PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Even without Tiger Woods around, Sergio Garcia couldnt avoid reminders of a week to forget at The Players Championship. The 17th hole is where Garcia last year lost the battle, along with the war of words. After two days of verbal sparring with Woods, the Spaniard put two balls in the water to make quadruple bogey, and he put another in the water on the 18th for good measure. Garcia already was 4 under on Thursday when he came to the par-3 17th with an island green. "It did cross my mind. Im not going to lie to you," Garcia said. "I was trying to be positive. Its a new year -- lets improve on it. I pulled it a little bit there, but it was an OK shot. I was able to do much better there, and much better on 18, so I was very happy to see that." Garcia was six shots better than the last time he played those holes. He wound up with a 5-under 67 and was four shots behind leader Martin Kaymer, a good start for a past champion who has shown he can manage his way around the Stadium Course. As for those other memories? Garcia has put those behind him. Much like his golf shots, hes looking forward. Woods won The Players last year in a tournament marked by a weekend of squabbling with Garcia -- such public feuds are rare in golf -- that ended badly a few weeks later in London when Garcia made a racially insensitive comment about Woods while trying to be funny. It started in the third round, when Garcia blamed Woods for pulling fairway metal from his bag on a par 5 to stir up the gallery just as Garcia was trying to play his shot. Video doesnt support that sequence of events, but it set off a weekend of bickering -- and Woods got the last word by winning. "I think its over. I think its passed," Garcia said. "I didnt think I was a villain, but I think that weve all moved ahead of that. I certainly have. Im just looking forward to now and hopefully whats coming soon." Garcia says he is in a happier place, and it shows. He conducted a clinic for kids on Wednesday, and he is at his best in the presence of children. He played beautifully on Thursday, losing momentum with one bogey on his 14th hole, but no less satisfied with a 67. Even so, he conceded his battle with Woods last year unsettled him. He was at an awards banquet in London when asked if he would invite Woods over to dinner during the U.S. Open. "We will serve fried chicken," Garcia replied. He apologized twice, though it didnt quell the criticism that followed him the rest of the summer. Garcia spoke of the ups and downs in his career, of trying to play good golf when he feels miserable. Garcia went into a deep funk when longtime girlfriend Morgan Leigh Norman left him. He said after a poor third round in the 2012 Masters that he did not have the game to win a major. "You go through ups and downs in your life, in your career," Garcia said. "And Ive had really, really good times; really, really happy times. And then Ive had times that were a little bit more down. I think it happens to all of us. Youve got to try to enjoy those good times as much as possible and learn from the tough ones and hopefully make them as short as possible. I think at the end of the day, thats all you can really do." He said the last four years have been "pretty good," but not always. "I dont know, probably (what) comes to mind maybe last year is when everything went on with the little problem with Tiger," he said. "I think that was tough." Lately, he is on an upward swing. Garcia won in Thailand late last year. He won in Qatar at the start of this year. He is No. 9 in the world. He is thinking positively. And it probably doesnt hurt that Woods is sidelined indefinitely while recovering from back surgery. And yes, at 34, he believes hes good enough to win a major. "I think that when Im on, I can definitely win anywhere," he said. "I think Ive proven that. Its just a matter of getting that week where you feel good, where you feel comfortable, where things go your way, where everything feels relaxed, everything feels at ease and you manage to do things the way you know how to do them. Im still waiting for that particular week." Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Saints Jersey . Meanwhile, the Jets extended their winning streak to four and remain perfect under Paul Maurice. Its the Jets second four-game winning streak of the season, the other coming in mid-November. Erik McCoy Saints Jersey . Onyshko, from Minnedosa, Man., will compete in artistic gymnastics while Hanet, from Kelowna, B.C., will compete in lawn bowling as a para-athlete. "It is exciting that our Canadian athletes are starting to arrive at the Games Village," said Chantal Petitclerc, Canadas Chef de Mission. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-...Manning-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. Drew Brees Saints Jersey . Chris Heisey connected for his first grand slam and Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in a career high-tying four runs as Cincinnati took advantage of Tampa Bays depleted pitching staff for a 12-4 victory on Sunday. Drew Brees Youth Jersey . Catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Wild lead the Northwest Division and look to get back into the win column after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Tuesdays 2-1 loss at Winnipeg in the finale of a five-game road trip (4-1-0). LAS VEGAS -- T.J. McConnell laid out like a baserunner diving headfirst into a base. He missed the ball, but, after landing with a thud, jumped up and raced the other direction. Aaron Gordon, who did get the steal because of McConnells effort, flipped the ball ahead and Arizonas point guard ran under it, scoring an easy basket in transition. The play, and countless others like it in a spirit-crushing rout over Utah, let the rest of the Pac-12 field -- and the country -- know that one of the nations best defensive is in high gear for the post-season. Playing with a feverish intensity from the opening tip, Arizona raced through the record book and overwhelmed the stunned Utes in a 71-39 rout on Thursday to match the most lopsided game in Pac-12 tournament history. "We were locked in," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Everything that we wanted to do defensively, we were able to do it." Nick Johnson scored 14 points, McConnell 13 and Gordon added 11 for Arizona, which shot 53 per cent. That was just a side note to what the Wildcats were doing defensively. After playing two close games against Utah during the regular season, top-seeded Arizona (29-3) opened the tournament with a have-to-see-it-to-believe-it defensive performance. Energized by a raucous crowd that made it feel like the McKale Center, the Wildcats were at their lane-jumping, shot-contesting best against the Utes (21-11) to move into Fridays semifinals against Colorado or California. Arizona jumped on Utah early and had stamped its name in the record books by then, setting marks for fewest points allowed, fewest field goals (12) and lowest shooting percentage (25). The Wildcats held the Utes to 13 points in the first half, another record, and matched UCLAs 32-point win over Oregon State in 2006 to move into Fridays semifinals against Colorado or California. Jordan Loveridge and Delon Wright, Utahhs leading scorers, combined for seven points on 1-of-4 shooting and Utah lost by 13 fewer points than its 10 previous losses combined.dddddddddddd "When we get stops and get rebounds and get the push, our athleticism is really at play," Johnson said. "I think finishing with dunks and around the basket gets everybody going. Arizona had hoped to make a statement in the Pac-12 tournament to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Pac-12 regular-season champion Wildcats certainly did in their tournament opener, playing with an intensity Utah had no chance of matching after playing a close game against Washington the night before. The crowd at MGM Grand Garden Arena started chants of "U of A! U of A!" long before the opening tip and the Wildcats turned the game into a rout not long after the ball went up. Racing out for dunks and 3-pointers in transition set up by their climb-in-your-jersey defence, the Wildcats stormed past the Utes with an 18-2 run that put them up 22-6. Arizona kept its foot on the Utes behind its defence, contesting every shot, pass and dribble. The Wildcats held Utah to 5-of-19 shooting while forcing eight turnovers in the first half. Loveridge and Wright, who combine for over 31 points per game, took four shots and had no points between them. "They were really putting on a defensive clinic in the first half," Utah centre Dallin Bachynski said. Second half, more of the same. Utah missed its first 11 shots -- its first field goal came 9:15 in -- and at one point had five players on the court who had yet to score in the game. Yep, it was that bad. The only thing in doubt at that point was whether the Utes would get to 30 points. They got there with 4:17 left, but, boy, was it ugly. "They took pride in guarding us," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "They took the life out of us." ' ' '