HUMBLE, Texas -- Phil Mickelson did more than prove to just himself that hes ready for next weeks Masters on Thursday. Sam Mcdowell Indians Jersey . The five-time major winner showed to everyone that hes fully recovered from last weeks muscle pull and likely to be a factor in this weeks Houston Open as well. Without so much as a practice round this week at the 7,441-yard Golf Club of Houston, Mickelson opened with a 4-under par 68 and was among the leaders following Thursdays opening round. The bogey-free performance was a far cry from last week when Mickelson was forced to withdraw during the third round in San Antonio after pulling a muscle in his right side "Im surprised because I was worried about the Masters," Mickelson said. "I was certainly worried about Houston, but it healed a lot quicker. I felt great today; didnt feel any pain or discomfort and didnt even think about it." Mickelson is three shots back of first-round co-leaders Bill Haas and Charley Hoffman, both who finished at 7 under. Hass had five birdies on his back nine, while Hoffman needed just 27 putts to earn a share of the lead. Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar lead a group of five golfers at 6 under. J.B. Holmes, Erik Compton and Jim Renner are also at 6 under, with 10 golfers are at 5 under. Of the 144 players in the field, 113 finished at even par or under on an overcast and occasionally misty day. "The greens are absolutely perfect," Haas said. "... I think the scores are reflective on that. They were a little slower, but part of that, too, is the weather. It was like a little dewy mist out there all day, which played a part in the speed of the greens." Mickelson and Bradley were part of a threesome with Webb Simpson, who also finished 4 under. All three players in the group navigated the course without a bogey in their morning rounds. Former world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, playing in the afternoon and one of the five top-10 players in the world in the tournament, finished with a 2-under 70. While Haas and Hoffman shared the lead after Thursdays play, it was Mickelson -- who was forced to withdraw during last weeks third round in San Antonio after pulling a muscle in his right side -- who was the centre of attention leading into next week at Augusta National. Mickelson has won the Masters three times, the latest coming in 2010, but his status was in doubt following last weeks injury. The left-hander, however, underwent treatment in the days following his departure from San Antonio -- along with fitting in two days of light practice at Augusta National -- and appeared in top ball-striking form on Thursday. "One of the things I really worked on hard today was staying focused on each shot," Mickelson said. "... I needed to play here this week and really challenge myself in that regard to give myself the best chance for next week." Opening on the back nine at the former Redstone Golf Club, which was renamed the Gold Club of Houston following an ownership change, Mickelson was bogey free despite needing 31 putts. He made the turn at 2 under following a 16-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th, and he birdied both of the par 5s on his back nine to put himself squarely in contention. Mickelson won the Houston Open in 2011, and the courses Masters-like setup -- including slick greens and tight rough -- is a key reason hes returned every year since. "He was striking it, he was hitting it long and great," Bradley said of Mickelson. "... He seems like it was feeling a lot better today than it was in San Antonio." Kuchar, who finished tied for fourth at last weeks Texas Open, had three straight birdies in the middle of his round on Thursday -- highlighted by a 47-foot birdie putt on the 445-yard par-4 second hole. McIlroy, one of five of the top 10 players in the world in the field, was as low as 3 under before a pair of bogeys on the back nine. World No. 10 Dustin Johnson withdrew following an opening 8-over par 80. Dwight Gooden Indians Jersey . The Ravens werent about to let it happen again. Carleton picked up its fourth straight national mens basketball title, and 10th in the last 12 years, with a 79-67 victory over its crosstown rival on Sunday. Tyler Olson Jersey https://www.cheapindiansonline.com/978u-yasiel-puig-jersey-indians.html . Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first match win at Queens in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warmup three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point.ATLANTA - With an ice pack wrapped around his injured lower back, a frustrated Jonas Valanciunas spoke to the media having just watched his teams second straight loss from the visitors locker room, unable to influence the final result. After missing 20 games as a rookie a year ago, Valanciunas - like the Raptors as a whole - has been fortunate to be in good health this season. As he spoke about it, the Raptors sophomore centre scanned the room for wood to knock on. "It is disappointing because we lost today so thats the worst part of the day," said Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays game with a lower-back sprain in the third quarter, missing the rest of Torontos 118-113 overtime defeat at the hands of the Hawks. "Everyone wants to win and do something to help us win but I couldnt do anything sitting back here." With Valanciunas unavailable and Patrick Patterson missing his sixth straight game with an elbow injury, the Raptors found themselves as far outside their comfort zone as theyve been in months. Dwane Casey was forced to mix and match several different combinations of Amir Johnson, Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak and Tyler Hansbrough in the frontcourt while cycling through various unorthodox lineups to spark an underperforming second unit. All the while, Atlanta - winners of five straight after losing 14 of 15 - did them no favours. Following Sundays loss to the Suns, Casey was confident his team would not have to face the level of speed and quickness they saw that afternoon. Two days later, Jeff Teague had something to say about that. "He lived in the paint tonight," Kyle Lowry said of Teague, who matched his career-high with 34 points, hitting 11 of his 18 shots, all but six of them taken in the paint. "He got layups and free throws. You have a quick guy like that its hard for the bigs to try and help me and its hard for me to try to figure out where hes going. We tried to change our coverage a little and it worked but he lived in the paint too much tonight." "Its my fault," Lowry said, taking responsibility for his counterpart. But it wasnt, not entirely. "Its a speed league," he acknowledged. Its not the Raptors strength but theres too many up-tempo teams, too many quick players to allow it to be such a glaring weakness. Like Phoenix on the weekend, the Hawks burnt Toronto with speed, playing at a pace that the Raptors could not catch up with, especially with two key defensive players out of the lineup. Toronto tried blitzing Teague, they tried trapping him and switching and pick and rolls. More often than not tthe Hawks point guard blew by the coverage. Sandy Alomar Jr. Jersey. . He ran an effective two-man game with all-star Paul Millsap - who recorded his first career triple-double - and found open shooters. The Hawks hit 11 three-pointers, their seventh straight game with 10 or more. "We were trying to take away their threes," said DeMar DeRozan, who had 29 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. "We did a good job to start out the game but we got out of place, missed some rotations and they started knocking down threes. They got confident with it and they kept knocking them down." "They make you change your coverages a little bit with the way they space the floor," added Lowry after a 20-point, nine-assist night. "But we had a decent chance to win that game." Late-game execution failed the Raptors - now 1-5 in overtime this season - once again. They turned the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter and overtime, also committing 16 fouls and giving up seven offensive rebounds. "I just thought we were casual with the basketball," said Casey, his team dropping back-to-back games for the first time since the West Coast trip in early February. "[We] had a lot of opportunities to attack and were casual and soft with our passes and they took advantage of it." The Raptors got off to a strong start, holding Atlanta to 17 points on 25 per cent shooting, including 2-for-9 from long distance in the first quarter. The momentum turned immediately as the second quarter began and the Raptors depleted bench came into the game. Without Patterson, Torontos second unit - outscored 59-11 on Sunday and 20-11 in the first half Tuesday - lacks spacing and movement on the offensive end and foot speed defensively. Then, late in the third quarter, the Raptors lost Valanciunas. The seven-footer felt his back tighten up as he turned to set a screen. "I stopped and hyperextended my back," he said. "I cant tell much about it. I just felt pain and that was it." Valanciunas, who hasnt dealt with back issues in the past, wanted to continue playing but the teams medical staff pulled him prior to the fourth quarter. For the third straight game the sophomore centre got off to a hot start, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards in the opening frame. "I thought he had something good going, a match inside," Casey said. "He was attacking the rim, attacking the basket, he was giving us some rim protection and rebounding." Valanciunas will be re-evaluated in New Orleans ahead of Wednesdays game against the Pelicans. ' ' '