Clan-Members » Even Rory McIlroy got in on the act.

CHICAGO -- Kyle Schwarber signed a baseball for Campbell Faulkner, and Faulkner gave Schwarber a green wristband. Twin acts of kindness, and a friendship was born.The slugger with the big Ohio heart, and the sunny boy with a life-threatening illness. A bond that made each of them better.Some 1,700 miles away from Wrigley Field, Faulkner and his family are soaking up every moment of Schwarbers comeback from a major knee injury. The 10-year-old Faulkner -- If you ask him, hes two hands, his mother Carrie says -- stays up to watch his buddy in the World Series, and Schwarber proudly wears his Campbells Crew wristband while he tries to help the Chicago Cubs to their first championship since 1908.Hes a kid who can always put a smile on my face, Schwarber said.Faulkner has a rare mitochondrial disease. His body doesnt know how to use food and oxygen properly.Doctors knew something was wrong with Faulkner just days after he was born. The youngest of Carrie and Shane Faulkners four children never cried and was never hungry.On Day 4, he was labeled failure to thrive, Carrie Faulkner said. He got his first feeding tube in his stomach when he was 4, and a second tube at 7.On the outside he looks perfect, Carrie Faulkner told The Associated Press in a phone interview. On the inside, its just a train wreck, its a disaster in there.So when Carrie Faulkner heard about what Schwarber said after one of the biggest games of his life, she just lost it. Moments after Schwarber hit two RBI singles in Chicagos 5-1 victory over Cleveland in Game 2 on Wednesday night, he was asked about his green wristband, and the son of a retired Ohio police chief jumped on the question like a belt-high fastball.Yeah, Campbell Faulkner, hes a kid that I met down in Arizona. Hes got a rare genetic disease, and I met him my first spring training, Schwarber said. Really young, smart kid, and hes just always got a big smile on his face.Schwarber kept right on going.We stay in contact through email. Hes a smart kid, man, he said. The kids, I think, got an IQ of like a college kid for being so young. That tells you how smart he is. And thats a person you want to look up to right there.A day later, Carrie Faulkner was still floored.I dont even have words, she said Thursday. I have tears. ... Oh my heavens what an amazing man to think of my son at that moment.For Campbell, it was no big deal. After all, theyre friends. It made me feel good, and I knew that he was thinking of me, he said.Faulkner and Schwarber met last year during spring training. Faulkner was a guest of an organization called Steves Dream, which provides tickets to Cubs spring training games to families.The Faulkners were tailgating when Schwarber stopped and signed a ball for Campbell, who returned the favor with the wristband that made Schwarber a member of Campbells Crew -- a support group for Faulkner with its own Facebook page and Twitter feed .Schwarber promised to wear the green band, and the connection only grew from there. Schwarber got Faulkner his own Dinger Bat. They exchanged autographed pictures and started emailing each other.Hell just give me, like, support, and hell say hes praying for me, Faulkner said.Faulkner was at Chase Field in April when Schwarber got hurt in an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler, spraining his ankle and tearing two ligaments in his left knee. He was ruled out for the year, just three games into the season.A crestfallen Faulkner was quiet when he got home. He took his hat off, put it in his lap and prayed. Then he sent an email to Schwarber pointing out he had a lot of doctors and offering to help the slugger get in touch with them.Campbell literally went into protective mode to take care of Kyle, Carrie Faulkner said.And thats when that one fleeting moment in the heat of spring training returned to Schwarber in a major way. As Schwarber embarked on the long, difficult process of rehabbing a major injury, he found inspiration in the example of his precocious friend in Arizona.It means a lot, Schwarber told the AP. I wasnt going through near as much time as what that kids going through his whole life right now. That just gives me that extra motivation going through this rehab that I still have to go through after the season.Schwarber made it back quicker than anyone expected, surprising everyone with the Cubs. Following an encouraging checkup on Oct. 17 in Dallas, he was cleared to hit. He spent a few days in the Arizona Fall League, enough time for a short visit with Faulkner, before rejoining the NL champions in time for the World Series.He is still not cleared to play the field, making him a pinch hitter for the next three games. But he took the news in stride.Not disappointing at all, a smiling Schwarber said. It was a long shot at the most.It was an answer Faulkner would have loved.You look up to him, Schwarber said as he walked behind home plate at Wrigley. Hes a great role model and definitely lives life to the fullest.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Custom San Francisco Giants Jerseys . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Wholesale Giants Jerseys .