PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Tiger Woods says its way too early to hit the panic button. Then again, its too early by his standards to be getting up on a Saturday morning to play a PGA Tour event. But at least hes still playing. Already off to the slowest start of his career, Woods had to scramble on the back nine just to make the cut in the Honda Classic. Woods hit only two greens over his final nine holes. His lone birdie on the back nine was on the 13th hole, when he missed the green with a wedge and then chipped in for birdie. His par on the final hole gave him a 1-under 69 -- the first time in six rounds he had broken par at PGA National -- and left him 11 shots behind Rory McIlroy. Woods tees off at 7:38 a.m. Saturday. He should be done before the leaders even show up at the course to eat lunch. "Its a grind. Theres no doubt about it," Woods said. Golf looks anything but that to McIlroy, the 24-year-old from Northern Ireland who has yet to play a 72-hole tournament this season when he didnt have a chance going into the weekend. McIlroy ran off six birdies in a 10-hole stretch for a 4-under 66. He was at 11-under 129, one shot ahead of Brendon de Jonge, who had a 64. Woods began his year at Torrey Pines, where he his eight pro victories included a U.S. Open, and he didnt make it to Sunday. He failed to make the 54-hole cut (which kicks in when more than 78 players make the cut) and tied for 80th. Then it was off to Dubai, where he had won twice. He was never a factor and tied for 41st, his worst showing in seven appearances. Anything wrong? "Its only three events," Woods said, hiding his annoyance at the question. "So not that many rounds into it." Woods has played nine rounds of competition in the last three months. He has broken 70 only twice -- a 68 in the first round of Dubai and a 69 on Friday at the Honda Classic. Until this year, he had never started without at least one finish in the top 20. Woods wasnt ready to rule out a turnaround even this week. "I would like to obviously hit it better than I have been, and especially today. I didnt hit it very good today," he said. "But again, I fought out a number, which is always a good thing. Somehow would like to put together a good weekend. Were all bunched in there. Anything can happen this weekend." Being 11 shots behind in a 79-man field typically does not constitute one of those "anything can happen" weekends, though stranger things have occurred. Regardless, he looks to be miles away from the real action at the Honda Classic. And that starts with McIlroy. Boy Wonder won this tournament two years ago to reach No. 1 in the world for the first time. That was good. As the defending champion, he was so frustrated with his game and the mounting expectations that he walked off the golf course after 26 holes. That was bad. "This year is obviously a lot different," McIlroy said. "Got off to a good start. Im confident. Im playing well. This is the second straight tournament Ive opened with a 63. So if I can keep building on these good starts, then hopefully I can start converting." He was referring to Dubai, where he started with a 63 and then pressed too hard. As for getting off to a good start, he ostensibly meant his season. This will be the third straight stroke-play event of the year where he is a major presence on the weekend. Friday was another step in the right direction, despite errant tee shots on the 11th and 12th holes that led to bogeys. His round changed with a tee shot into 6 feet on the 16th hole for a birdie, and then a 12-foot birdie on the 18th to wrap up his front nine and earn back the two shots he had dropped. After a 45-foot birdie attempt on the second hole rimmed all the way around and out of the cup, Boy Wonder took off. He two-putted the par-5 third. He hit a wedge into 4 feet on the next hole. He rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt down the hill at the par-5 fifth. Then, after a tough par save on the sixth, he sank another 30-foot birdie putt that McIlroy made look routine. "Watching Rory play is amazing when hes swinging like this," Masters champion Adam Scott said. McIlroy is swinging freely and with confidence. He is starting to walk with a bit of swagger. From tee to green, his game looks solid. And on the green, it looks even better. McIlroy has taken only 49 putts through two rounds. "Thats probably the lowest putting total after 36 Ive probably had, maybe in my career," he said. "So its obviously going in the right direction." Keenan Allen Chargers Jersey . Hughes, 30, is a former Major Leaguer with the Baltimore Orioles, having played in 14 games with the Os in 2010. He played with Class AA Binghamton of the Eastern League in the New York Mets system last season. LaDainian Tomlinson Chargers Jersey . 