MELBOURNE, Australia -- On current form and on a very familiar golf course, the two top-ranked players at the World Cup -- Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar -- are heavy favourites for individual honours when play begins Thursday at Royal Melbourne. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . No. 2-ranked Scott has won two tournaments in a row -- the Australian PGA and the Australian Masters, which was held last week at Royal Melbourne. Seventh-ranked Kuchar led by two strokes late in the final round of the Masters before a double-bogey on 18 enabled Scott to successfully defend his title. Kuchar finished second. "He has been in such good form," Kuchar said of Scott on Wednesday. "To at least give him a run it was awfully good. I stood five back going into Sunday. Unfortunately I got a bad break on 18 and thats part of golf." The Australians, with Scotts teammate Jason Day at No. 18, are the highest-ranked team this week and will have the benefit of local crowds. "Its an interesting week," Scott said Wednesday. "Were playing together as a team but we still want to beat each other." Added Day: "I dont know whether to love him or not if he beats me." Kuchar and his teammate, Kevin Streelman, will attempt to successfully defend for the Americans the title that Kuchar and Gary Woodland won in 2011. The differences between the tournament, format-wise, that Kuchar and Woodland won in 2011 is about as far as the distance between Royal Melbourne and Haiku, China, where the Americans won. Then, it was a team event in keeping with the near 60-year history of the tournament. Two days of four-ball competition, two days of foursomes. This time, to prepare for golfs return to the Olympics and the format that will be used in Rio, its basically an individual stroke-play event. The financial emphasis is on the individual portion of the tournament -- $7 million in prize money to be divided among the 60-man field, including $1.2 to the winner. And just $1 million allocated for the teams event, with money only going to the top three teams. Kuchar said the change doesnt bother him. "I know the format is different but the golf is the same," Kuchar said. "Its much more of an individual event ... but there is a team component and I think we have got as good a shot as anybody." Earlier, U.S. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem defended the move away from the team-only concept at a media conference Wednesday at Royal Melbourne. "I think it is way too soon to conclude that the team portion of the Cup is lost," Finchem said. "We havent played yet so lets see how that plays out and then we will see. We feel like the tournament is more marketable. We think that it has a better chance of fulfilling its mission which is to create more interest in the game in unique ways." "But we will see. If we go down this road and it doesnt work, we will adjust, but we are going to give this every chance to work." The system being used to determine the entries at the Word Cup -- rankings and number of players eligible from each country based on those rankings, will be used at Rio in 2016. The other differences are that there will be no team competition at the Olympics, and there, golfers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who are playing as separate countries at the World Cup, will play as Britain. Also, at the World Cup, Ireland and Northern Ireland play as one team. So this week, Northern Irelands Graeme McDowell and Irelands Shane Lowry will play together. McDowell says Scott is unquestionably the favourite this week. "From Scottys point of view, he is just one of those guys you play with and you think to yourself Why does this guy not win every week?" McDowell said Wednesday. "Hes that impressive." There are 26 teams taking part and eight individual golfers, including Fijis Vijay Singh, who finished third at the Australian Masters. Cheap Air Max Plus Shoes . Hamelin overcame a weak start to win bronze in the 500-metre race behind winner Wu Dajing of China and American J.R. Celski on Saturday at the world short track speed skating championship. Air Max Plus Wholesale Online . -- Albert Pujols is thrilled to have a reason to forget about his first two disappointing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. http://www.airmaxpluscheap.com/ .com) - Jimmy Butler made four key free throws down the stretch to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Boston Celtics, 109-102, on Friday.LOS ANGELES -- It took the Dodgers five games to hit a home run in the NL championship series. Once Adrian Gonzalez powered up for the first one, their dormant offence broke loose. Gonzalez homered twice and Zack Greinke came through with the clutch performance Los Angeles needed in a 6-4 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday that trimmed St. Louis lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven playoff. "Guys werent ready to lose today," said Carl Crawford, who also went deep to help the Dodgers save their season. Los Angeles held on in the ninth, when St. Louis scored twice off closer Kenley Jansen before he struck out pinch-hitter Adron Chambers with two on to end it. The series shifts back to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday night, with ace Clayton Kershaw scheduled to start for Los Angeles against rookie Michael Wacha. When those two squared off in Game 2, the Cardinals won 1-0 on an unearned run. "Weve kind of become Americas team because everyone wants to see a seventh game," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Probably even the fans in St. Louis would like to see a seventh game, so I figure that everybodys for us to win on Friday night." The Cardinals also led last years NLCS 3-1 before losing three straight games to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants. "Were looking to do the same thing," Gonzalez said. Desperate to avoid elimination, the Dodgers brought in some Hollywood star power for pregame introductions. Will Ferrell announced their lineup and lent a comic spin to each players name, capping it by introducing Greinke as "todays winning