HOYLAKE, England - Phil Mickelson rolled long putts across the practice green in front of the Royal Liverpool clubhouse, some of them going in, most of them the right distance. He chirped to the caddie of Brandt Snedeker about their money game, a Mickelson tradition at the majors. Lefty was in good spirits Monday at the British Open, except for having to return the claret jug. Even that allowed him to reflect on a year of keeping golfs oldest trophy, and the confidence he finally has when he plays links golf. "Its a different feeling for me coming over here now having won this tournament," Mickelson said. "The way I felt was, Am I ever going to break through and play well on links golf and win an Open Championship? Now I know that I can. I know that Ive done it, and it takes a lot of pressure off me." Confidence in links golf? Yes. In his game? That takes a little more work. Not even Mickelson would have imagined when he left Muirfield last summer with the claret jug that he would not have another tournament anywhere in the world. This is the longest he has gone without winning in five years. And except for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January, where he was runner-up, Mickelson hasnt been particularly close. He has missed three cuts. He withdrew twice after narrowly making the cut because of injuries in San Diego and San Antonio. At the Masters, where he is a three-time champion, Mickelson missed the cut for the first time in 17 years. His lone top 10 on the PGA Tour was last August at The Barclays, a tie for sixth when he closed with a 65. So why the smile? "Normally, I would be discourage or frustrated, but Im just not," Mickelson said. "I feel like Ive had some good breakthroughs in some areas. I havent had the results. I know I havent played well. But the parts feel a lot better than the whole right now. And I dont know when it will all click together. I dont know if it will be this week. I dont know if it will be in three weeks or a month or what, but it should be soon." Hes running out of time. Mickelson is No. 12 in the Ryder Cup standings. He has qualified for every team since 1995 — two years after Jordan Spieth was born. He has reached the FedEx Cup finale for the top 30 at the Tour Championship every year since it began in 2007. With only three starts before the playoffs begin, Mickelson is at No. 97. Then again, its easy for Mickelson not to be overly concerned. He is 44 and has been on tour for half of his life, compiling 42 victories on the PGA Tour and five majors, including that claret jug. Its at least been a good year for the jug. He has taken it to golf clubs and corporate outings, shared it with friends and people he had never met. He has let his caddie, Jim Mackay, take it to pose for pictures. Mickelson had only one rule. "One of the things I stressed is that we have to treat the claret jug with reverence and respect that it deserves, and only put good stuff in it," he said. "No bad stuff was allowed. And each person that I brought it to had a different definition of what the good stuff was." One definition was a bottle of 1990 Romanee Conti, which can range in price from $16,000 to about $35,000. "Now, I didnt know what this was when I drank it," Mickelson said. "I just knew that it was really good. And that was the best bottle that was ever put in there." Like fine wine, Mickelson can only hope he gets better with age. Even though he had to overcome arthritis in the middle of the 2010 season, and only eight players older than he is right now have won majors, Mickelson doesnt see that as an obstacle. Sure, he has to work a little harder, train a little better, stretch a little more. "But I feel better than I have in a long time," he said. Padraig Harrington is the last player to repeat as Open champion. Tiger Woods repeated at Royal Liverpool in 2006. Tom Watson won back-to-back some 30 years ago. Winning majors is difficult enough. Winning the same one two years in a row is even harder. Monday was the first full day of practice for most players, while some took the day off. Woods didnt show up at the course after practicing both days on the weekend. Some players from the Scottish Open werent at Hoylake. Others, like Spieth, arrived Monday morning on a charter from the John Deere Classic and went on to play. Mickelson closed with a 65 at Royal Aberdeen to tie for 11th in the Scottish Open. He won the Scottish Open a year ago, and believes the lag putting into a crossing wind, along with seeing the ball react on links courses is a big benefit. Plus, hes never been so enthusiast about golfs oldest championship, mainly because his name is on the trophy. Mikhail Sergachev Jersey . 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Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. Ryan Callahan Jersey .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No. WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are taking a serious look this week at two of their top contenders for the first round of next months CFL draft -- a pair of offensive linemen who, they hope, are capable of starting this season and filling a hole at centre. "Pierre Lavertus here now, Matthias Goossens coming in tomorrow," general manager Kyle Walters said Tuesday. "Were going to let (offensive line coach) Bob Wylie take a look at these guys, put them through a workout. The offensive staff will get them up on the board, you know, start talking about some of our systems, see how they react." McGills Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Montreals David Foucault are currently ranked first and second in the draft but both offensive linemen also are expected to draw a lot of interest from the NFL. Lavals Lavertu and Simon Frasers Goossen are the next top-ranked offensive linemen -- Lavertu at third overall currently and Goossen at ninth. Goossen made a big jump in the CFL winter rankings to No. 5 spot from 15th and Lavertu was also ranked a spot ahead of Foucault in the January list. All four are highly regarded. Miles Gorrell, who played 19 CFL seasons as an offensive lineman including four with Winnipeg, was scouting for the Ottawa Redblacks at this years CFL combine and spoke highly of their talent. "Their footwork and hand placement are very good, its clear theyre well coached," Gorrell said. "You see guys like Pierre Lavertu, David Foucault and Matthias Goossen stepping up to the plate and being able to prove to the coaches and scouts theyre ready to take the next step." With the No. 2 pick in this years draft May 13, Walters soounded pretty confident they can get one of the players theyve identified as meeting their needs.ddddddddddddBut despite Winnipegs last-place finish last season, they have to stand in line behind the expansion Redblacks, who get to pick first. The Bombers lost free agent Justin Sorensen, last seasons starter at centre, to the Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos, like the Bombers, are trying to strengthen their offensive line. The Bombers took a chance on their top pick last season, defensive lineman Andy Mulumba, and lost. He signed with the NFLs Green Bay Packers. Walters, who took over after former general manager Joe Mack was sacked last season, wants this year to be different. "Were doing everything we can to make sure we make the right pick and get the right guy we want here in Winnipeg." He says there have been a few calls from other teams interested in their No. 2 pick but either nothing serious or, in the case of the only solid offer, nothing they would even remotely consider. This season their wish list and the draft seem to be aligned reasonably well. "Obviously sitting at No. 2, youre sure if youve got two guys that you like you can get one of the two . . . If thats not the case, then you maybe go down a different route," Walters said. "In a perfect world we hope that we like both these guys and if Ottawa takes one were perfectly fine with the other." At the same time, he didnt limit their interest to Lavertu and Goossen but said theyre the only two players they could bring in right now. "Some of the guys that weve reached out to, the agents havent been overly receptive to bringing them in," he said. ' ' '