Labberecke » , Ill be able to use this week as a stepping stone

DUBLIN, Ohio -- With every swing, Hideki Matsuyama appeared to join a cast of top players throwing away a chance to win the Memorial. A tee shot in the water on the 16th for double bogey. An approach over the back of the green on the 17th that led to bogey. And then a drive to the right that made the Japanese star so disgusted that he lightly slammed his club into the turf, and the head of the driver broke off. The ball hit a tree and took one last bounce back into the fairway, and Matsuyama seized on the break. He took dead aim with a 7-iron to just outside 5 feet for birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Kevin Na, and then won for the first time in America with a 10-foot par putt on the first extra hole. "Right from the 15th hole, I had a lot of missed shots," Matsuyama said. "The double bogey at 16, bogey at 17, not a real good tee shot -- I thought -- at 18. But when I saw the ball on the fairway on the 18th hole there, thats when I was able to think I still have a chance." The 22-year-old Matsuyama earned validation as one of the games bright young stars Sunday by closing with a 3-under 69 and making two clutch putts on the 18th hole for his sixth career victory, the previous five on the Japan Golf Tour. This was his first win against a field of the worlds top players. "I just think youve just seen the start of whats going to be truly one of your worlds great players over the next 10 to 15 years," tournament host Jack Nicklaus said. Nicklaus spent much of the back nine in the broadcast booth, and it was a brand of golf that was unfamiliar to golfs greatest champion. The Memorial became only the latest event where proven players faltered badly. Masters champion Bubba Watson had a one-shot lead with five holes to play. He was 3 over the rest of the way. Adam Scott, the No. 1 player in the world, was tied for the lead until playing the last seven holes in 4 over. "The whole thing is frustrating as I stand here right now," Scott said after his 71. "But everyone is going to feel like that. We all could have done something different. If we all did, who knows what the result would be?" Scott fell apart by hitting one shot into the water, taking two shots to get out of a bunker and losing all hope when his third shot to the par-5 15th hit the pin and caromed back into the fairway, leading to a bogey. Watson dropped three shots by hooking two tee shots. The most damaging was his drive on the 15th that was so high, so powerful and so far right that it cleared the trees and went into a neighbourhood, leading a double bogey. Needing a birdie on the 18th, his shot looked good until it took one small hop and stayed in the rough. A few inches closer and it would have fed down the slope for a short birdie chance. He closed with a 72 and finished third, moving him to No. 3 in the world ahead of the injured Tiger Woods. "Its tough," Watson said, who was going for his third win of the year. "I made one bad decision. If I hit 4-wood off the tee instead of driver on the par 5, we make 5 and we win by one. But I made double, so we lost by one." Na finished his round of 64 about two hours earlier. He was in the clubhouse at Muirfield Village, leaning against two pillows on a sofa as he watched the calamity unfold, even joking he might win by not hitting another shot. Thanks to Matsuyama, he had to. And it wasnt pretty. Na hooked his tee shot on the 18th in the playoff, and it went into the creek. He still had 10 feet for bogey when Matsuyama made the winning putt. Na did not speak to reporters. A PGA Tour official tracked him down in the parking lot, and he gave credit to Matsuyama for making a great putt. Adding to the bizarre ending was how Matsuyama played the extra hole. It was not an angry slam of the driver after his tee shot on the 18th in regulation, and he was shocked to see the head fall off. He could have replaced the club because the playoff is not considered part of the round, but he had no replacement. Instead, he went with 3-wood off the tee in the playoff, and it went into the front bunker. He hooked his 5-iron, hitting a spectator in the knee left of the green, and hit a flop shot safely to 10 feet. It was the first par he made on the 18th hole all week. Matsuyama became the first player to make birdie on the closing hole at Muirfield Village four straight rounds. "To win my first PGA Tour event is enough," Matsuyama said. "But to win it here at Mr. Nicklaus course, it really gives me a lot of confidence now going on. And hopefully, Ill be able to use this week as a stepping stone to further my career." Matsuyama became the fourth Japanese player to win on the PGA Tour, the most recent being Ryuji Imada in the 2008 AT&T Classic. The Memorial, even with Woods out with a back injury, featured the strongest field of the year