than we ever have at any Winter Olympic Games."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Even with his best round of the year, Phil Mickelson knew it wouldnt be enough for him to stay in the lead Saturday at the Wells Fargo Championship. That was OK with Lefty. All he wanted was a chance at Quail Hollow, and Mickelson hasnt had a better chance to win all year. Mickelson roared into contention by playing a six-hole stretch in 7-under par on the front nine, and keeping bogeys off his card with a wedge that danced around the cup on the 18th for a 9-under 63. He was leading when he finished and wound up two shots behind J.B. Holmes, who overtook Martin Flores for the lead on the last hole. "I dont think Ill be leading at the end of the day because I think there are some birdies out there," Mickelson said. "But just to be in contention, and to have a chance at a golf course that Ive become so close to over the years, Im excited about tomorrows round." Holmes, pounding tee shots and gaining confidence along the way, had a 9-iron left on the 490-yard closing hole and made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe. That gave him a 6-under 66, and it made him the outright leader when Flores made his only big mistake of the round. Flores pulled his tee shot into the stream that winds along the left side of the 18th fairway. He at least gave himself a chance to save par, but missed a 20-foot putt and had to settle for a 69. Holmes goes into the final round with a shot at coming back from injuries, one of them far more noteworthy than the others. He had brain surgery in 2011 to remove a piece of his skull. Then, he broke his ankle in 2013, and time off allowed him to have surgery on his left elbow. And now he takes a one-shot lead into the final round at 13-under 203. "Ive worked really hard to get there and it would be a great accomplishment to come back and get a win in the bag," Holmes said. Flores feels the same way. His best finish in four seasons on the PGA Tour was a tie for fourth in the John Deere Classic last year, when he closed with a 63 and finished one shot out of a three-way playoff won by fellow Dallas resident Jordan Spieth. Flores describes himself as a flat-liner, and he played the part Saturday, the first time he ever played in the final group on the weekend. He never looked at a leaderboard because he figured it didnt matter on a Saturday. He didnt let adrenaline get the best of him when he rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt from just off the 12th green for his third straight birdie and a two-shot lead. He never came seriously close to a bogey until the 18th hole. And not even that bothered him. So when asked if he could be the winner Sunday, Flores shrugged and said, "Why not me?" "Ive been working really hard, feeling great about my game," he said. "Im going to go out there and attack. If I win, I win. If I dont, I dont. Im going to keep working until I do." Kevin Kisner had a 68 and was three shots behind. Justin Rose bogeyed his last hole for a 71 and was four shots back, along with Jason Bohn, who made three birdies over his last four holes for a 67. Former PGA champion Martin Kaymer bogeyed his last two holes for a 70 and was five behind. The last 54-hole leader to win at Quail Hollow was Anthony Kim in 2008. That could bode well for Mickelson, off to his worst start to a season in 11 years. Not since 2003 -- the last year he went winless on the PGA Tour -- has Mickelson gone this deep into a year without winning. Worse yet, he doesnt even have a top 10. He had to deal with a back injury in San Diego and an oblique muscle strain in Texas. He missed the cut at the Masters last month for the first time in 17 years. "I had a good round today, and it feels good because its been a rough year for me this year," Mickelson said. "I havent been healthy early on and I havent put it together. And to have a good round today, good round the first round, this is a good start." Mickelson said he didnt feel far off after his 75 on Friday, and he was right. He was helped by a couple of long birdie putts on the fourth and sixth holes, and by a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 seventh hole that revved up the crowd on a gorgeous day of sunshine. Rory McIlroy set the pace early for a day of low scoring with a 65 that brought back memories of 2010, when he made the cut on the number and went 66-62 to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. He was four shots behind that year going into Sunday. But with Holmes and Flores finishing strong, McIlroy goes into the last round seven shots behind. NFL Jerseys China .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Cheap MLB Jerseys . -- Keith Aulie has joined the Tampa Bay Lightning. http://www.cheapnflchinajerseysonline.com/ . Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury. Wholesale Jerseys Online .com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Amid a rain of confetti, Shabazz Napier basked in the celebration on the court after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four following the 60-54 win over Kentucky. SOCHI, Russia -- Canada was a second-half team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The medal intake in Sochi is forecasted to happen at a more measured pace. Starting with Saturdays mens snowboard slopestyle and womens moguls, Canada has at least one legitimate medal shot, if not more, virtually every day until the closing ceremonies Feb. 23. Chef de mission Steve Podborski and his assistants Jean-Luc Brassard and France St. Louis intend to be present at events where a Canadian is a front-runner for a medal. "I would say were booked every day," Podborski said at a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference Thursday. The host country won 18 of its 26 medals in Vancouver during the back half of the Games. Ten of the 14 gold medals came in the second half, including four on the final weekend. Sports making their Olympic debut helped balance the schedule of Canadas medal prospects in Sochi. Mens and womens snowboard slopestyle, the figure skating team event and the luge relay are among the new events over the first eight days of competition in which Canada has solid medal prospects. Thats in addition to Canadas strength in the entrenched sports of