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e third. C.J. Cron hit a two-run double i
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MARANA, Ariz. Jack Buck . -- One shot came out of bottom of a cactus, the other from the base of a desert bush with rocks scattered around it. Both times, Jason Day felt the Match Play Championship was his to win Sunday. And both times, he watched Victor Dubuisson turn the impossible into pars in the wildest conclusion ever to a tournament that is unpredictable even in normal circumstances. "At that time, youre just thinking, Do I need to just hand him the trophy now after those two shots?" Day said. Dubuisson finally ran out of magic. Day ended the madness at Dove Mountain on the fifth extra hole when he pitched over a mound to 4 feet and made birdie, a sigh of relief as much as it was cause for celebration at capturing his first World Golf Championship. "I kept shaking my head because there was a couple of time there where I thought he was absolutely dead -- the tournament was mine," Day said. It was remarkable enough when the 23-year-old Frenchman stood in a fairway bunker on the 17th hole, 174 yards away and needing to win the last two holes to force overtime. He did just that with a 15-foot birdie and a par save from the bunker. And then came back-to-back pars that defied belief. Dubuisson sailed over the green on No. 1 and into the desert, the ball lodged at the base of a cholla. Day was in the bunker, a fairly simple shot, especially when CBS announcer David Feherty walked over and said the Frenchman would have to take a penalty drop. With an all-or-nothing swing, Dubuisson whacked his 9-iron through the sharp needs and into a TV cable. The ball scooted up a hill covered by 3-inch rough and onto the green to 4 feet below the hole. He made par to keep going. It was reminiscent of the shot Bill Haas pulled off at East Lake from shallow water on the 17th hole in a playoff. Only this was even more improbable -- and it came with an encore. From the ninth fairway, Dubuisson pulled his approach left of the green, left of the bleacher and into the desert at the bottom of a bush. "I walked over there and it was in a tree, a flower tree of some sort, in this little crevice. I mean, it looked absolutely dead," Day said. "Im like, Yes. I hit 8-iron into 20 feet. There was so much pressure on him. And he does it again." After halving the next two holes with bogeys and pars, Day watched his opponent hit driver on the 333-yard 15th hole too far too the right. And he heard the Frenchman say under his breath, "Dead." He was only in the grass, but Day knew better. The chip was nearly impossible to get close. Day was 20 feet closer, in shorter grass, and pitched to 4 feet. Dubuisson hit his flop shot 30 feet past the hole and missed the birdie putt. "Im disappointed because I made some terrible shots," Dubuisson said on the 15th green when it was over, ignoring the two that were as close to a miracle as golf allows. But they were incredible. Even the great Seve Ballesteros would have saluted this performance. "Those two shots were amazing," Dubuisson said. "I just played it like I had nothing to lose." He gained plenty in defeat. This tournament will be remembered as much for two improbable shots out of the desert as Day winning a trophy he always believed would belong to him -- even in the midst of shots that defied belief. Day won for the second time on the PGA Tour and rose to a career-best No. 4 in the world. It was the first time the championship match went overtime since the inaugural year in 1999 at La Costa, when Jeff Maggert chipped on the second extra hole of a 36-hole final. That was like watching paint dry compared with the show Dubuisson put on. "Vic, man, he has a lot of guts," Day said. "He has a great short game -- straight out of the cactus twice. For a 23-year-old kid, hes got a lot of game. Were going to see a lot of him for years to come." Day won $1.53 million. Lost in all the theatre was that he never trailed over the final 53 holes of this fickle tournament. Dubuisson earned $906,000, all but assuring a PGA Tour card for next year. And he all but clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team in September, moving to the top of the points table by the equivalent of about $1.5 million. Dubuisson only reached the championship match by rallying from 3-down after six holes against Ernie Els in the morning semifinals. The Frenchman said he couldnt sleep Saturday night, perhaps because he realized he was playing a four-time major champion. He wound up beating Els with a par on the 18th hole to meet Day, who beat Rickie Fowler 3 and 2. Fowler beat Els in 19 holes in the third-place match. For all the heroics by Dubuisson over the final hour of this amazing show, Day certainly had his moments. Perhaps his greatest feat was never losing faith he would win, even as it appeared the golfing gods were in Dubuissons corner. "The biggest thing was, How much do I want to win?" I kept saying that to myself. Last night, I kept visualizing myself with the trophy," Day said. "Im glad I could finish it off. But it was a close one." Ken Boyer . TSN2 December 18 Knicks at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 December 18 Thunder at Warriors 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 December 21 Pacers at Timberwolves 7pm et/4pm