outside the Masters, World Golf Championships and The Players Championship. Chuck Foreman Jersey . With one week left in the regular season, Cornish - voted The Toughest Player To Bring Down - is a leading candidate for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. He has rushed for 1,799 yards and could break Willie Burdens club record for rushing yards in a single season with a 98-yard performance against the B. Cris Carter Jersey . But unfortunately for the Niagara Falls, Ont., native, a pulled muscle wouldnt allow him to go past the second set. Japan sealed its victory over Canada in the first-round Davis Cup tie after Nishikori downed an ailing Dancevic 6-2, 1-0. http://www.vikingssale.com/Vikings-Dalvin-Cook-Draft-Jersey/ .C. - Steve Clifford isnt exactly singing his teams praises after the Bobcats won for the sixth time in seven games. Paul Krause Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career. Mike Hughes Jersey . After missing 20 games as a rookie a year ago, Valanciunas - like the Raptors as a whole - has been fortunate to be in good health this season. As he spoke about it, the Raptors sophomore centre scanned the room for wood to knock on. "It is disappointing because we lost today so thats the worst part of the day," said Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays game with a lower-back sprain in the third quarter, missing the rest of Torontos 118-113 overtime defeat at the hands of the Hawks.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, In Tuesday nights game between the Canadiens and Predators a high sticking call against the Habs was made and then reversed at around the 10 minute mark of the second when Olli Jokinen was hit by the puck and not Lars Ellers or Christian Thomass stick. The call was only changed after the replay was shown in the Bell Centre and the bench and the crowd voiced their obvious displeasure. Is there any chance that the replay, which I think would have been visible to the refs on the ice, coupled with the crowds reaction could have influenced the referees decision? Thanks, Rob Elbaz Rob: Lets be perfectly candid Rob, there likely isnt an official alive (or any other human being for that matter) who wouldnt take the opportunity to discreetly sneak a peek at the in-house video screen in an effort to gather concrete information on a play. This would be especially true when the crowd erupted once the replay became visible to them. While that may or may not have been the case on this play, there is a policy and procedure in place that was followed to the letter by the game officials on Tuesday night in the Bell Centre that reversed an incorrect double-minor high-sticking penalty that was about to be assessed to Lars Eller. The policy was enacted when, in previous seasons, double-minor high-sticking penalties were assessed only to have replays confirm that a player was either cut by his own stick or by the puck. Subsequently, Hockey Operations and the Officiating Department instituted a policy for the officials to conference if at least one of them could provide contrarry information as to the accuracy of the play gained from their unique perspective.ddddddddddddWe have also seen this procedure utilized when a goal has been allowed or disallowed and the presence of goalie interference is in question. A conference of the officiating crew is often held to accurately determine if a defending player is guilty of shooting the puck over the glass from within his defensive end that would result in a delay of game penalty. In Montreal, the procedure worked perfectly to reverse the initial incorrect call. Crowd reaction to a replay might have certainly been an indicator that a conference of officials was required but the best sightline on this play was gained by linesman Don Henderson from his position on the blue line directly across the ice from the incident. Since the play and puck was close to his line, Henderson was dialed in and able to provide his accurate perspective of the play. Even though sticks from Eller and Thomas were flailing about, Linesman Henderson could confirm to Referee Marc Joannette that the puck had struck Olli Jokinen in the face and not the stick of either Habs player. Since the other referee, rookie Jon McIssac was positioned in close proximity behind the play, he did not raise his arm to call a penalty and most likely shared Hendersons perspective on the play as well. Kudos to this crew of officials for getting the call correctly reversed. The consequences of a double-minor penalty could be a game changer. If the procedure that is in place had failed to reverse this call it might yet be another case for instituting a coachs challenge. Enjoy the All-Star Weekend coverage from Columbus. Cmon Ref is taking an All-Star break as well and will return next Wednesday. 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