wells Fargo Championship. Entering the Wells Fargo, Holmes had shot par or better in 14 or his last 20 rounds, and that trend continued at Quail Hollow. Holmes shot 2-under 70 in the opening round, then went 11-under par in the middle two rounds to take the lead entering the final round. Coming down the stretch, he led by two and made the finish interesting. Jim Furyk sat two strokes back and had been in the clubhouse for nearly two hours. He started to pack his things while Holmes was on 18, but stopped when Holmes hit a poor chip shot. Needing to get down in two putts for the win, Holmes did just that to close out a 1-under 71. The win was his third on the PGA Tour. Among the biggest aspects of the victory for Holmes is that he now qualifies for all four majors. When he tees it up at Pinehurst for the U.S. Open next month, it will mark his first start in a major since that 2011 PGA Championship, which he had to withdraw from. Next spring, hell return to Augusta National for the Masters for the first time since 2008. He also moved himself into contention for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Holmes did go 2-0-1 as a captains pick at the 2008 Ryder Cup, and not many Americans in line for this years team have winning records. Those things are far off at this point, but for Holmes to even be in that conversation is a huge victory by itself. Now that he is healthy, we are seeing what kind of player Holmes once was, and can be again. A word of warning, though. After Holmes other two wins, which were in February 2006 and February 2008, he posted only two more top-10 finishes in those seasons and both were in 08. The way Holmes is playing now, it isnt hard to see him bucking that trend the rest of this season. LPGAS BEST AMERICANS TOO HOT, TOO SOON? Whether it is the Solheim Cup, Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, each teams captain wants her players to be playing their best heading into that event. Three potential U.S. Solheim Cup team members are off to scorching starts this year on the LPGA Tour. Stacy Lewis just earned her first win this past weekend in Texas, and that was her eighth top-10 finish in nine starts. Michelle Wie also has a win and six top-10s in nine events, while team stalwart Cristie Kerr has six top-10s in eight tournaments. Is it too much too soon? The Solheim Cup wont be played for another 16 months. Captain Juli Inkster has to be happy to see how well some of her potential team members are playing right now. The Americans suffered a crushing defeat last year at the Solheim Cup, and the players from that team, and those hoping to make the 2015 squad, want to make sure what happened last year doesnt happen again. Five of the 10 winners this year on the LPGA Tour have been Americans, while two wins were by a European, Anna Nordqvist. With many of the tours top players hailing from Asia, having Americans winning half of the tours events is a great start for the team. Lets just hope they can keep the momentum going. MINI-TIDBITS - Dont try to blame John Daly for slow play problems, whatever tour he may be playing on. Daly was the first out in the final round of the Web.com event last weekend, and played as a single. Daly cruised around in 2 hours, 21 minutes. There are twosomes that dont play nine holes that fast at some tournaments. - From the where-are-they-now category, we bring you the curious case of Anthony Kim. According to a Golf Channel report last week, Kim rarely plays golf anymore. Kim had three PGA Tour wins by the age of 25, but he hasnt been seen on tour since 2012. The 28-year-old battled wrist, forearm and elbow injuries before tearing his Achilles. We might never know how great he could have been had he stayed healthy. Stitched China Jerseys . LOUIS -- The St. China Jerseys .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005. http://www.cheapchinajerseys.net/.com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Cheap China Jerseys . Sam, who joined the Cowboys in early September, has spent the entire season on the practice roster. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Completely. Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favourites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark.TORONTO – Randy Carlyle fears the house of cards will soon collapse. "6-1 is only a stat," he declared following an instructive Wednesday practice that lingered for upwards of an hour. "We really know the body of work has to improve. And yet were happy to take 6-1, but theres a but." Though theyve certainly achieved the desired result with six victories in their first seven games, the process has been anything but a pretty picture for the Leafs. In their most recent outing against the Wild on Tuesday night, they rarely had the puck, were outshot 37-14, out-attempted 68-30 and yet escaped with a deceiving 4-1 win. It was yet another incomplete victory, an effort in which the Leafs managed to capture two points in spite of glaring and growing flaws. Only terrific special teams, stability in goal from the duo of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, and a potent offence have kept the bubble from bursting so far. "Its a fine line," Jay McClement told the Leaf Report, with the Carolina Hurricanes set to visit the ACC on Thursday. "You dont want to rain on our record, but at the same time theres quite a few games that couldve gone the other way and we have to look at that and judge our game accordingly, not just on the result." Theres been sloppiness with the puck, an inconsistent forecheck, little to no sustained pressure in the offensive zone, and far too many quality scoring chances against from the critical areas in and around the net. "I just think overall were too loose in the three zones," Carlyle said Tuesday morning before the game against the Wild. "I think its the ability to step inside and be first on pucks; talk about team toughness and all those things, its willing to take a check to make a play; stop on pucks instead of circling away; win your share of 1-on-1 battles; start with the puck more on faceoffs. All those things are factors that go into improving your team play." A consequence of poor puck possession, the Leafs are yielding more than 34 shots per game - fifth-worst overall - putting undue pressure on their goaltenders to be the difference most nights in the early going. And while Bernier and Reimer and have done just that, combining for a .934 save percentage, at some point the load will be too burdensome to bbear, as was nearly the case against the Oilers in a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind overtime victory this past Saturday.dddddddddddd. "When we review and review and review theres just some areas that were really absent in," Carlyle said. "Its a nervous time in the coaches office because of the shot differential and the quality of chances that were giving up." "I think what Randys talking about and what we feel in here is we just lack the consistency right now in the strong team game that we had last year," McClement said. "We just havent had it for I dont think for more than a period or two here and there this year." But with their sparkling record, Carlyle can only push so hard for change. "You can hide behind 6-1 and 4-1," he said of his teams record and most recent victory. "And rightly or wrongly thats what athletes do." Fearful of being exposed in very short order - with a trip to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks looming on Saturday - Carlyle is preaching that his group "look in the mirror" and contemplate just how unsustainable their current performance is, all this in spite of a glowing record. "You try to plead to everybodys individual preparation, their focus, their work ethic, do a little bit of self-evaluation," he said. Its not been all bad. In addition to mostly fine work in goal, the Leafs have benefited from superb special teams. Their lethal power-play has scored at least once in each of the six victories – without a goal in the lone defeat against Colorado – and rests as the third-best so far this season. A legitimate weapon last season, the penalty kill has remained elite, also third-best at this point. Offensively, the Leafs continue to score in bunches, nearly four per game in the opening two weeks. "We definitely have done positive things," McClement concluded. "Its just such a long year that you have to just get into good habits of playing the same way every night. If we do that I think were going to win a lot of games. "For a team, for a coaching staff, Im sure its the ideal situation; you have a good record, but you still dont feel like weve played as well as we can. I guess you could say its not the worst problem to have." ' ' '