MONTREAL -- When Jim Furyks charge to a third RBC Canadian Open title stalled in the final round, Tim Clark decided to go for it. The 38-year-old South African, whose wife is Canadian, fired five birdies on the back nine to overtake Furyk on the 15th hole and hold on to win the US$5.7 million tournament at Royal Montreal on Sunday. Recovering from a first-hole bogey that put him four shots off the lead, Clark shot a five-under-par 65 to finish at 17-under-par 263 and claim his second career PGA Tour victory and the $1,026-million winners prize. "It looked like Jim wasnt going to make any mistakes," said Clark, who had moved into contention with a 64 on Saturday. "He was pretty solid, so I knew I had to make birdies. "At that point, there was nothing to lose. Suddenly I got hot and I went with it." It was another frustrating defeat for Furyk, who has now lost seven tournaments in a row in which he led after 54 holes. He went into the final round with a three-stroke cushion but never found traction. He shot 69 to come second at 16-under 264. "I kind of controlled my own destiny," said Furyk. "Ive got to shoot three or four (under par) and it would have been impossible to catch me, or darn near it. "I left the door open with even par on the front nine and Tim took advantage and shot 30 on the back." Furyk has not won since a victory at the 2010 Players Championship that gave him the FedEx Cup title and PGA player of the year honours. He fell short in a bid to join elite company in Tommy Armour, Sam Snead and Lee Trevino by becoming the fourth player to win the Canadian Open three times after his victories in 2006 and 2007. Instead, it went to the stocky Clark, the long putter user who needed a win after battling elbow trouble in recent years. The win moved him from 85th to 27th in FedEX Cup standings and gave him entry into next weeks World Golf Championship event in Akron, Ohio and into the PGA championship. He also gets fully exempt status on the PGA Tour through the 2015-16 season. While Graham DeLaets bid to became the first Canadian to win his national open in 60 years fell short, the trophy went to a player with connections, and a history, in Canada. Clarks wife Candice is from Toronto and has family in Montreal. He won his first professional tournament at the New Brunswick Open on the Canadian Tour in 1998 and followed a week later with a win at the CPGA Championship. "The irony of it is Canada could be the location of my first win and my last one," he said. "To come back here, its full circle. "That was 16 years ago when I was just cutting my teeth as a professional golfer and I was fortunate enough to be given some starts up here, so I have fond memories. "Its certainly one Ive wanted to win for a long time. Any national championship to me is special. particularly to the people from that country. Its an honour for me to be the open champion." Delaet was in contention after he and Furyk tied the course record with 63s in the second round on Friday, but he went 70-68 in the last two rounds to finished at 10-under 270. He took the low Canadian honour by one stroke over Brad Fritsch of Ottawa, who closed with a 64 to end up at 9-under, tied for ninth with Kevin Kisner and Graeme McDowell. "I fell a little short, but it was fun," said DeLaet, Canadas top-ranked player. "So many people were cheering for me. "Now I know how Tiger and Phil and those guys feel all the time because it was pretty neat. Coming down 18 was a special moment. Justin Hicks shot 64 to leap into third place alone at 13-under 267 in his best performance of the season. Matt Kuchar (65), Michael Putnam (66) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (66) finished tied for fourth at 11-under 269. Organizers moved up the starting times by two hours and had the players go out in threesomes from both the first and 10th tees to try to fit in the final round between forecast rainstorms. It almost worked to perfection. Most of the field had finished their rounds when a cloudburst halted play for 26 minutes with the final group -- including Furyk, Clark and Kyle Stanley -- had only four holes left to play. Clark and Furyk were tied at 15-under when the rain came. When play resumed, Clark birdied to take the lead. Both players birdied the 17th to set up a dramatic final hole. Clark left a 44-foot putt about six feet short, but Furyk missed left on a 12-footer and Clark sealed the win by holing a six-foot putt. "Once he missed his putt, I didnt want to have to go into a playoff, knowing he can take it over the water (off the 18th tee) and I have to play over to the right, said Clark. "So it was huge for me to get it finished right there. "I got hot with the putter on the back nine. To stand over that putt and still feel confident was really nice." DeLaet, from Weyburn, Sask., tied for seventh with Dicky Pride, who matched the course record with a bogey-free 63. Pride had the course record at 64 the last time the event was held at Royal Montreal in 2001 