Die Macht » recent poll and likely will be knocking on

AKRON, Ohio -- There are a few different philosophies to playing a tournament like the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which has a 61-player field this week. Wait, make that a 60-player field. No, sorry. Down to 59 by the end of Thursday. Golfs magic number, you know.But I digress. Whatever the exact total, there remain a few truths that are self-evident at this type of event: Every competitor will play four rounds and every competitor will cash a nice paycheck.The extent of how low those rounds are and how large those paychecks are depends on a players philosophy, though not each viewpoint works the same for all players.Theres the idea that a guy can treat this week as a slight departure from the usual grind, maybe working on his game a little less as he steels himself for the second half of the year.You can come out here and kind of -- I wont say not care, but not have to worry about making the Friday cut, explained William McGirt. You know, the big thing is just going out and playing golf and having fun, do your thing. But it does give you a chance to kind of work on some stuff, knowing that theres no cut that you have to worry about making.This strategy might not sound conducive to success, but it should be noted that McGirt employed this method to the tune of an opening-round 6-under 64, good for an early three-stroke lead.Then theres the other strategy.The one that Jason Day is using this week.Some guys are happy to be in the field and stuff like that, but if you just give it that extra little bit, you can kind of pick up a cheap one, he said. Obviously, this is not cheap, its just like theres less people here, you have less people to try and beat, and if you can just really focus down and mentally prepare for that, I think you can definitely pick one up.Day hasnt won a tournament since way back at the Players Championship, three starts and seven whole weeks ago. That would be a mere blip for most mortal golfers, but for the worlds No. 1-ranked player with eight wins since the beginning of last year, it almost -- almost -- represents a bit of a (gulp) slump. All right, call it a lull. A slight lull.So rather than treat this tournament as a brief interlude between the games four major championships, Day has emboldened himself to make a serious run at the title. Its an idea personified by a first-round, 3-under 67 that left him in a share of second place behind only McGirt.Youre guaranteed four days, and you can come and relax and just get your money and walk off, but I dont want to do that, Day explained. These are kind of the weeks where I get to have some fun and go fish, and then obviously come in and not have to worry about making a cut or anything like that, even if you are playing bad. You can just focus on trying to win.That must be a trick only a No. 1 player could pull off, correlating not having to worry about making a cut into being able to focus more on trying to win, but Day appears to have perfected this mindset so far.Hes calling this week a pseudo-home game, having traveled the one-hour, 45-minute journey from Columbus with his family in their RV. And yes, hes been fishing this week, already hooking a largemouth bass to put him one up on caddie Colin Swatton.But none of that means hes taking this one easy.On weeks like this one -- and you can add the year-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions and erstwhile WGC-Cadillac Championship to this list, too, and maybe the FedEx playoff events BMW Championship and Tour Championship, though theres more at stake there -- these philosophies can take one of two routes.Neither is the secret formula for success, of course. A player can grind all week and still fall well short; he can take things a bit easier and still win the tournament.Each strategy is on display on the leaderboard at the WGC-Bridgestone, where fewer competitors and guaranteed money can always affect the eventual outcome.Just ask the guys at the top so far. Isaiah Hartenstein Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Steve Francis Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. https://www.cheaprocketsonline.com/ . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Dikembe Mutombo Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Thabo Sefolosha Jersey . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he wasnt worried when his Cowboys fell 17 points behind Iowa State in the third quarter.His explosive up-tempo offense showed why. James Washington caught eight passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State 38-31 on Saturday afternoon.The Cowboys trailed 31-14 with 5:55 left in the third quarter, but Washington put Oklahoma State ahead for good when he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph with 3:40 remaining in the fourth. The 17-point comeback tied for the second largest in OSU history.We can score fast, Gundy said. If we were in a conventional offense, we would have been in trouble. Because we have the ability to score really fast, and we have playmakers who can pick up big chunks of yards, I didnt feel that way. But I didnt feel very good either.Rudolph passed for 351 yards and four touchdowns for Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1 Big 12). Though the Cowboys gained 459 total yards, Gundy was disappointed in the teams offensive production. The Cowboys were held to 108 yards rushing, and most of that was gained in the final 20 minutes.We got a little bit impatient in the first half, Gundy said. Sometimes that happens. Even right now, I dont feel very good about the way we performed on offense. I thought we were very fortunate to come out of this with a win.It was the second consecutive late collapse for Iowa State (1-5, 0-3). The Cyclones were trying to bounce back after a heartbreaking last-second 45-42 loss to No. 13 Baylor last Saturday and get the first conference victory for first-year coach Matt Campbell.I thought it was a gutsy performance, but we just have to learn to finish, and thats part of what were doing, Campbell said.David Montgomerys 1-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left in the second quarter put Iowa State up 17-14. The Cyclones nearly doubled time of possession in the first half and ran 55 plays to Oklahoma States 32.Joel Lanning threw touchdown passes to Trever Ryen and Allen Lazard to help Iowa State take a 17-point lead in the third quarter.I warned my team lasst week about Iowa State and the ability they had to move the football, Gundy said.dddddddddddd(Their) quarterbacks are good players and they spread you out and are good runners. Theyve got good schemes on both sides of the ball, and they made some real nice adjustments on us.Rudolph threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Washington, then a 1-yard touchdown scoring toss to Jalen McCleskey, to help the Cowboys trim Iowa States lead to 31-28 early in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma States Ben Grogan made a 30-yard field goal to tie the score at 31 with 11:33 to play.THE TAKEAWAYIOWA STATE: The Cyclones proved once again that they are competitive, but arent quite there yet. They got solid quarterback play at times from Lanning and Jacob Park, but neither was consistent, and they were sacked a combined seven times.We have the capability and skill set, its more of a process of learning how to execute and learning how to win, Iowa State cornerback Brian Peavy said.OKLAHOMA STATE: The Cowboys built on their victory over Texas the previous week and enter their off week with momentum.Its good to see your guys keep fighting, Rudolph said. I dont know how many points we were down, but this place was kind of dead. The defense played a great game in the second half and got us some stops and turnovers that were much needed. We didnt turn the ball over, which was big for us. We just kept fighting.POLL IMPLICATIONSOklahoma State was 32nd in votes in the most recent poll and likely will be knocking on the door of the Top 25.UP NEXTIOWA STATE: The Cyclones play at Texas next Saturday. The Longhorns have has allowed 50, 49 and 45 points in their past three games. Iowa State could deal a severe blow to struggling Texas coach Charlie Strong with a win.OKLAHOMA STATE: The Cowboys are off next week. They will play at Kansas on Oct. 22. Gundy said it is a good time for a bye week because several of his players are dinged up.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP . ' ' '