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. San Francisco Giants Gear Stitched Giants Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011.PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Adam Scott began the final major of the year with a tee shot deep into the trees. He ended the opening round of the PGA Championship by having to gouge out of deep rough. It was the golf in between that was some of the best he has ever played, even for an Australian with a green jacket. Showing that hes not satisfied as only being a Masters champion, Scott ran off five straight birdies early in his round Thursday on soft and vulnerable Oak Hill, and a 15-foot par putt at the end gave him a 5-under 65 and a share of the lead with Jim Furyk. "Probably the best run Ive ever had," Scott said of his five straight birdies. "I just hit really nice shots and didnt leave myself too much work. You have to take advantage of that if youre feeling that. It was a dream start after kind of a nervous first couple of holes." David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., an alternate until a week ago, had a 66 in the morning. Also at 66 was Lee Westwood, who had his best score ever in the PGA and offered evidence that there was no hangover from losing a 54-hole lead in the British Open last month. It felt like an easy start to so many others. Oak Hill has such a strong reputation that it has yielded only 10 scores under par over 72 holes in five previous major championships. The last time the PGA Championship was held on this Donald Ross design in 2003, there were only 12 rounds under par on the first day. But with overnight rain, humid conditions and a 71-minute delay for storms in the afternoon, Thursday might be as easy as it gets. Scott and Furyk had plenty of company, two of 35 players who broke par. Tiger Woods was not among them. The worlds No. 1 player made only two birdies despite playing in the still of the morning, and he watched his round fall apart with a bogey on par-5 fourth and a double bogey on his final hole when his flop shot out of a deep rough floated into a bunker. Woods had a 71, not a bad start at Oak Hill, except on this day. "The round realistically could have been under par easily," Woods said. Furyk, who won his lone major at the U.S. Open in 2003 at Olympia Fields, has gone nearly three years since his last win at the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup and win PGA Tour player of the year. Still fresh are the four close calls from a year ago, including the U.S. Open. He was as steady as Scott, rarely putting himself in trouble until the end of the round. Furyk missed the fairway to the right and had to pitch out because of thick rough and trees blocking his way to the green. That led to his only bogey, but still his lowest first-round score in 19 appearances at the PGA Championship. "Usually disappointed with ending the day on a bogey," Furyk said. "But you know, 65, PGA, is not so bad." There were no record scores at Oak Hill despite the soft conditions, just a lot of low rounds. "If you dont hit it in the fairways, then you wont score well," Westwood said. "These guys are good. There are a lot of good players playing in the tournament. Somebody is going to hit it straight, and somebody is going to shoot a good scoree.dddddddddddd" Scott certainly didnt start out that way. He had to pitch out from the trees on No. 1, but managed to get up-and-down from about 85 yards in front of the green, and after two more pars, he began his big run of birdies. "Just got on a bit of a roll and hit a few shots close," Scott said. "I didnt have too much putting to do. Youve got to take advantage when it happens, because it doesnt happen too much in the majors. Nothing to complain about in 65." He felt similar to the opening round at Royal Lytham & St. Annes last year in the British Open, when he flirted with a 63 and had to settle for a course record-tying 64. Scott was on pace to tie the Oak Hill record for majors when he birdied the 14th, but he three-putted two holes later for bogey and was pleased to walk away with par on the 18th. "I felt good out there today," he said. "I felt like I could swing freely and I was hitting all the shots that I wanted to hit. When you get something going for you in a major, sometimes you have got to be not afraid to get out of your own way and let go. I did that at Lytham, and I did that here for 10 or 11 holes." Just last month at Muirfield, the 31-year-old Australian had the outright lead on the back nine in the British Open until he made four straight bogeys and couldnt keep up with Phil Mickelson and his great finish. Even so, it was evident that Scott was serious about adding more majors to that green jacket he won at Augusta National in April. "I put a lot into my game the last two years with a focus on the big tournaments," Scott said. "Everyone around me has had the same focus, as well. We come here to do business." Even Rory McIlroy got in on the act. The defending champion, at the end of a major season that has been a major disappointment, came out firing with three birdies on the opening four holes and made the turn in 32 until back-to-back bogeys. He wound up with a 69. A resurgent Paul Casey was in the group at 67, while U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, British Open runner-up Henrik Stenson and the ageless Miguel Angel Jimenez were among 11 players at 68. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., had an even par 70. Mickelson wound up with the same score as Woods, only they arrived at 71 much differently. Woods had only two birdies. Mickelson shot 71 despite two double bogeys, including one on the 18th hole. On the par-5 fourth hole, he hooked his tee shot out-of-bounds and nearly lost the next tee shot in the same place. "The first four holes was like a shock to my system," Mickelson said. "Hitting it out-of-bounds on 4 ... out-of-bounds is not even in play. So I got off to a terrible start. I was actually under par for a little while, but that took a lot of fight. And unfortunately, Im in a position where if I hit a low round tomorrow, I can get back in it." He headed straight to the practice range, even summoning coach Butch Harmon down from the Sky Sports television booth. Asked when he finished his work if he was worried about his game, Mickelson replied, "Not now. I was." ' ' '