MELBOURNE, Australia - Ernie Els knows what Royal Melbourne can do to a golfer probably more than anyone. Els was a member of the International team that won the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and had three straight wins on the Alister Mackenzie-designed course at the Heineken Classic. His last came in 2004, when he missed a chance at a magical 59 by one stroke in the opening round and nearly squandered an eight-shot lead in the final round before eking out a win over Adam Scott. Els says hell "take it personally" if the United States wins the Presidents Cup again when play begins Thursday. "Ive had some great tournaments here in the past, a great win in 98 for our team," the South African said Tuesday. "Its always nice having some experience winning on it." Els also finished second in the Heineken Classic in 2005, the last year the tournament was held at Royal Melbourne and coincidentally, the last time he played Down Under. The memories from the course — and particularly from 1998 — are still vivid. "We gelled very well as a team," Els said. "I remember watching us play on the 18th hole, seeing some really big shots pulled off by the team, some amazing chip-ins. That was a really a great factor. We got the crowd behind us and we rode that wave." Els said it was "crazy" the International team hasnt won since then. "Ive been playing (on Presidents Cup teams) ever since 1996, and obviously lost quite a few times," Els said. "We had one tie (in South Africa in 2003), so its hard to take. We dont really want to keep losing this thing." There are five Australians on this years team — Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Jason Day and Greg Normans captains picks Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley — three South Koreans, three South Africans and Japanese 20-year-old Ryo Ishikawa. "I love this team," Els said. "The Aussie boys are ready, a lot of them are playing really good golf." Hes not the only one. Els said his countryman Charl Schwartzel, this years Masters winner, is also ready to play. "Hes got the perfect ball flight for these greens," Els said. As for the possible pairings, Els said it didnt matter that much on the International team. "Were professional golfers and we know that we need to win points, no matter who you play with," Els said. "We cant keep huffing on about it." The competition begins Thursday with six foursomes (alternate shot) matches, followed by six fourball (better-ball) matches on Friday, five foursomes and five fourballs on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday. Thats a total of 34 matches, with 17 1/2 points ensuring a win for either team. Els hopes hes doing the same thing on the final night that he was 13 years ago at Royal Melbourne. "We had a great Sunday," Els said, smiling. "I went straight to the plane from the casino." wholesale nfl jerseys . 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If thats the case, he almost single-handedly gave the Senators the early series lead with an 8-4 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday, scoring two goals and setting up two others as Ottawa ended a three-game losing skid. cheap jerseys from china .com) - Tired of not getting positive results, the underachieving Ottawa Senators held a players-only meeting on Monday. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks practiced for basically the first time since the Super Bowl champions opened training camp in late July. Nicks was taken off the physically unable to perform list last week and was very limited until Mondays practice. The four-year veteran made a nice catch against cornerback Corey Webster in a seven-on-seven drill and caught a touchdown on a fade pattern during a late two-minute drill. "He seemed to be pretty good," coach Tom Coughlin said after practice. "He seemed to feel good and moved around well and did a good job with it." Neither Nicks nor Coughlin would speculate whether Nicks would play in either of the Giants final two preseason games. "Were going to go slow to make sure that theres never a setback," Coughlin said. "Hes very anxious to do more, but well go slow." Nicks broke his right foot during an organized team activity roughly three months ago and had surgery. He said he is running at full speed and added that his immediate goal is to get his timing back with Eli Manning. "Ive been running routes now for two weeks. Ive run every route in the route book and havent had a problem," Nicks said before practice. "I feel like I need to just go out there and keep taking care of the things that need to be taken care of, stay on top of it." A first-round draft pick in 2009, Nicks caught 76 passes for 1,192 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He was outstanding in tthe playoffs, catching 28 passes for 444 yards (a 15.dddddddddddd9 yard average) and four touchdowns. The happiest player to see Nicks back was Victor Cruz, who has been getting guarded as the Giants No. 1 receiver in the preseason. "Thats my guy, and hes getting healthy. Hes healthy again," Cruz said. "His foot is right. I saw him out there, while we were up in Albany. He was running, doing all of the things that he had to do, to get back out on the field. So, Im happy to have him back, hes always been around, we talk all of the time, and its good to see him back on the field." ------ NOTES: LT Will Beatty remained sidelined with a back problem. Veteran Sean Lockleear, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season, has done well filling in for Beatty, but Coughlin wants to know who his left tackle is going to be soon. ... Second-year DT Marvin Austin said his back problem is better, but he didnt practice because the team is trying to determine whether he can with the medication that he is taking. ... Second-year LB Jacquian Williams returned to practice after being sidelined about a week with a hip pointer. ... Rookie CB Jayron Hosley, who returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown against the Jets, remains sore because of turf toe. Coughlin said the trainers are trying to keep him off his feet. ... With starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw sidelined with a bruised hand, first-round draft pick David Wilson got reps with the first team. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '