He finished strong with four birdies over the last five holes

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Keegan Bradley had his best round ever at the Memorial on Thursday. Tim McCarver Jersey . It was the way he accomplished that feat that was so unusual. Bradley did not use a belly putter for the first time in his PGA Tour career, and it worked out just fine. He knocked in a 12-foot birdie putt on his opening hole, added four more birdies for a 5-under 67 and was one shot out of the lead among the early starters at Muirfield Village. "Im totally in a trial period here," said Bradley, whose best score in eight previous rounds was a 71. "Im not in any way saying Im switching for good from now on. This is just for right now and this week." Masters champion Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk and Paul Casey each had a 66 on a hot morning at the Memorial. Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy, both coming off victories on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, were among those playing in the afternoon. Bradley was the first player to win a major using a belly putter at the 2011 PGA Championship. The anchored stroke used for long putters will be banned starting in 2016, which he said was like a "ticking clock in your head." But it was advice from his mother, and a week of practice and trash talking with Michael Jordan, that persuaded him to give it a try. Bradley didnt like the way he finished off the Byron Nelson Championship two weeks ago, and while talking to his mother, she suggested he go to a shorter putter. "I hadnt put any thought into it up until that point," he said. "And so I thought I needed something to get me excited about playing because I was bummed." Bradley has not won since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2012, and he needs to get moving if he wants to earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team. Inspired to experiment by his mother, he played with Jordan at The Bears Club in South Florida, asking him to be relentless in heckling and make Bradley feel uncomfortable, "which hes good at." "And we just kept playing and playing. And I felt better and better with it," he said. "And I came here not knowing what I was going to do. I played a round with Brendan Steele and I felt good with it again, and I thought theres no reason for me not to do it." Bradley said he last used a conventional putter in 2010 in his second start on the Nationwide Tour. He is not considered a bad putter. Bradley switched over to the belly putter because he felt he was better with it. His plan for the year was to qualify for the Ryder Cup team and start converting to a shorter putter after October. Now? Who knows? The putter is 41 inches, which is about 6 inches longer than a standard putter. The difference is that Bradley doesnt press the end of it into his belly. He felt better over lag putts, and he said the shorter putter improved his touch on fast greens. "The negatives are just ... Im aware that people are watching me," he said. "And thats the hardest part." Watson also started his round at No. 10 and got going with an eagle on the 15th hole. He finished strong with four birdies over the last five holes, knocking in a 15-foot putt on the ninth hole. Hunter Mahan had a bogey-free 68, a signal that he is finally starting to round into form. Mahan has not been in the top 20 since the second week of March at Doral. Red Schoendienst Jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Stitched Cardinals Jerseys . Inter Milan ended its five-match winless streak in all competitions by beating 10-man Bologna 3-1 on new manager Claudio Ranieris debut, while injury-plagued AC Milan edged Cesena 1-0 with an early goal from Clarence Seedorf. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/594t-bobby-tolan-jersey-cardinals.html . Wiggins, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward who plays his first exhibition game on Wednesday against Pitt State, was the top prospect in the class of 2013.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Regan Smith had the checkered flag in sight at Daytona a year ago and a freight train of cars in his rearview mirror. He moved high to throw a block on Brad Keselowski and it backfired badly. The desperate attempt to preserve the win triggered a 12-car accident, Kyle Larsons car sailed into the fence and debris from the wreck injured nearly 30 fans. It was a racing accident, nobodys fault. But Smith was racked with guilt. So it was sweet redemption Saturday when he nipped Keselowski at the finish line to win the Nationwide Series opener — finally, a year later — at Daytona International Speedway. "I think it hurt him deeply that the fans were involved in the accident," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who along sister, Kelley and Rick Hendrick owns the JR Motorsports Chevrolet that Smith drove to victory. "I think that he personally and privately (bore) some responsibility for his involvement in the crash, just being in the crash, to have someone in the grandstands get hurt had to affect him tremendously. That was definitely probably one of the toughest things he went through personally as a driver." Smith said he went to dinner with Earnhardt after the accident and leaned on his boss. "Im fortunate that Ive got a boss who has been in a lot of different situations in this sport and understands a lot of different things over the years in Dale," Smith said. "He just basically said Youve got to shake it off, its racing and no fault of anybody. Circumstances sometimes happen. He offered up a lot of good advice in that situation. It did bother me. Id be lying if I said I didnt." Nothing bothered Smith on Saturday. He beat Keselowski by 0.013 for the second-closest finish at Daytona International Speedway and seventh closeest in series history. Gussie Busch Jersey. It was the 300th victory for the Hendrick Motorsports engine shop. Keselowski said last years crash-marred finish never entered his mind as he plotted his strategy over the closing laps. Smith and Keselowski raced side-by-side at the front of the pack over the final two overtime laps. They were door-to-door exiting the final turn and Smith edged him at the line. "Im not that smart and Ive got a terrible memory," Keselowski said of not worrying about a repeat of last year. Trevor Bayne finished third, followed by Kyle Busch, winner of Friday nights Truck Series race, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Elliott Sadler. Brendan Gaughan was sixth and followed by Ty Dillon. Earnhardt Jr., who was 11th, ran into the back of Joe Nemechek after the finish. He said he was being pushed by Kyle Larson and traffic slowed too quickly. It caused heavy damage to Nemechek and Ryan Siegs cars that Earnhardt said hed pay to repair. "We were slowing down. I was looking all around trying to figure out where everybody was at," he said. "Totally my fault. Really wasnt paying attention. I hate it for Joe and those guys cause they dont need to be tearing up race cars." NASCAR issued its first drafting penalty of the season 86 laps into race when James Buescher was called for push-drafting Keselowski. Bueschers car seemed to be under the rear of Keselowskis car for several seconds, which violates NASCARs ban on drafting. NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said the penalty was called because Buescher appeared to be the aggressor regardless of what the television angle showed. Keselowski said the penalty "set the tone for the rest of the race as far as what guys were looking at for driving their cars." ' ' '