alpine skiing, moguls, short-track speedskating and cross-country skiing. "Sure there are new sports and we happen to be very, very good in the new ones because we are a great sporting nation," Podborski said. "With the support were getting now from corporate Canada, Own The Podium and the Government of Canada, we have an opportunity to be good in the traditional sports as well and thats where well make our great gains in the areas where are athletes are getting better . . . cross-country, alpine skiing." Canadas athletes have been waging fierce foosball tournaments in their village lounge while they await Fridays opening ceremonies, according to Podborski. But Olympic competition started early for some Canadians with Thursdays preliminary rounds. Canada sat in second place, two points behind host Russia, after the first day of the new team figure skating event. Torontos Patrick Chan was third in the mens short program, then Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were second in the pairs short to give Canada 17 of a possible 20 points after the first two events. Sebastien Toutant of LAssomption, Que., and Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., advanced to the mens snowboard slopestyle final Saturday, while Charles Reid of Mont-Tremblant, Que., and Reginas Mark McMorris will attempt to join them via the semifinal earlier in the day. The Dufour-Lapointe sisters from Montreal -- Justine, Chloe and Maxime -- all qualified for Saturdays womens moguls finals as did Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City. Reigning world champion Spencer OBrien of Courtney, B.C., qualified for the womens slopestyle final Sunday. Hockey Canada also made the decision to replace injured forward Steven Stamkos with Tampa Bay teammate Martin St. Louis. No competition is scheduled Friday because of the opening ceremonies. In addition to slopestyle and womens moguls on opening weekend, skiers Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Calgarys Jan Hudec and Manny Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., are medal prospects in Sundays downhill. Canadas figure skaters are favoured to win a medal in the team event, which ends Sunday. Canadas objective in 2010 was to top the overall medal count and the target remains the same in Sochi. The host team was third in total medals, but won the gold-medal race four years ago. Because of the new sports, there are 36 more medals to be won in 2014 than in 2010. That will help fill Canadas coffers, but also those of top rivals Germany, Norway, the United States and host Russia. "Canada is here to compete and win," COC president Marcel Aubut said. "Our aim is to contend for the number one spot in medals won.dddddddddddd." "This is an ambitious goal, but we Canadians like it this way. Our athletes expect nothing less of themselves but the highest achievements." Added Podborski: "You dont try to come "somewhere up there." We expect great things in Canada now. Its an ideal approach. "We may not win the medal count this time. We may not win it the next time but one day we will because we are striving to be number one in the world in the medal count." While Canadas preparation for 2010 seems a successful model to copy for Sochi, the Canadian Olympic Committee took a different approach. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing posed similar challenges to Sochi in terms of distance to travel, time-zone difference and unfamiliar language, food and culture. Virtually all of Canadas Olympians competed, trained or at least visited Beijing in the year prior to those Games to get comfortable with the place. The same practice was done for Sochi. There was less emphasis on pre-Games visits for the 2012 Summer Games in London. "If we look at the Beijing experience and we look at the Sochi experience, its actually very similar," COC chief sport officer Caroline Assalian says. "New and unfamiliar environment for most countries. "We ensured that the athletes and support teams as much as possible are familiar with this environment." The COC has conducted exit interviews with athletes, their coaches and support teams following Olympic Games since 2006 to better plan for the next. The athletes were asked "what made the difference in your performance?" "Their number one factor? Feeling part of a larger unified team, more than anything," Assalian said. "Thats what made the difference for them. Coaches and support team? Familiarity with the Olympic environment." And where Beijing was also a benchmark for Sochi was in Canadas conversion rate, which the number of athletes ranked in the top five at their most recent world championships make it onto the podium at the subsequent Olympic Games. The COC employs conversion rates to compare how Canadas athletes are performing compared to other countries. Even though Canada won just 18 medals in Beijing, the conversion rate there was 67 per cent compared to 59 per cent at the Winter Games of both 2010 and 2006, according to Assalian. The Canadian team needs at least match Beijings conversion rate to be in the hunt for the overall title in Sochi. "Our bar now is Beijing," Assalian says. "We know we need to convert better than we ever have at any Winter Olympic Games." The Canadian team will attempt this without the advantage it had in Vancouver and Whistler of home ice and home snow. Own The Podium chief executive officer Anne Merklinger says many winter sport teams have stronger leadership and better coaches since 2010. Both areas were priorities coming out of Vancouver and Whistler and she hopes improvements there compensate for the additional challenges of Sochi. "Weve come a long way in that regard," she says. "Without coaches, were behind the 8-ball. Its the most important success factor. "I think there are a number of examples where weve brought in great coaches, but weve lost some too. We need to find a way to continue to retain the good ones we have and attract new ones." "Were investing in that. Thats what it takes. Its a competitive industry." OTP oversees athletes competitive lives between Olympic Games and allocates about $62 million a year in federal government funding between summer and winter sports. The COC prepares athletes for the Games environment and looks after their needs and wants on the ground in Sochi. ' ' '