PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Martin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth are having a blast at The Players Championship -- one because hes playing good golf again, the other because thats all hes been doing. Kaymer followed his record-tying 63 on the Stadium Course on the TPC Sawgrass with a 3-under 69, capping off his round by hitting a pitching wedge to 3 feet on an island green with a back pin on the 17th hole. He had a one-shot lead going into the weekend as he tries to end more than two years without a victory. "Everything is coming together nicely," said Kaymer, a former PGA champion and world No. 1. Spieth, in his first big tournament since his runner-up finish at the Masters, hasnt shown any signs of a letdown. He pieced together another bogey-free round and converted pure swings into tap-in birdies on consecutive holes on the back nine that carried him to a 6-under 66. "I dont think its going to be possible to stay bogey-free for two more rounds with the greens firming up," Spieth said, not sounding at all like someone making his Players Championship debut. "Thats a nice goal to have, I think. When bogeys come, its going to be how I rebound." Kaymer was at 12-under 132. That matched the best 36-hole score on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass in 20 years, dating to Greg Normans record-setting performance. Norman made only one bogey that week. Spieth hasnt made a bogey all week -- he has gone 51 holes without a bogey going back to the third round at Hilton Head -- though he had to make a couple of tough chips look easy to keep a clean card. The 20-year-old Texan was still on the practice range when he saw Kaymer finish at 12 under, a score that felt impossible to catch in warm, blustery weather. The grass remained soft on the golf course, however, allowing players to take aim at the flags. Some players had no choice. Adam Scott, in his first tournament as a married man, kept alive his hopes of going to No. 1 in the world this week with three birdies in his last four holes for a 67. That was a 10-shot improvement from Thursday and enabled him to make the cut on the number at even-par 144. Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn finished the second round in a tie for 25th place. Rory McIlroy shot 42 on the front nine and appeared headed home early until making birdie on the 18th hole to salvage a 74 to make the cut. Not so fortunate was Phil Mickelson. He missed his birdie attempt on No. 18 and had a 70 to miss by one. Mickelson now has missed the cut in the two biggest events of the year -- the Masters and The Players. "I dont feel bad about the game," Mickelson said. "But mentally, Im just really soft right now." Kaymer is winless dating to the HSBC Champions in Shanghai at the end of 2011. The more good scores he sees, the more often his name is on a leaderboard, the more confidence he gains. Darren Clarke watched it for two days, referring to him as a "finely tuned engineer." Even so, the 29-year-old German is hesitant to look beyond the next day. He knows its tough to follow a record-tying round with anything remotely close. So he lowered his expectations, figuring anything around par would be suitable, and then kept his distance from the field. "Yesterday was just a very special day for me," he said. "Even though I shot 9-under par yesterday ... if people want to talk negative about it, I then shot six shots worse. But you can always go in the negative. I see very positive things that I backed up that 9-under par with another decent round." Spieth was even better. He had to scramble for par from short of the ninth green and from behind the 10th green. He hit his stride in the middle of the back nine with two shots that were nearly identical -- a 6-iron on the par-3 13th that rode the ridge down to about 4 feet, and a 6-iron from 184 yards on the 14th to 3 feet. "It was a nice break to land and roll to pin-high, because it was a very tricky pin with quite a bit of slope around the hole," he said. Spieth has said he was proud of how he played the final round of the Masters, even with a two-shot lead with 11 holes to play. His game looks every bit as solid at Sawgrass, a course he had only seen while playing a junior event. He finished second in that one, too. And thats what keep him going. Asked he if was getting bored being in contention so much, he smiled and said, "No, because I havent won one." "You should probably have to win every time in order for it to get boring," he said. "But not even Tiger gets bored." Russell Henley didnt make a par over his last six holes -- three bogeys, three birdies -- for a 71 and was in third place at 8-under 136. Sergio Garcia (71), U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (71), Gary Woodland (71), Lee Westwood (71) and Jim Furyk (6 were six shots behind. The course appeared to be getting slightly firmer by the end of the day. The excitement figures to start on the weekend. Fake Golden Knights Jerseys . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Golden Knights Jerseys 2021 . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. https://www.cheapgoldenknights.com/. As their best player continued to orchestrate his dramatic exit from the club, the Whitecaps added size and creativity at Thursdays Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Golden Knights Jerseys China . 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The Ravens went into that game 0-3 in Pittsburgh in the postseason, but sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger five times to highlight a solid defensive effort and got a pair of passing touchdowns from Flacco. Flacco threw for 259 yards and he teamed with head coach John Harbaugh for their seventh playoff victory together. Thats playoff football. Thats Joe Flacco, a jubilant Harbaugh beamed. Hes the best quarterback in football. Well take him any day of the week, twice on Sunday...or Saturday night, if that be the case. Baltimore is 10-4 in the playoffs under Harbaugh with a Super Bowl win and the Ravens have handed the Patriots two of their four all-time losses in 19 home playoff games. Baltimore beat New England in a 2009 wild card matchup and again in the 2012 AFC Championship game prior to winning Super Bowl XLVII. The Ravens shut Brady and the Pats out in the second half of that game to rally for a 28-13 and avenge a loss to New England in the previous AFC title game. This is the fourth postseason battle between the clubs, with each taking place in Foxborough, though Brady doesnt factor home-field advantage that much into the matchup. It always goes to execution and how well you play because theres nothing that the crowd can do to help you make the plays that youre supposed to make, he said. I think there are things that -- the communication and the ability to communicate late in the play clock is a strong advantage for the offense. New England is making its sixth straight postseason appearance, but hasnt won the Super Bowl since 2004 or reached the championship matchup since 2007. A victory in this game, though, would make the Patriots only the fifth team to reach four straight conference championship games. The Pats won the AFC East with their third straight 12-4 season, securing the top seed in the conference. They have advanced to the Super Bowl in three of the previous four seasons they have claimed the top seed. New England head coach Bill Belichick comes in having won 19 postseason games, tied with Don Shula for second most all-time and one back of Tom Landrys NFL-leading 20. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Saturday could become a milestone day for Brady after he passed for over 4,000 yards with 33 touchdowns in the regular season. Bradys 43 postseason touchdown passes rank third in NFL history and he comes in just behind second-place Brett Favre (44) and the all-time leader Joe Montana, who had 45. Brady also is one of two quarterbacks with at least 6,000 passing yards in the playoffs and no other quarterback has recorded as many postseason wins as his 18. While the Ravens had success last weekend in getting to Roethlisberger, Brady and his ability to move the ball quick present a different challenge. Its different because Ben scrambles a little more and hes a little stronger shrugging off tackles and things like that, noted Harbaugh. Neither one of them really scramble to run; both of them scramble to throw. Tom does a great job of getting the ball out quick. Theyre both excellent before the snap. New England did get 13 rushing touchdowns this season, but none of its players ran for more than Jonas Grays 412. However, receivers Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell combined along with tight end Rob Gronkowski for 248 receptions and 23 touchdowns. Gronkowski, limited to seven games and none in the playoffs last season due to a knee injury, led the Pats with 12 touchdown catches and should provide an added offensive punch New England did not have when it lost to Denver in the AFC Championship Game. Hes a real key to our offense, Brady said of his tight end. Hes a very talented player and weve got to find ways to get him the ball. Hes got to be a big factor. Were all excited to be out there this week. The Pats are likely to have Edelman back in action to. He led the team with 92 receptions to go along with 972 yards and four TDs, but missed the final two regular season games due to a concussion. Anytime you dont get to go out and play with your teammates its very tough, especially at the end of the year where you are preparing for postseason, but all of that is in the past.ddddddddddddIm looking forward to today and preparing for the Ravens and getting ready for this game, Edelman said. Brady will be going up against a Ravens team that ranked 24th against the pass, but was dominant in allowing only 88.3 rushing yards per game. And though they give up yardage, the Ravens can also wreck havoc on a quarterback thanks to linebackers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil set a single-season franchise record with 17 sacks and then picked up another two versus the Steelers. He was part of a pass rush that forced Roethlisberger into throwing a pair of interceptions. Then there is Suggs, who has had many battles with Brady and the Pats offense. He made six tackles and had a pick versus the Steelers and comes in with 12 career playoff sacks, tied with Reggie White for third all-time. Hes phenomenal. Hes (in his) 12th year; it looks like its his third year out there, said Brady of Suggs. Hes the leader of that defense, he makes great plays. I think theres the play thats called, and then what he actually does. So even though he has a certain responsibility, if he sniffs it out he takes a shot and goes for it. New England also may have some respect for Flacco, who has faced the Pats five times in Foxborough and has averaged 225.8 yards per game while throwing nine touchdown passes. His 92.8 passer rating is the beat by an opposing quarterback at Gillette Stadium since 2008 with a minimum of three games and he completed a trio of TD passes with no interceptions in the 2012 AFC Championship game. Flacco has thrown for 1,399 yards and 13 touchdowns with no picks over Baltimores current five-game playoff winning streak. Hes a good quarterback in all situations. Hes a good quarterback, period. I have a lot of respect for him, noted Belichick of Flacco. While Torrey Smith represents a deep, reliable threat for Flacco to look for -- with Smith leading the Ravens with 11 touchdown catches -- Steve Smith topped the team with 79 catches in his first season with the club and added another five receptions for 101 yards against the Steelers. Known for excellent hands, Steve Smith may see himself facing Pats cornerback Darrell Revis a lot in this game. Revis was credited with 14 passes defensed this season and picked off a pair of passes. Quarterbacks sometimes tend to avoid throwing to his side of the field, but Flacco said that limits an offense too much. I think as a play-caller, you have to just go out there, rely on your guys that you have that are out there, rely on the fact that they have ability. And as a quarterback, you have to go out there and just go through your reads. And if hes open, throw it to him; if hes not, dont, Flacco said. Linebacker Jamie Collins led New England with a career-high 115 tackles and was one of only three players this season with at least four sacks and a pair of interceptions. OVERALL ANALYSIS Its never easy, but the Ravens are one team that has been able to run with the Patriots in the playoffs, and obviously playing on the road does not bother the team. Baltimore is 10-5 all-time on the road in the postseason, but Harbaugh doesnt think that gives his club any added advantage. I dont think it really matters. Its a new game. Really, the past, the future -- Its just whoever plays best Saturday afternoon is going to be the team that wins the game. Its always that way. So, I dont think it makes any difference at all one way or the other, said Harbaugh. The Ravens combined a good defense with an offense that managed to put up points last weekend, but now they face a motivated Patriots team that has begun to see its window of success under Brady enter the latter stages. Were always trying to win the last game of the year. We set pretty high expectations and I think we all have high expectations but youve got to go out there and earn it, declared Brady. Its not easy and this is a first step for us. A lot of teams played last week, we didnt get a chance to do that. This is a week where we can really try to make an impact on this season. Weve worked pretty hard to get to this point. New England is going to have to work hard again this weekend and though Brady may take some shots, hell probably also have an opportunity to make some plays against a suspect secondary, with a healthy Gronkowski being the difference maker. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Patriots 27, Ravens 24 ' ' '