tin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth are having

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 (68) 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. Adam Eaton Jersey . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively. Bryce Harper Jersey . Berdych and Stepanek played all five matches when the Czechs beat Spain 3-2 in the final last November in Prague to win the countrys first title as an independent nation. http://www.officialnationalsgearshop.co … s-Jersey/. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Brian Goodwin Jersey . -- Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen took the second-round lead Saturday in the Champions Tours Legends of Golf, teaming for a 6-under 48 in windy conditions on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. Brandon Kintzler Jersey . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.MOSCOW -- His legs were hurting, the rain was pouring and he was trailing late in the race. Doesnt matter. This is Usain Bolt. And nothing gets in the way of him and first place, especially when hes driven as he was Sunday in the 100-meter final at the world championships. Bolt blew by Justin Gatlin with about 30 metres to go and never glanced back. He also didnt even crack a smile when he crossed the finish line because this took a lot more work than the worlds fastest sprinter usually needs. Gatlin was second and Bolts Jamaican teammate, Nesta Carter, took third. Of all Bolts titles, this one will have a special meaning, considering he false-started two years ago in the final to lose his crown. Now, its his again. "Its always great to get back your title," said Bolt, who won in 9.77 seconds. "Im happy with myself I got it done." Many of Bolts top rivals were missing from the field. Gone were Tyson Gay (doping offence) and Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, who was the reigning champion but skipped the worlds because of an injured hamstring. Shortly after the race, Bolt sauntered around the track with his countrys flag tied around his neck like a cape. These days, he has to be the Superman of his sport. Given all the recent doping scandals, track needs someone to save the day. For now, he will settle for blowing away the dark cloud over his proud sprinting nation, which saw some of its most decorated sprinters fall froom grace.dddddddddddd Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson and Veronica Campbell-Brown all tested positive for a banned substance and werent at the worlds. "Im just doing my part by running fast, winning titles and letting the world know you can do it clean," Bolt said. "My focus is to continue doing what I do." And that means running fast times, even on a drenched track. What started as a steady drizzle turned into a downpour just before the gun sounded. So much so that Bolt clowned around when he was introduced to the crowd, pretending to open an umbrella. Really, though, rain doesnt bother him. Not in the least. Neither does anything else, like falling behind early. He knew he might trail Gatlin at the halfway mark, because Bolt has never been a good starter and may have been extra cautious considering what happened in South Korea two years ago. In the lane next to him, Gatlin got off to a great start and thought he might have enough in the tank to beat Bolt, just as he did two months ago in Rome. "Then I saw these long legs coming up on my right side," Gatlin said. "Hes great. Hes just great." These two arent exactly the best of friends, but after the race, Gatlin congratulated Bolt, who had some kind words in return. "For him to say to me, Hey, youre the guy who pushes me to go even faster. Im honoured in that," Gatlin said. "But I thought I had it for a second." ' ' '