Smalltalk » a short ball into the penalty ar

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. Dale Hawerchuk Jersey . Fourteen players were suspended last summer by Major League Baseball as part of the Biogenesis drug scandal, ranging from All-Stars to also-rans. Teppo Numminen Jersey . Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much. http://www.officialwinnipegjetspro.com/P...-jets-jersey/.3 million qualifying offer to outfielder Michael Cuddyer on Monday. Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. Bobby Hull Jersey . But this time, the Gunners weathered the storm. Arsene Wengers team was on the ropes in the early stages of a lively FA Cup tie, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal against the run of the play.SEATTLE -- Chad Marshall headed in a corner kick from Marco Pappa in the 84th minute Saturday night as the Seattle Sounders completed a comeback from a first-half own goal to beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1. The Sounders (6-2-1) won their MLS-leading fourth straight game, extended their unbeaten streak to five and took the overall league lead with 19 points. "I think Ill be thinking about that goal tonight," said Marshall, whose tally was his first since Sept. 14, 2013, while still with the Columbus Crew before he came to Seattle in an off-season trade. "Ive been close a couple times this year, so it was nice to get one, especially at home. And for it to be a game-winner was pretty sweet." During their five-game unbeaten streak, the Sounders have come from behind in four of them to get the result. "We said at the beginning of the season that we wanted to be a team that fought to the very end of games, and were doing that," coach Sigi Schmid said. "Coming back, we made it a little bit hard for ourselves. We had some good chances in the first half. . We didnt put those chances away." Philadelphia (1-4-5) saw its winless streak extended to eight games (0-4-4), tying a club record that was first set in 2011 and matched in 2012. Pappas corner kick from the right side floated into the penalty area just outside the 6-yard box. Marshall ran and headed it high into the net over goalkeeper Zac MacMath for his first of the year. Marshall was also on top of his game at the other end of the field, blocking several Philadelphia attempts and clearing away two that were dangerously close to the Seattle net. "Im a big guy, and Im just trying to get in their way," said the 6-foot-4 Marsshall, who has played all 810 minutes this season.dddddddddddd "I think I have a nice Adidas tattoo on my back from one of (the blocked shots)." The Union took the lead late in the 13th minute when a long free kick into the penalty area went into the Seattle net off of Brad Evans head. The own goal was the result of a free kick by the Unions Cristian Maidana about 40 yards upfield and slightly toward the right side. He drove it into the box, where teammate Maurice Edu and Seattles Evans both went up for it. The ball flew into the right side of the net and originally was credited to Edu, but was changed moments later to an own goal off of Evans. Obafemi Martins tied it for Seattle in the 61st minute, his fourth goal of the season. The Sounders created multiple opportunities to tie it before halftime, none better than Osvaldo Alonsos penalty kick early in the 40th minute after Philadelphias Amobi Okugo was called for a hand ball in the box. Alonso went toward the right post, but MacMath dived to his left and blocked it. Evans started the play that led to the tying goal when he headed a short ball into the penalty area. Martins caught up with it at the penalty spot, took it to the top of the 6-yard box and shot into a wide-open right side of the net for his fourth of the season. "Its a difficult one to take because we came in and played well in the first half and we got up a goal," Union coach John Hackworth said. "Even in the second half, we had some chances to get a second one, and we didnt put those away. They came back to get back in the game, and Chad Marshall makes a great play on a corner kick - I dont know what to say. "Once again, we kind of let ourselves down." ' ' '