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With nothing tangible at stake, the Raptors turned in their most impressive outing of the fall in their seventh and second to last exhibition tilt against their stiffest competition yet, but they lost a couple starters in the process.WASHINGTON -- The Boston Celtics were tired from playing the night before and so undermanned that they resorted to a 10-day-contract backcourt for part of the game. The Washington Wizards were again trying to erase the stigma of mediocrity. Surely, against this Celtics lineup, this would be the night they would end their long and laborious quest to get above .500. Never mind. The Celtics won. Jeff Green put the team on his shoulders and scored a season-high 39 points, while the Wizards wilted with a display of selfish basketball. Boston blew a 19-point first-half lead, but Gerald Wallace made a driving layup with 2.5 seconds remaining in overtime Wednesday night for the 113-111 victory that snapped a 10-game road losing streak. "Lot of reasons to give up," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "And they didnt do that." Green shot early and often, finishing with career-highs in 3-pointers attempted (16) and made (8). Rookie Phil Pressey added a career-high 20 points. The Celtics played without Rajon Rando, Avery Bradley and Jerryd Bayless and at one point had Chris Johnson and Vander Blue, both on 10-day contracts, on the floor together in the second quarter. "I just put myself in the position where I had to be the man to carry the team and shoot the ball," Green said. "So thats what I did." John Wall had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double for Washington, but he went 9 for 29 from the field and missed a potential game-winning, contested 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. The Wizards havent won a game to move above .500 since Halloween 2009 and have failed to win this season at 0-0, 9-9, 14-14, 19-19 and 20-20. The milestone has become such a psychological hurdle that coach Randy Wittman this week had to caution against thoughts that "all of a sudden fairy dust is going to fall on us if we get over .500." This time Wittman was angry because he said his players came down with a case of "I got mine," looking to pad their stats against a team that was supposed to be easy pickings. "I can get mine because who are we playing?" Wittman said forcefully. &quuot;You cannot screw with the basketball gods like that.dddddddddddd It always comes back to get you. ... Every player in this league can play. Theyre in the NBA. Every player can play. And if you dont give them the respect, this is what happens." Wall pleaded guilty. "It starts with me," he said. "I took too many shots tonight and didnt move the ball like were supposed to in the first half. ... For some reason, we dont go out there in that first half when weve got an opportunity to go (above) .500 and play as a team. We get to playing selfish." Bostons Rondo sat out the second half of a back-to-back in his return from major knee surgery, Bradley is sidelined for about two weeks after spraining his right ankle against the Miami Heat the night before, and recently acquired guard Bayless missed his second consecutive game with a sprained left big toe and is day to day. Stevens therefore started a lineup consisting of a backup point guard -- undrafted rookie Pressey -- and four forwards. Blue made his NBA debut after being signed earlier in the day. The Wizards played the first half as if in slow motion, but the Celtics looked like their patchwork selves in the third quarter, committing a pair of offensive fouls during an 11-0 Wizards run. Martell Webster gave the Wizards their first lead of the game with a four-point play that made the score 88-87 with 6:37 remaining in regulation, but neither team could make a clutch shot in the final minute of the fourth quarter with the score tied. Pressey had made only 6 of 38 3-pointers all season, but he went 5 for 6 from 3-point range against the Wizards. His 3-pointer in the final minute of overtime gave the Celtics a 111-108 lead. The Wizards tied the game when Marcin Gortat made 1 of 2 free throws with 13.9 seconds left in the extra period, but they couldnt stop Wallace from making the winning basket. "We had a good start to the third quarter," Wizards forward Trevor Booker said. "But other than that, we played like doo-doo." NOTES: Bostons 10-game road skid was its longest since a 12-game streak in 2007. ... Booker returned after missing one game with a sprained left ankle. ' ' '