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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
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AP file
KAPALUA, Hawaii - Adam Scott was in his final year of high school in Australia when he awoke at 5 a.m. one Monday in April to watch the final round of the Masters. What he saw that morning brought equal doses of awe and reality.
Scott had spent countless hours working on his game, driven by the dream of being No. 1 in the world. On the screen that morning was 21-year-old Tiger Woods becoming the youngest Masters champion with a record score of 18-under 270 for a 12-shot victory, the largest margin in a major championship since 1862.
“I thought it was unreal,” Scott said.
And it didn’t take long for him to recognize that his dream might be just that.
Scott showed up at Kapalua for the start of the 2007 season with his game as good as it has ever been. He found consistency to go with that polished swing, rose to a career-high No. 4 in the world ranking and captured the Tour Championship to finish a career-best No. 3 on the PGA Tour money list.
The final few steps, though, seem like a marathon.
“All my life as a kid, I dreamt of being No. 1 in the world,” Scott said “How am I going to live up that dream? I’ve got to somehow figure out a way to play better than this guy over a pretty long period of time. I don’t think I’m making up ground on him, but at least I’m creeping up to a level that’s competitive.”
Then he paused, and finished the sentence with a smile.
“On a good day.”
That’s not giving up. That’s reality.
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So it can be done.
Then again, neither stayed at No. 1 for more than six months. And both times Woods lost the No. 1 ranking, he was at the tail end of overhauling his swing.
A new year brings renewed optimism, yet the one question that remains is whether any young player is capable of challenging Woods. The list of candidates has become more refined, spearheaded by Scott, U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Paul Casey. All of them are in their 20s.
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“It’s unfortunate for us that we’ve probably got the best golfer of all time that we have to be better than to be No. 1 in the world,” Ogilvy said. “But we’re also fortunate to be playing in his generation. We’re all better because of him. The tournaments are better, there’s more people to play in front of.”
Ogilvy broke through in a major way last year, winning the Accenture Match Play Championship and the U.S. Open. He finished fifth on the money list despite missing two months when his wife gave birth to their first child. Long considered one of the most talented Aussies, his goal was always to be the best, figuring the No. 1 ranking would come along with that.
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“I still have aspirations to be No. 1,” said Ogilvy, now at No. 10. “I think it’s feasible. Is it feasible when he’s having a run like he’s having now? I don’t know.”
Inspiration comes from Singh, who set a lofty goal in 2002 to take down Tiger. Remember, this was the year that Woods won the Masters and the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and finished second at the PGA Championship. Singh closed that year by winning the Tour Championship to move to No. 7 in the world.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
