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HONOLULU -- Jimmy Walker, an astronomy fanatic and now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, gazed through a glass window across the room to a television that showed his most recent photo of Orions Sword. Walker toiled on the PGA Tour for seven years and 187 tournaments without winning. Now it appears the stars have aligned for him. That certainly was the case Sunday in the Sony Open. In a wild final round, where four players were in the mix with an hour to go, Walker followed a clutch par save with three straight birdies to pull away from the pack. He closed with a 7-under 63 for a one-shot victory over Chris Kirk. Thats two wins in six starts for Walker. And while its still only the middle of January, hes No. 1 in the Ryder Cup standings. "It took me a long time to do it," Walker said. "I felt very calm and controlled. Thats what youve got to feel and do when its time to win. Its easy to say, hard to do. But today was awesome. Really cool golf." This wasnt easy. Walkers big run began with a 12-foot par on the 14th hole. One shot behind Harris English, Walker rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole, and took the outright lead when English -- behind him in the final group -- failed to save par from a bunker. Walker made a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and then hit 7-iron into 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th. A par on the last hole made him wait just a little bit longer. Kirk had a 30-foot eagle chip from just short of the green on the par-5 18th that would have forced a playoff. It stayed right of the hole, and Kirk made the birdie putt for a 66 to finish alone in second place. "I feel like I hit the ball well enough to win this week, but it doesnt always work out that way," Kirk said. Jerry Kelly (65) was alone in third. English never recovered from his bogey. He missed birdie putts on the last three holes for a 67. Walker won the Frys.com Open in October, the first tournament of the new wraparound season. As the first multiple winner for the 2013-14 season, he is leading the FedEx Cup and closing in on cracking the top 30 in the world. Walker finished at 17-under 263 and earned $1.08 million. He already qualified for his first Masters by winning in October. Now hes piling up the wins. "Ive always felt like I belonged, and you need affirmation every now and then," he said. "The other win was like, Yeah, OK, I can do it. I did it, and I was supposed to be able to do it. Everybody told me I was supposed to do it, and I finally did it. And then its, Well, are you going to be the guy that won that you never hear from again? Its nice to get it done and do it again today." With so many players in contention, the key was to keep bogeys off the card. Walker had made at least two bogeys in each of the three previous rounds, and it looked as if he was headed for one at the wrong time on the 14th hole when he chipped from an awkward stance near the bunker to about 12 feet. Kelly missed a 15-foot par putt from the same line, and Walker poured it in. And then, he was off to the races. Masters champion Adam Scott went out in 30 and was one shot out of the lead just as the final group was starting play. Scott hit too many poor drives to keep it going, and the way the final two groups played the back nine, it wouldnt have mattered. Scott tied for eighth (seven shots behind), and after a tie for sixth last week at Kapalua, heads into a six-week hibernation before returning to golf in Florida. The three players with the best shots at winning all won last fall in the early part of the wraparound season -- Kirk at the McGladrey Classic, English in Mexico. New year, same season. "Guys get into grooves and theyve all been playing really well," Walker said. "I think its cool. Everybody makes a big deal about being No. 1 on the FedEx and stuff, and it is cool and it is a big deal. ... I know its January. Its a long way to September, and every little bit helps." Kirk, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, made birdie on the 17th hole to stay within two shots of the lead and at least entertain the idea of eagle. His approach out of the rough needed about two more hops on the firm turf at Waialae to get on the green. English ran off two birdies around the turn, took the outright lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th, and that was as close as he got. "Just started hitting it better, but started putting a little worse," English said. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished in a tie for 38th, closing with a 69 for a 6-under total of 274. . MacIntyre stopped 49 shots and the Marlies defeated the Texas Stars 5-1 in Game 1 of the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I felt in control, so that was nice," MacIntyre said. . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. .ca. Mr. Fraser, I think everyone would like to hear your opinion on what sort of suspension Zac Rinaldo should get. His comment after the game of I changed the whole game, man. . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. . None of them was better than playing with LeBron James again. NEW YORK -- Make no mistake about it: Sean Doolittle and the Oakland Athletics are enjoying these wins over the skidding New York Yankees. Yoenis Cespedes homered twice, Josh Donaldson hit a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning and Oakland overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Yankees 7-4 Wednesday night for its fifth straight victory. The highest-scoring team in the majors this season, the As will go for a three-game sweep Thursday afternoon. They are 12-3 against New York since July 19, 2012. "I think theres the sense of the way we play that we have something to prove," said Doolittle, who earned his seventh save. "Weve got a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, small-market team, and we dont get a ton of national publicity. And when we get a chance to play against the Yankees on a big stage in their ballpark, guys step up." Donaldson connected off Jose Ramirez, who was making his major league debut, and added a pair of infield singles. Cespedes also had three hits to help the As move a season-best 15 games over .500 at 37-22, the best mark in the American League. "We never give up," Cespedes said through a translator. Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, including an early three-run homer, but the Yankees matched a season worst with their fourth consecutive defeat. Theyve been outscored 21-0 from the seventh inning on during the slide. Derek Jeter made a costly error and New York dropped to 1-5 on a seven-game homestand with its 12th loss in the last 16 at Yankee Stadium. Jesse Chavez (5-3) hung around for six innings, long enough to get the win when his teammates rallied. Dan Otero got Brian McCann on a weak grounder with runners at the corners to protect a one-run lead in the seventh. Otero also worked a scoreless eighth and Doolittle got three quick outs to extend his career-best shutout streak to 16 1-3 innings. "Our bullpen down there is so deep and so well-rounded out that we really dont have a hole," Chavez said. "The guys come in and they attack, and I think thats why theyre so good in those situations." Cespedes started Oaklands comeback with a leadoff homer to centre in the fourth. Jed Lowrie hit a deep sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Yankees starter Vidal Nuno was pulled one out shy of qualifying for a win.dddddddddddd He left with a 4-2 lead after 92 pitches. Cespedes hit another leadoff shot in the sixth, this one off Matt Daley barely clearing the short porch in right. Derek Norris reached on Jeters throwing error from shortstop and scored the tying run on Alberto Callaspos long sacrifice fly. "We had our chances to add on and we werent able to do it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The guys are doing everything they can, but right now we just arent getting it done." Just called up from the minors, Ramirez (0-1) entered in the seventh. He retired his first batter but then gave up Donaldsons 16th homer on his fifth major league pitch. The drive to left field gave the As a 5-4 advantage. "I was a little nervous," Ramirez said through a translator. "I wasnt really thinking about pitching tonight but I knew the chance would be there because of our bullpen situation." Oakland has gone deep in 12 consecutive games, hitting 22 homers during that span. "Anytime you fall behind 4-0, you dont really expect to win these games even though you might think it," Otero said. "Our offence, its only a matter of time sometimes before they break out, and they showed it tonight again." The AL West leaders added two insurance runs in the ninth on a hit batter and a sacrifice fly against Wade LeBlanc in his Yankees debut. Craig Gentry made a sensational catch in left-centre to rob Gardner of at least a double in the first. Moments earlier, Donaldson hit a trickler toward third that stopped rolling right on the line just inches from the bag. The slugger clapped his hands emphatically at first base, drawing chuckles from teammates in the dugout. "That ball didnt even get to third base," he said. "Its just one of those things where you really appreciate a hit like that." NOTES: Gentry started in place of CF Coco Crisp, given a night off to rest his nagging neck. ... Oakland has the best road record in the majors at 20-10. ... It was Cespedes fourth career multihomer games. The other three came in June last season. ... Yankees DH-OF Alfonso Soriano, hitless in 16 at-bats, did not play. ... Masahiro Tanaka (8-1, 2.06 ERA) faces Oakland LHP Drew Pomeranz (5-2, 2.37) in the series finale. ' ' '
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