pitcher." Ferrell knew what he was talking about. Greinke got into a bases-loaded jam with none out in the first but escaped with no damage. From there, he pitched seven strong innings and even delivered an RBI single. "That was big. I was real nervous out there with that situation," Greinke said. A.J. Ellis also homered at Dodger Stadium, where it is tougher to clear the fences in the heavy night air. Helped by playing in 82-degree heat on a sunny afternoon, the Dodgers rediscovered their power stroke just in time to extend the series. They hit .274 in three games at home after batting .184 during the first two games in St. Louis. "It was just one of those days that we were a little better, got some runs, good feeling," Mattingly said. The Dodgers regrouped after Greinke squandered an early 2-0 lead just as he did in Game 1, which Los Angeles lost 3-2 in 13 innings on the road. After neither team homered in the first three games for the first time in NLCS history, the big bats came out. The Cardinals used a two-run homer by Matt Holliday and a solo shot from pinch-hitter Shane Robinson to win 4-2 on Tuesday night. This time, Gonzalez went 3 for 4 with two solo homers and three runs scored. His two-out shot in the eighth made it 6-2. "We have a team that can bounce back and do some pretty incredible things out there," he said. The Cardinals tied it at 2 in the third on Carlos Beltrans RBI triple and Hollidays run-scoring double before Yadier Molina grounded into his second inning-ending double play against Greinke. "He wasnt as sharp as he was the first time we faced him," Beltran said. "But guys like that, the best guys in the game, theyre able to regroup and find a way to help their team win." Los Angeles answered in the botttom of the third. Air Max Plus Cheap Sale. Mark Ellis singled leading off but was erased when Hanley Ramirez grounded into a double play. Gonzalez followed with the Dodgers first homer of the NLCS, slugging the ball an estimated 428 feet into the right-field pavilion for a 3-2 lead. As he headed toward the dugout, Gonzalez cupped his hands to his ears and wiggled them in a gesture resembling mouse ears. It was an apparent jab at Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, who said Gonzalez had done "some Mickey Mouse stuff" in celebrating a double on Monday night. "Its just having fun," Gonzalez said. "Im going to retire them so theyre not talked about once again." Crawford egged Gonzalez on. "Im pretty sure it rubbed them the wrong way and theyre going to use that as some kind of fuel, so you might as well keep doing it," Crawford said, laughing. Gonzalez replied: "Hey, if Carl wants them. Its for him, not for anybody else." After wriggling out of big trouble in the first when Molina bounced into a double play, Greinke allowed two runs and six hits. He struck out four and walked one. "He made his pitches, we made the plays, got out of it," Gonzalez said. "We were able to get run support for him. All he needed was a few runs." Jansen gave up RBI singles to Matt Adams and Pete Kozma in the ninth. A.J. Ellis homered in seventh, sending an 0-2 pitch from Edward Mujica into the left-field pavilion to make it 5-2. Crawford homered with one out in the fifth, extending the Dodgers lead to 4-2. He walloped a 3-2 pitch from starter Joe Kelly an estimated 447 feet into the right-field pavilion. Kelly gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked none. "I made a few bad pitches on heaters and didnt locate that well, and they turned into home runs," he said. "With guys on base, I was going after them and attacking them with the fastball, but theyre good hitters and they put good swings on them and hit them out of the park." Beltrans triple went over the head of Andre Ethier and to the wall in centre, scoring Matt Carpenter, who singled. Holliday followed with a double to deep centre, but that was it for St. Louis until the ninth. "We had a couple of opportunities to do something, and we just couldnt make it happen," manager Mike Matheny said. "These guys have done a tremendous job in those exact same situations all season long. Youre going to have games where you just cant make it happen, and weve got to figure out a way to get it done the next time we get a chance." NOTES: Molina went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. ... Greinkes hit in the second was the third of his post-season career. ... Ramirez, playing with a broken left rib, left after six innings. ... In the three games Ramirez has started with the injury, only two grounders have been hit to him at shortstop. ... The homers by Gonzalez and Crawford were the first given up by Kelly in 24 career post-season innings. He allowed two homers in a game twice during the regular season. ... The Dodgers are trying to become the 12th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. ... Beltrans triple was his first ever in the post-season. ... Former Dodgers star Orel Hershiser tossed out the first pitch on the 25th anniversary of his three-hit shutout against Oakland in Game 2 of the 1988 World Series. Authentic Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Tennessee Titans Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Washington Redskins Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Denver Broncos Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Green Bay Packers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike New England Patriots Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Oakland Raiders Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Carolina Panthers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Cleveland Browns Jerseys Cheap Cheap Throwback Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Atlanta Braves Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Baltimore Orioles Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Boston Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago Cubs Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago White Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cincinnati Reds Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cleveland Indians Jerseys ' ' '