Rory McIlroy said it had been a valuable week for him despite losing to Jason Day in the WGC-Dell Match Play semi-finals.
Marco Verratti Jersey . McIlroy missed a couple of decent chances to extend the match against Day, who will become world
No 1 on Monday, but eventually went down by one hole in Austin.The Northern
Irishman battled back after losing three holes in four just after the turn, but
a missed birdie putt at the 17th and Day holing a 12-footer for par at last
meant it would be a third place play-off against Rafa Cabrera Bello for him
instead of the final. Day beats McIlroy in thriller Jason Day marked his return
to world No 1 by beating Rory McIlroy at the WGC-Dell Match Play I thought it
was a good quality match. If I have to look back on it there were a couple of
opportunities around the third and fourth where I did not convert and then not
birdieing 12 or 13 was the real downfall, he told Sky Sports.Losing 12 and 13, I
think the catalyst for that was that shift in momentum on 11 and I never really
recovered. To go two down I knew I had an uphill battle on my hands and Jason
was not giving me anything.I made a couple of birdies in the last five holes but
it just was not good enough.I feel like I played well, did not make a bogey out
there and I did not hand him anything, but obviously disappointed I am not in
the final. McIlroy finished last years Masters with a 66 and victory next month
at Augusta would complete a career grand slam And McIlroy is pleased with where
his game is as he puts the finishing touches on his game ahead of the years
first major, The Masters.McIlroy heads to Augusta for the eighth time in search
of victory to complete the career grand slam - he finished fourth last year to
claim his best Masters finish but was still six shots adrift of winner Jordan
Spieth. Highlights from the WGC Dell Match Play semi-final between Jason Day and
Rory McIlroy I was saying coming into this week that no matter if I play three,
six or seven rounds, playing match play and feeling like you are in contention
every time you step on the first tee is a great feeling and something you cant
replicate in practice, he added.The week has been very positive overall; I wish
I would have been able to get one more win under my belt, but I am very happy
with my game going into Augusta. Also See: Day ends Rorys run The Masters is
coming... Dream debut for Toledo Olly to miss Augusta
Layvin Kurzawa Jersey . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to
defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday.
Remy Descamps Jersey . TSNs Farhan Lalji reports the Edmonton Eskimos non-import DT has a workout scheduled with an NFL
team next week and isnt expected to sign a deal with any team until
then.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Over the last 30 years, the winner
of the Breeders Cup Juvenile has been awarded the position as the early favorite
for the following years Kentucky Derby. Just one Juvenile champ, Street Sense,
has accomplished the double victory. Now as 2014 comes to an end, the early
favorite for the 141st Run for the Roses is not Texas Red, winner of the 31st
Juvenile, but a 2-year-old colt who didnt start in the race on Nov. 1 at Santa
Anita. As the calendar changes to 2015, the leading soon-to-be 3-year-old is a
Bob Baffert-trained thoroughbred with just three starts, including a single
stakes. His name is Dortmund, a son of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner
Big Brown. The chestnut colt exhibited excellent racing competence this past
Saturday when winning the $500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles. He
learned a lot. That was the first time he went two turns, noted winning jockey
Martin Garcia, and usually hes right there (on the lead), but today they broke
really fast. I was pretty comfortable. I knew what I had underneath. Two months
ago, he was pretty quiet. He was a baby, when he first ran, it was a big
difference. Dortmund, owned by Kaleem Shah, came into the Futurity, formerly the
CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park, off a pair of wins by a total of 12 1/2
lengths. Unlike most 2-year-olds, he used stalking moves both times before
runninng away from his opposition with Garcia in the saddle each start.
Angel Di Maria Paris Saint-Germain Jersey. The Saturday start at Los Alamitos was a move up in class and, as Garcia noted
above, a learning opportunity for the colt. He allowed stakes-veteran Mr. Z to
set the pace and joined in on the lead around the final turn. It was a three-
horse photo finish at the wire, including Firing Line, with Dortmund getting a
head decision over Firing Line and Mr. Z. It was so close, Baffert said after
the race. I knew it was going to be those three (Dortmund, Firing Line and Mr.
Z). Theyre all really good horses. Hes such a big horse. I wasnt sure how he was
going to handle the turns here. He broke well and (Garcia) got him into his own
rhythm. He reminds me of Point Given. Hes got a good mind, but hes still filling
out and hes still learning. Dortmund notched his first stakes win by
establishing a track record of 1:40.86. Even more reason to like this horse come
the First Saturday in May. Dortmund has been favored in all three starts and was
the top rated horse in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager at the end of
November. Among the 23 individual horses, Bafferts youngster was 9-1 with
stablemate American Pharoah at 12-1. The mutuel field was the overall leader at
3-5. The next Future Wager Pool will be Friday, Feb. 6 through Sunday, Feb. 8
and assuredly Dortmund will have much lower odds than 9-1.
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