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CHASKA, Minn. -- Phil Mickelson was such a strong figure in the Ryder Cup with his voice that it can be easy to overlook his contributions on the course.He was the catalyst for change when the Americans lost in Scotland two years ago. He was part of the Ryder Cup Task Force, and he remains on the committee. To listen to the players, Mickelson was the most motivational speaker in the team room.As for his play?Ive had a lot of fun this week, Mickelson said. More fun than you can ever imagine.Mickelson made 10 birdies in his halve with Sergio Garcia, giving him a 2-1-1 record, his third straight Ryder Cup with a winning record. Lefty already holds the Ryder Cup record by qualifying for 11 consecutive teams dating to 1995, and his longevity is moving him up the list of other records.He now has played 45 matches, trailing only Nick Faldo (46) for most ever in the Ryder Cup. His 18 victories trail only Arnold Palmer (22) and Billy Casper and Lanny Wadkins (each with 20). Wadkins was the U.S. captain when Mickelson made his debut at Oak Hill in 1995 and went 3-0.Mickelson also holds the record with eight victories in fourballs matches, eclipsing the seven won by Palmer and Wadkins.What next?Mickelson made his 11th straight team on the strength of his runner-up finish to Henrik Stenson at the British Open. Two years ago, he made the team in the final qualifying event with a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship.If he were to make the 2018 team for France, he surely would surpass Faldos record for most matches. He now has contributed 21+ points, which is two points behind Palmers U.S. record and 3+ points behind Faldos record of 25 points.Mickelson has never been a captains pick in the Ryder Cup. If he doesnt qualify for a 12th straight team, it will be interesting to see if he merits a pick. Mickelson was No. 30 in the Presidents Cup standings last year, the lowest position of any captains pick. The players wanted him, and Mickelson did his part in South Korea by going 3-0-1. That likely will be considered.The oldest Ryder Cup player was Raymond Floyd at age 51, a captains pick in 1993. Jay Haas was 50 when Hal Sutton picked him in 2004.---THE WINNING BALL: Davis Love finally has the golf ball that won the Ryder Cup.Only its not really his.Love was a Ryder Cup rookie in 1993 at the Belfry when he holed a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole that clinched victory for the Americans. He raised both arms in the air and the celebration was on. And the ball stayed in the cup.Now a captain, he stood to the side of the 18th green as Ryan Moore was on the verge of delivering the winning point. Three putts from 12 feet was all he needed, and when Moore rolled the birdie attempt a foot from the hole, Lee Westwood conceded.I lost my golf ball in `93 when I made a putt that ended the Ryder Cup. I left it in the hole, Love said. And I watched Ryan walk away from his on the 18th green and I went over and grabbed and took it back to him. He didnt want it, so he gave it back to me. So now I got one from the last hole.---BACK TO THE TOUR: The new PGA Tour season starts next week at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, and its the start of a new PGA Tour policy designed to get more players competing in different tournaments.Its known as the strength of field regulation.The policy requires players to add one tournament they have not played in the previous four seasons. Bubba Watson, for example, is adding the OHL Classic in Mexico at the end of the year. Players are exempt from the policy if they played 25 tournaments last season or plan to play that many this season.Tiger Woods during his healthy years typically played the same schedule every year. He was more inclined to add than to subtract. The policy, however, doesnt affect Woods. It exempts lifetime members on the PGA Tour (those who have won 20 or more times) or veteran members who will turn 45 or older during the season. Phil Mickelson also would be exempt under both exemptions.For those players with a limited schedule, they can choose just about anything. U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, for example, has 18 tournaments on his list that he can choose from this season. The other side is Lucas Glover, who has not been exempt for all the majors or World Golf Championships in the last few years, and who already has moved around his schedule. There were only three tournaments Glover has not played in the last four years.---MISSISSIPPI SUPPORT: William McGirt will be at the Sanderson Farms Championship with his golf clubs.He just wont be playing in the tournament.McGirt is a regular at the Mississippi event. But he won the Memorial this year and is No. 40 in the world, making him eligible for the World Golf Championship event in Shanghai. Even though McGirt doesnt want to play the HSBC Champions this year, the fact that he is eligible means he cannot play a PGA Tour event the same week.He still wanted to support the tournament, and the PGA Tour at least is letting him play in the pro-am.The tour has a policy where players who skip the pro-am are not eligible in the tournament. In this case, McGirt is not in the tournament and wants to play in the pro-am. Among recent examples of that happening are Greg Norman at the Valero Texas Open, Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial, Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill and even years ago with Roger Maltbie when the tour had the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill.---DIVOTS: The HSBC Champions will have all four major champions at Sheshan International in Shanghai for the first time since 2011. .... Just 10 days after the Ryder Cup, the PGA Tour starts a new season in the Safeway Open next week. It will be an even quicker turnaround for the Web.com Tour Finals players who earn their cards. The last event was pushed back a week so it would not conflict with the Ryder Cup. That means players who earn their cards on Sunday will be up on the big tour in four days. ... Ariya Jutanugarn finished sixth last week in the Reignwood LPGA Classic and moved ahead of Lydia Ko by four points for the LPGA player of the year award. Ko is the defending champion in Taiwan this week. Jutanugarn is taking the week off. ... Boo Weekley is playing this week in the Fiji International, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour this year.---STAT OF THE WEEK: Patrick Reed is 6-1-2 in his two Ryder Cups. He has yet to finish in the top 10 at a major championship.---FINAL WORD: Hes so positive, and he can really make you feel like if youre off that youre on. -- Jordan Spieth on Phil Mickelson. China NFL Jerseys . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . 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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente downplayed any personal satisfaction derived from his teams season-opening performance, but needless to say, he enjoyed most of what he witnessed in his debut as the Hokies head coach.Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans threw for 221 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hokies to a 36-13 season-opening victory over Liberty on Saturday, handing Fuente his first victory.Fuente, who spent the previous four seasons at Memphis, took over in January for Frank Beamer, who retired after 29 years as Virginia Techs head coach.The atmosphere here is fantastic, Fuente said. Its what college football is all about. People at Virginia Tech take a lot of pride in the game-day atmosphere, and they should. It was incredibleMy thought process coming into the game was how would our kids handle this? How do they respond when things dont go well. There were some times when things were kind of ugly looking, but I liked the way our kids dug in there and plowed away. The atmosphere was fantastic and Im pleased with the way the kids responded to adversity.Fuentes decision last week to name Evans the starting quarterback certainly looked like a good move after Evans completed 20 of 32 passes. He threw touchdown passes on the Hokies last two possessions of the first half to help Virginia Tech rally from a 13-10 deficit.It was a great feeling, Evans said. Its been nine months of hard work. We finally got to showcase what weve been working on for nine long months. We had some mistakes, for sure. I know on my part I had a lot of mistakes that I am going to clean up, but it was exciting.Evans, who won a three-man battle for the job, played less than three quarters. Fuente pulled him after he fumbled on an option pitch -- his second fumble of the game.Some good and some bad would be my first impression, Fuente said of his quarterback. We neeed to take care of the football.dddddddddddd He made some good plays in the passing game. My gut reaction is some good and some bad.Liberty amassed just 160 yards of offense, scoring all of its points off of Virginia Tech turnovers. The Hokies lost four fumbles.They made more plays than we did, but well bounce back, Liberty coach Turner Gill said. We will be a better football team from this ball game.THE TAKEAWAYLIBERTY: Liberty quarterback Stephon Masha got off to a rough start in his attempt to replace Josh Woodrum, a four-year starter. Masha completed 9 of 25 for 70 yards and two interceptions. It was a sloppy debut overall for Liberty, which committed 13 penalties, including eight false-start penalties.VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies defense struggled with consistency a year ago, but looked good Saturday. Virginia Tech, which intercepted just 10 passes last season, had three, marking the 41st time under defensive coordinator Bud Foster that the Hokies have intercepted at least three passes in a game. Theyre 38-3 in those games.It was a good starting point for us today, Foster said. I was pleased with how we played. We didnt give up any explosive plays. All in all, I thought we did a nice job in some sudden-change situations and on third down. I think they had 11 turnovers last year, so that (forcing the turnovers) was big.UP NEXTLIBERTY: The Flames will serve as hosts to Jacksonville next Saturday in Libertys home opener. The game will be Libertys first against an opponent from the Pioneer Football League.VIRGINIA TECH: The Hokies now get ready to take on Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday night in a game that could set college footballs single-game attendance mark. The two teams havent met in the regular season since 1937. ' ' '