ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.Hughes had another bogey-free round Friday and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year.Hughes at was at 14-under 128.Pan also is a rookie, and perhaps they can take inspiration from rookie Cody Gribble winning in Mississippi three weeks ago. Hughes and Pan both spent last year on the Web.com Tour to earn their cards.Theres going to be nerves tomorrow, and Im going to be a little jittery starting out, but thats completely natural, Hughes said. But I just think guys come off the Web.com Tour that ... for example, I won in Missouri and I feel like the win translates to being able to win out here. The margin is so small that the things I did on that weekend to win that tournament are the same things Ill have to do Saturday and Sunday.Hughes started his rookie season in the Safeway Open, made the cut and wound up in the same group with Mickelson, who attracted the largest gallery.The atmosphere was a dream start for me, Hughes said. We played the first day, and I had a 9-footer on 19 for par to make par and stay tied with him. I was so pumped that I made it because I got one more round out of it. He was a super nice guy, really welcoming. It was a nice way to break yourself in.There wasnt much of a gallery at Sea Island on another pristine day for scoring, so ideal that the cut came at 5-under par. That probably wont change for the weekend, especially with tournament host Davis Love III and Sea Island neighbors Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among those missing the cut.Even so, it was an experience that could come in handy for the 25-year-old Canadian.Being with him for two days and with his galleries and all the distractions going on there, thats probably as good a preparation as you would have for tomorrow and Sunday, Hughes said. There was so much learning going on that weekend that Ill be able to apply.It was the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5 under at the 2015 Zurich Classic.Hughes opened with a 9-under 61 on the Seaside course at Sea Island, while he didnt hit the ball as cleanly over at Plantation, he had few complaints. He picked up three of his birdies at the par 5s, even on the 18th when he found a fairway bunker off the tee and had to lay up. He hit wedge to 8 feet and made the putt.Today was definitely a little more work, Hughes said, though he quickly added that 67 was no slouch of a score and I would take two more of those in a heartbeat.Hughes and Pan, who shot a 64 at Seaside, played together on the Canadian Tour two years ago, and then all last year on the Web.com Tour. Pan had a brief stay atop the world amateur ranking in 2013 when he won eight times at Washington, and he made the cut as an amateur at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.They will be joined in the final group by Hudson Swafford, who lives at Sea Island and shot a 67 on the Plantation. Swafford was three shots behind, along with Chad Campbell, Chesson Hadley and Blayne Barber.It should be fun, Pan said. We played on the Canadian tour last year, and then we played the Web.com Tour this year and now we are both on the PGA Tour. So its exciting to see both of us play well out there, because its a dream come true for both of us.That much was clear when Hughes came into the media center for an interview. He left his seat, walked to the back of the room and handed his phone to his mother to take a picture. It was that kind of moment for him.Even with a two-shot lead, however, the conditions have been such that low scores are available to anyone at any time. Twenty-five players were separated by just five shots with two more rounds to play.That group includes Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink. Four shots behind was Jonathan Byrd, a five-time PGA Tour winner who spent last year on the Web.com Tour and still doesnt have full status. He is playing this week on a sponsors exemption and wants to make the most out of limited chances like this. Tomas Nosek Golden Knights Jersey . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Reilly Smith Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. http://www.goldenknightssale.com/authentic-reilly-smith-golden-knights-jersey/ . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Paul Stastny Golden Knights Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Ryan Reaves Golden Knights Jersey . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. MINNEAPOLIS -- Seimone Augustus has that southern storytellers way about her. She can mimic voices and act out the parts in whatever tale she is sharing.When she starts with the stories, I listen, Lynx teammate Maya Moore said. Because theyre so funny. She impersonates people and adds her own little touches to it. Shes quite a character.However, the stories from Augustus beloved hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, havent been amusing this year. The massive rain and subsequent flooding that hit the area in August wrought horrific damage that will take a long time to clean up and rebuild. Many people were also left devastated emotionally.Ill show you a picture of my grandmothers house, Augustus said while getting out her phone to display a gigantic pile of debris. Thats how the entire street looked. So many people lost all their belongings.Augustus parents had damage but not total destruction. They also had flood insurance, which was a big help. The animals Augustus keeps back home all made it through