pt. TSN2 December 23 Timberwolves at Cavaliers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 December 25 Wizards at Knicks 12pm et/9am pt TSN December 25 Thunder at Spurs 2:30pm et/11:30pt TSN December 25 Cavaliers at Heat 5pm et/2pm pt TSN December 25 Lakers at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN December 25 Warriors at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN NBA on TSN - January Date Game Time Network January 1 Kings at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 3 Jazz at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 5 Nuggets at Timberwolves 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 7 Rockets at Cavaliers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN January 7 Suns at Timberwolves 9:30pm et/6:30 pt. TSN January 9 Bulls at Wizards 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 9 Cavaliers at Warriors 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 13 Timberwolves at Pacers 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 January 15 Thunder at Rockets 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 15 Cavaliers at Lakers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 16 Cavaliers at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 22 NBA All-Star Selection Show 7pm et/4pm pt TSN2 January 22 Spurs at Bulls 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 22 Nets at Clippers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 January 25 Heat at Bulls 1pm et/10am pt TSN January 25 Thunder at Cavaliers 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt TSN January 26 Timberwolves at Thunder 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 29 Nuggets at Grizzlies 8pm et/5pm pt TSN2 January 29 Bulls at Lakers 10:30pm et/7:30pt TSN2 NBA on TSN - February Date Game Time Network February 5 Clippers vs. Keith Hernandez . The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Jered Weaver (7-4) won for the sixth time in eight starts, allowing two runs, five hits and four walks in six innings. His teammates staked him to a 7-1 lead through four. The All-Star right-hander, pitching at home for the first time since his two-hit, 2-1 victory against Houston on May 21, struck out nine and improved to 8-2 with a 1.70 ERA in 11 starts against the White Sox. Angels sidearming righty Joe Smith hit Alejandro De Aza and Adrian Nieto with consecutive pitches in the eighth, and nearly plunked Adam Eaton with his next offering before retiring him on a soft line drive to first with the bases loaded. Pujols capped the Angels scoring in the bottom half with his 15th homer and the 507th of his career. Adam Dunn capped his three-hit night with a two-run homer off Ernesto Frieri, his 10th this season and the 450th of his career. Andre Rienzo (4-3) lost his third straight start, throwing 72 pitches over 3 2-3 innings and giving up seven runs on nine hits. Over the previous 15 games, White Sox starters had a combined ERA of 2.03 -- including a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers in which all five runs against Jose Quintana were unearned. Chicago, starting its third straight series in Southern California after losing two of three to San Diego and winning two of three from the Dodgers, slipped 3 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Detroit. After this series, the White Sox return home for a four-game showdown with the Tigers. Calhoun got the Angels off and running with the second leadoff homer of his career, driving Rienzos third pitch of the game to right-centre. Mike Trout followed with a single, stole secoond and scored on a double by Josh Hamilton that ended his drought of 27 at-bats without an RBI against White Sox pitching. Stan Musial. De Aza got Chicago on the board in the third, leading off the inning with his fifth home run and first in 33 games since his two-run shot off Tampa Bays Jake Odorizzi on April 28. The White Sox loaded the bases with a single by Nieto and two walks, but Weaver minimized the damage by slipping a called third strike past Dunn. The Angels increased the margin to 7-1 with five more runs in the third. C.J. Cron hit a two-run double inside first base, Hank Conger snapped an 0-for-18 drought with an RBI single and Calhoun added a two-run double inside first base. White Sox rookie sensation Jose Abreu ended up with a gift double in the second when his high fly fell in short right-centre between Trout, Calhoun and second baseman Grant Green. But Weaver struck out Dunn and Alexei Ramirez before retiring Dayan Viciedo on a fly ball. Dunn drove in Chicagos second run with a fifth-inning single. NOTES: White Sox LHP Chris Sale and Angels LHP C.J. Wilson will miss each other by one day because of the way the rotations shake out for this series. In Wilsons last two starts against Chicago, both coming six days apart in May last season, Sale beat him 3-0 both times -- including a one-hitter at U.S. Cellular Field. ... Weaver fanned Abreu in the fifth for his 1,300th strikeout in the regular season. ... The Angels are 32-20 when Calhoun plays, and 0-7 when he doesnt. ... Hamilton played in his 900th regular-season game in the majors and his fourth since coming off the disabled list. ... Weaver has allowed a home run in five consecutive starts, one shy of his career-worst stretch, when he gave up at least one in each of his final six outings of 2012. ' ' '