Knicks Outlast Wizards;McIlroy Quits Tournament

The New York Knicks won their third straight game Friday night at Verizon Center in Washington,soldiering  past the Wizards 96-88.At the same time,the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Dallas Mavericks 98-90,giving the Knicks a third game up on them in the Atlantic Division of the NBA's Eastern Conference.
Carmelo Anthony powered the Knicks ahead with his 30 points,6 rebounds and 3 assists.As well,he was the workhorse of the game,turning in 43 minutes of play.For the Wizards,Bradley Beal achieved a career high 29 points,11 rebounds and 2 assists,playing 39 minutes.
A crowd of 20,308 saw the Knicks bring their record up to 35-20,14-12 away,while the Wizards slumped to 18-39,13-17 at home.It was the penultimate game of the teams' four game season series.
Raymond Felton added 23 points,6 rebounds and 4 assists for the Knicks,and John Wall chipped in 16 points,3 rebounds and 6 assists to the Wizards' effort.
A PGA Tour rookie,American Luke Guthrie,23,shot an excellent second round nine under par 63 to lead the field at The Honda Classic at PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Garden,Florida on Friday.Fellow American Michael Thompson was second with an eight under par 65,while Boo Weekley and Canada's Graham Delaet shared third at seven under.
World number one Rory McIlroy generated controversy by quitting when his score reached seven over par and he was heading for missing the cut,saying I'm in a bad place mentally.His official excuse was wisdom tooth pain.
It's unfortunate,said his playing partner Ernie Els.I'm a great fan of Rory's,but I don't think that was the right thing to do.He's feeling terrible about it,I know he is.That's the last thing he wants to do is walk off.
It would have been McIlroy's second missed cut of the year,having also failed to make the grade at his season opener in Dubai.

Market Disappointed,Oosthuizen Pleased

The market recorded a weekly loss,disappointed by a string of poor data on consumers and manufacturing,as well as revenue misses by leading companies.Google,General Electric,Citigroup and Bank of America discouraged investors with their sales and outlooks.Confidence is low as we enter the heart of earnings season,with 12 Dow components and 122 S&P firms reporting next week.The Dow dropped 1.0 this week,while the NASDAQ fell 0.8 and the S&P slipped 1.2.The trading range is indeed keeping its grip on the faltering market.
Tiger Woods is still in the running at the Open Championship in St.Andrews,Scotland.He shot a 73 on Friday for a -4,tied for fifteenth.The field was led by Louis Oosthuizen(pronounced Westhizen),27,of South Africa,a protege of Ernie Els,who is ranked #54 in the world and 22nd on the European money list.Oosthuizen shot a 67 for a -12 on Friday.Fifty year-old Mark Calcavecchia also shot a 67 on Friday for a -7,putting the American in second place.
The prospect of all those earnings reports,as well as housing data,had the Dow futures falling off a cliff at -233.00 this evening,with the NASDAQ following suit at -47.25 along with the S&P at -27.30.Bond futures also retreated.BP investors were feeling relieved as the latest attempt to cap the oil spill looked very promising.
General Electric(GE),Citigroup(C),Bank of America(BAC),Google(GOOG)
Update:Louis Oosthuizen continued to lead by several strokes in the final round,with the U.K.'s Paul Casey in second,as of Sunday morning Eastern.Tiger Woods had dropped to thirty-first.