the flooding safely; that was among her worries while she was at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Augustus was moved to tears while talking about her hometown after the United States won the gold medal, and she has been back to visit a couple times since. When the WNBA Finals are over, shell have more time there because she doesnt plan to play overseas this winter.Her heart is always between these two places: Minneapolis, where she has played professionally since she was drafted No. 1 in 2006, and Baton Rouge, where she was born, grew up and played collegiately at LSU. Through her play and her life off the court, she looks to honor both places.Now in her 11th WNBA season, Augustus is trying to win a fourth league title. But she has already cemented her legacy as a champion. What do you want your legacy to be? was the question Cheryl Reeve asked Augustus when she took over as Minnesotas coach in 2010.When she kind of challenged me, I had never really thought about it, Augustus said. Then I realized, in order for us to be successful, Ive got to be a complete player. I have to play defense.It cant be like, Well, Mone is guarding this player today, so well have to give extra help. Because that puts pressure on everyone else to not only do their job but to help me do my job too.Augustus averaged 21.3 points over her first three seasons before a knee injury limited her to six games in 2009. From 2010 to 14, Augustus averaged 16.5 points, with her offensive production as consistent as a metronome.As the Lynx improved in other ways offensively the past two seasons, her scoring average dropped: 13.8 points per game in 2015 and 11.2 this year. Yet guarding her remains a difficult task.Shes incredibly crafty with the ball, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said. Shes a spectacular ball handler. But she can also score in many different situations. She can post up, pull up, take you off the dribble.Sparks coach Brian Agler added, Seimone knows the game so much more than she did when she was younger. And thats not to discredit her younger days. Its just to say that shes worked at her craft and thinks the game now at a different level, which all the great ones do.Ultimately, as Augustus said, her commitment to defense helped turn the Lynx into champions.In 2011, when Minnesota beegan its current run of success, the Lynx had another young scoring sensation: then-rookie Moore.ddddddddddddCheryl didnt want to throw me into the fire defensively then, as I was adjusting from being a 4 to a 3, Moore said of her move from power forward at UConn to small forward in the WNBA. She had Seimone guard the more dominant scorers every night, and she stepped up and did it. That was a big reason why we were able to win in 2011.I have appreciated how she doesnt necessarily get a lot of praise for it outside of our team. But its so important to why we win. Shes just dependable. And we know if theres a game where she struggles, shes going to bounce back.Augustus didnt have her best showing Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, shooting 2-of-5 from the field for six points with four turnovers. But Moore is right that Augustus has always been resilient, and her personality has been the perfect counter for Reeves seriousness.She is incredibly humble and hilarious to be around, Reeve said. I always say shes great for me because she brings levity to a lot of situations. Seimone is a big reason why this team has fun in what they do.At this point, shes saying, Im going to play as long as I can and as hard as I can. Shes a great veteran and a great teacher, and I think shes grown into those things.Augustus is outspoken without being strident. She has never shied away from talking about social issues and things that matter beyond basketball. She was out and an advocate of marriage equality before a lot of other athletes were willing to talk about it. Earlier this year, she took a stand?with her Lynx teammates in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement. The shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, in July hit especially close to home for Augustus because those two communities are home for her.There are always those boundaries that you can and cant always cross in your professional career, Augustus said. Some people speak up, no matter what. And some people tend to take the back seat and wait it out.The great thing about Coach Reeve is she said, Theres no better time to do it than now. Its happening now. We got some backlash from it, but for the most part, we got a lot of positive feedback. We were talking about the maturity and growth of this team, to be able to do that and play basketball. That says a lot about the women we have on the team.Maturity is a key word and one that means so much to Augustus development. She was a prolific scorer in high school, college and the early part of her WNBA career. She could have been offended by Reeves suggestion that she needed to be better at everything else. She could have been resentful when asked to do more of the so-called dirty work.She just said, OK, and did it, Reeve said. I think its leadership and being a great teammate. Shes like the pied piper. Everyone loves being around Mone. But we needed her to not just be that fun person but also a leader on the floor, to sometimes have to say something difficult to a teammate.Now you look at her years later. What is her legacy? Thats something she took very personally and applied it. ' ' '