TROON, Scotland -- Ten years ago this week, Patrick Reed fell in love with links golf.He won the 2006 Junior Open Championship in this corner of the world at Heswall Golf Club, quickly figuring out how to hit various shots in different conditions than hed been accustomed to back home in the United States.The ball never seemed to stop, he said with a laugh Thursday after posting an opening-round 5-under 66 to put himself in contention for the lead at The Open.But if that love for links golf was stoked while he played, it was set ablaze just days later.Before he returned home, Reed attended a practice round and the first round of The Open, held that week at Royal Liverpool. An unabashed Tiger Woods fan, Reed followed the eventual champion around the course, marveling at his ability to hit shots the 15-year-old had never before witnessed in person.I was in awe of how he was hitting golf shots, seeing this 2-iron somehow staying that low for 240 yards in the air, recalled Reed, who turns 26 next month. Im thinking, How is that ball going that far? And the kind of control he had, Im just like, Man, this guy is really good.Some players, especially some American players, have to learn to love this type of golf. First they endure it, then they embrace it. Thats when success usually happens.For Reed, there was no transition period. It was love at first sight.I always thought it would be fun because I love to create shots and hit the funny things, he said. At home, we cant do that. Its too soft. So you cant hit the stinger 2-iron and let it run, or the low hook chip shot and watch it bounce up a hill and kind of trickle over. Those arent things we can do at home. Its more thick rough, take the ball in the air and try to stop it. So I feel like my creative side has been able to come out.Reeds opening round consisted of an eagle hole-out on the third hole and five birdies against just two bogeys. It tied the lowest first-round score in Royal Troons tournament history (although that mark was bested later Thursday by?Phil Mickelsons 63).That wasnt the only thing that should have Reed confident about the next three days, though.He played the Scottish Open last week; five of the past six Open champions played that event the week before. Hes American; each of the previous six champions at Troon has been American. He posted a sub-70 score; 10 of the past 11 Open winners opened with rounds in the 60s.Reed doesnt just like playing golf here, though. He likes everything here.The simplicity, he said. Last week when I was over, when we were driving from the golf course to the hotel, theres just a lot of farmland, a lot of scenery. You see the water to the left, the farms to the right. Its just a two-lane road going in and out. So you literally just have that kind of relaxed feeling that you have golf and then relaxing time. At home, its golf, sit in traffic, traffic lights, a thousand cars, people honking at you, and then you get home and youre trying to go through a busy hotel, so its still stressful off the golf course. Here it seems like its just golf and then just kind of relax, have some fun.Its definitely a way different pace than back home. Its nice. Its a great change of pace.Perhaps this gives new meaning to the actions of a guy who two years ago playfully shushed the home crowd at the European-based Ryder Cup.Hed love to stay quiet this week, flying under the radar of the bigger names on the leaderboard. That might not be possible, but his attitude -- an attitude born a decade ago -- should serve him well.I think the key is just to have fun with it, he explained. You know youre going to get some bad breaks here and there, but at the same time youre going to get some good breaks, and you just have to know how to handle it mentally. Cheap Nike Air Max Free Shipping . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. Air Max Wholesale China Free Shipping .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. http://www.airmaxfreeshipping.com/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Cheap Air Max Shoes With Free Shipping . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Air Max China Free Shipping . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Mondays roundup here.I felt the pop in my elbow and knew exactly what had happened.It was April 1, two nights before our first game of the regular season, and after sliding headfirst into home, I pushed off the ground to get to my feet, and I felt the pop.There was a split-second when a hope zoomed through my mind that maybe the same injury hadnt happened, but when I grabbed my right elbow and felt for the bone, I could feel the indent from a fracture. I had a flashback to the first time this had happened to me.Earlier in spring training, we had found out that the screw placed in my elbow during a surgery in 2010 had split in half, and I had missed a lot of spring training games. There wasnt anything we could do about that without an operation, but as the start of the season got closer, I felt ready to go -- until I started to get up after that slide.When I got to the clubhouse, Gary Waslewski, our team doctor, quickly examined my elbow and gave me a rough look. He