only to see Scott Verplank and David Morland go one shot better the next day. "I had to get my course record back," said Pride, who birdied the 17th and 18th for the record. "So to tie them and go back and get it, Im pretty happy about that. "And I was thinking about it on 18 too, which is an idiotic thing to do, but I made the putt anyway." Fritsch had a 10-foot putt on the 18th in a bid for a share of the record, but missed by perhaps a centimetre. But the 36-year-old in the Ottawa Senators golf shirt used his 64 to finish the event at 9-under. His bogey free round included three birdies and an eagle on the back nine. Fritsch just made the cut on Friday with a birdie on the 18th. "We made the most of the weekend," said Fritsch. "We felt like we were playing with house money this weekend just because we felt lucky to even be playing." "I played great today. On the back nine, I made a bunch of putts and made some good shots coming down the stretch. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., capped a strong first Canadian Open experience with a 69 to finish as the low amateur at 3-under. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. both shot 71s and finished at 2-under. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont. had 71 to finish at 2-over par. Clark tied the tournament low total score of 263 with Johnny Palmer (1952) and Scott Piercy (2012). .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. . The club announced on Wednesday that Malhotra signed a 25-game professional tryout contract. The 33-year-old suffered a serious eye injury when struck by a puck during a game versus Colorado in March of 2011.
http://www.officialavalanchefanstore.co ... he-jersey/. Stiverne stopped Chris Arreola in the sixth round Saturday night, claiming the WBC heavyweight title belt vacated by Vitali Klitschko. . Browns advice worked. Irving scored 20 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 88-82 Saturday night. Irving made his first shot of the night on a layup a little over three minutes into the game. . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin.PEORIA, Ariz. -- Joe Torre says Major League Baseballs playing rules committee leaned toward banning all home plate collisions but concluded it would be unrealistic because contact between catchers and baserunners is sometimes unavoidable. Torre, MLBs executive vice-president for baseball operations, spoke Tuesday at San Diegos spring training facility before meeting with representatives from eight clubs training in Arizona. Torre was there to answer questions and address concerns regarding the collision rule, which was announced Monday, and expanded instant replay for umpires. Torre said when it came to the collisions rule, he had to "put the uniform back on" because there is never a perfect play at the plate and throws can make contact unavoidable. Any rule change for 2014 required approval from the players union, which negotiated under new head Tony Clark. "The players association had their concerns, too, based on the fact that catchers ... instincts is telling them to do certain things," Torre said. "Tony Clarks concern was it would have been tough to get them use to a new rule in a short period of time. I think we both agreed on the fact we want to eliminate the vicious hit." MLB could not have implemented the rule this year without approval from the players association. In what both sides said was a one-year experiment, the rule allows collisions if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runners direct path to home plate, and if the catcher goes into the basepath to field a throw tto the plate.dddddddddddd The new rule, 7.13, states "a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate)." A runner violating the rule shall be declared out, even if the fielder drops the ball. The umpire crew chief can use the new video-review system to determine whether the rule was violated. Torre referenced the hit on Buster Posey that left the NL MVP with broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle in a May 2011 collision with the Marlins Scott Cousins. That injury that helped intensify debate over plate collisions. "At the time I talked to Bruce Bochy several times, and I said I dont see anything we can change," Torre explained. Well, over the last couple of years Ive gotten letters from parents who have kids in the minor leagues, and weve seen some vicious hits in the minor leagues, and its got to get your attention." Posey said Tuesday he thought the rule change was positive because it should eliminate worry of a malicious hit. "Ive always said that the main thing is for everybody to be comfortable with it, that the catchers and runners are protected," Posey said. Torre said there is an onus on baserunners to eliminate a mindset of wanting to separate a catcher from the ball. "I think definitely the baserunner has to have a different resolve, so to speak, in rounding third or tagging up from third," Torre said. ' ' '