knew what had happened too. Most of the guys still playing the game came back from the dugout and gave me a hug. Chip Hale, our manager, spent a good inning or two with me. Its all right, he said. Its going to be fine. There were a couple emotional hours, and Ill never forget the support I got that night, with the players and the coaches letting me know that they were there for me.That night, the X-ray machine at Chase Field happened to be broken, so we went to a hospital for an examination. I was assigned to a room and waited. It just so happened that Kate, my wife, had picked her dad up from the airport within the hour that I got hurt, so she rushed over. Judy Hale, Chips wife, was also a big help.They rolled a portable X-ray machine into my room, but I knew what the images would show. I didnt even bother to look -- not because I was disgusted by it but because it would only confirm what I already assumed. Kate played lacrosse at Notre Dame and knew what it would take to rehabilitate an injury like that, and she was pretty upset, and it became more of a case of me comforting her. (Or maybe she was upset because she knew she would have to deal with me at home the rest of the season.)I had a hard time getting to sleep that night. When you get hurt, you have a lot of stuff racing through your mind.I knew exactly who would do the surgery: Dr. Don Sheridan, who is one of the best in the world at what he does. I had surgery on my hand before, and he did that. We had become friends, and as we got ready for the elbow surgery, he gave me some confidence. He definitely gave me peace of mind by saying, Were going to fix this once and for all.It was a delicate and complicated surgery. He hoped to get the old screw out of the bone -- without making a huge mess of my elbow -- then take some bone from my hip for a graft to help new growth at the point of the fracture. But he had total conviction.I woke up after the surgery, and Dr. Sheridan came in, looking completely exhausted, like someone who had run a marathon. But he had prepared for hours for this, and he was fired up. He showed mme, with a bunch of pictures from the surgery, how well it went.dddddddddddd Everything is exactly where its supposed to be, he told me. For the first time in years, my elbow was in exactly the right alignment.Then Dr. Sheridan reached out with something in his hand and dropped it into my hand: the old screw. I saw the pictures of the hole where the screw was, and I have no idea how he got it out of there. It was pretty amazing. There were lots of hugs in that room.I began working with our great athletic trainers, including Ken Crenshaw, who is unbelievable because of the attitude he brings every day, the unselfishness. Id thank him for some progress we made, and hed say, Its all you. Clearly, thats not true. There were a lot of other people who have helped along the way, including trainer Ryan DiPanfilo, strength and conditioning coordinator Nate Shaw, physical therapist Ben Hagar and medical coordinator Kyle Torgerson. Its a complete team effort, and when you walk into the room and need something, theyll drop whatever theyre doing and immediately say, Lets do it. Theyre completely invested in making you better. Kate has been the No. 1 rock star, getting me ready for each day, making the meals and working on my nutrition, which mightve been the most important part of the healing.Six weeks into the rehabilitation process, I had a scan to determine how the bone was healing, and we didnt expect much. Having gone through this once before, I was thinking we might not have much healing at all. But you could see in the images that it already had gotten a lot better. There were only a couple spots that still showed the fracture line. Ten weeks in, we had another scan, and it was exponentially improved. By week 12, you couldnt see any lines from the fracture; it was rock solid. The whole thing was normal. It was incredible.I sent a text to thank everybody: our athletic trainers, Dr. Waslewski and Dr. Sheridan, and Dr. Sheridan responded with a line from the movie Apollo 13: This is going to be our finest hour. We had gone from that terrible moment at Chase Field on the eve of the season to a fully healed elbow in just a few months.I remember the first time I threw with Ken Crenshaw, something you have to do incrementally, starting with a tennis ball thrown just a couple of feet. That went well, so we moved up to a 4-ounce ball. Then a normal baseball. Everything felt great; everything was so smooth. When I took batting practice in recent years, I had to ease into it with the first swings of the day. Now Im able to take a full hack on the first swing.On Aug. 4, I got to begin my rehabilitation assignment. I got a single in four at-bats, and moving along to Class A, I homered in my first game with the Visalia Rawhide. On my drive away from the park after the game, I was thinking about how awesome it felt to be out on a baseball field. It felt amazing and powerful to be able to do that again. I didnt care where it was, in Class A or the big leagues. I was back on a field, healthy again, whole again. 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