HONOLULU -- Ryo Ishikawa and Hideki Matsuyama are separated by five months on earth, and five years in professional golf. The two biggest golfing stars are members of the PGA Tour this year. They were to play in the Sony Open, the first full event of the year on the PGA Tour, until Matsuyama withdrew on the eve of Thursdays opening round with a wrist injury. How they arrived could not be any more different. One year after their paths first crossed in junior golf, Ishikawa became the youngest player to win on any of the major tours in the world. He was a 15-year-old amateur when he won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup. The "Bashful Prince" received rock-star treatment in Japan and had the largest entourage of photographers. Some players said the hype over the kid reminded them of Tiger Woods when he first turned pro. He turned pro at 16 and kept piling up the wins on the Japan Golf Tour. He first played in the Masters when he was 17. He played in the Presidents Cup when he was 18. And he shot 58 in the final round to win The Crowns in Japan when he was 19. All this time, Matsuyama was moving along at his own pace without hardly anyone noticing. "I was never tempted to turn pro," Matsuyama said in an interview last fall. "Ryo did and its been good for him. For me, I was glad I went the college route. Back when I was 16 or 17, I didnt have enough confidence in my game. As it turned out, now was the right time." Matsuyama is strong and sturdy, and to see him throw a baseball in a hotel parking lot is to appreciate his athleticism. He first received attention when he won the Asia Pacific Amateur and earned a spot in the Masters. He made the cut. He repeated at the Asia Pacific the following year, won his first professional tournament Taiheiyo Masters) and made another cut at Augusta National the following year. When he finally turned pro last April, he was on the fast track. His four wins on the Japan Golf Tour enabled him to be the first rookie to win the Order of Merit. He qualified for the U.S. Open and tied for 10th at Merion. He qualified for the British Open at tied for sixth. His worst finish in a major was a tie for 19th at the PGA Championship. If there was a rivalry based on performance alone, a case could be made for Matsuyama and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, the PGA Tours rookie of the year. Spieth (John Deere Classic winner, No. 7 in the FedEx Cup) ended last year at No. 22 in the world. Matsuyama was No. 23. Ishikawa was simply trying to get his card. Whether it was a back injury, relentless attention from the Japanese media and the pressure to play more at home, or simply a steady diet of the toughest competition, Ishikawa failed to keep his PGA Tour card last year. He fell out of the top 100. And he had to go through the Web.com Tour Finals just to get his card back. "My back was no good," said Ishikawa, who speaks English with ease these days. "I had a little back injury since last January and February. It was good since July. I can practice more. That was a great experience to play the Web.com Tour Finals. That was huge to have three top 10s in a row. That was a good moment for me." He was not bashful about taking a step down if it meant getting back to the top. A runner-up finish in Las Vegas should secure him a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs this year. A runner-up finish in Japan enabled him to return to the top 100 (No. 83 going into the Sony Open). But hes still a long way from catching up to Matsuyama. "He was a good player when he was a junior golfer. I met him a lot in junior tournaments," Ishikawa said. "Its just timing, you now? I was faster than him. But now were in the same place." Theyre at least on the same tour. Matsuyama is fully exempt and has a spot in the four majors. Ishikawa, having gone back to the Web.com Tour Finals to get his card, is not guaranteed a spot in The Players Championship, much less the four majors. He has to perform to get those spots. They remain friends, and Matsuyama hopes to lean on Ishikawa this year. It can be lonely on the PGA Tour, especially with a language barrier. Matsuyama needs a translator to conduct interviews. The Japanese media tend to favour Ishikawa, who carried Japanese golf for much of the last decade and enjoys a more engaging personality. "I havent been able to make much friends yet, but luckily Ryo from Japan is on this tour with me, so Id like to make friends along with him," Matsuyama said. Matsuyama keeps his head down and doesnt smile as much. Thats just the way hes built. But its been a successful formula, even if he chose to take longer to get to places he always wanted to be. And he is looking forward to another trip to Augusta National as a top-50 player. "Im ecstatic I qualified for the Masters through my play this year," he said. "Im happy to be in the top 50. Now the real test from now on is whether I can stay in the top 50. Its a lot easier to get there, a lot harder to stay there." Danielle Hunter Jersey . LOUIS -- The Atlanta Braves used a two-run rally in the ninth to end their road trip with a win. Eric Kendricks Jersey . -- The Denver Broncos are shuffling their offensive line this off-season and Orlando Franklin provided some insight into their plans Monday by tweeting that hes moving from right tackle to left guard. http://www.officialminnesotavikingsfootb...rsey-womens.com) - Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will sit out Thursdays game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with left knee soreness. Alan Page Jersey . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. Dan Bailey Jersey . Replay backed him up. Adeiny Hechavarria immediately followed the ruling with a go-ahead sacrifice fly for the Miami Marlins, who held on to beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Sunday completing a three-game sweep.NEW YORK -- Giving up a big run no longer means giving up for the Brooklyn Nets. The team that not long ago was accused by its coach of accepting losing is now showing a willingness to fight. "Were not buckling, were not getting down, have a bad stretch and lets give in," centre Andray Blatche said. "Were fighting and were competing." Deron Williams scored 21 points, Paul Pierce added 17 while moving past Allen Iverson into 19th place on the NBAs career scoring list, and the Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 89-82 on Saturday night. Blatche had 12 points in his return from a four-game absence as the Nets won their second straight, just their second winning streak of the season. They limited a Cleveland team playing without star guard Kyrie Irving to 37 per cent shooting -- 19 per cent in the final period -- and matched their best defensive performance of the season. "Hes our best player, especially when it comes to scoring the basketball. So you miss his 22 points a game," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "But I give our guys credit. They competed in the second half. We had a chance to win it. We took the lead, we just couldnt hold on. You miss a guy of his capabilities especially down the stretch in situations like this." Reggie Evans had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Nets while starting in place of Kevin Garnett, who was given a night to rest with the Nets beginning a stretch of five games in eight days. The Nets gave up a double-digit lead with another poor third quarter, which has been a season-long problem. Only this time, they shook it off with a strong fourth, holding Cleveland to 4-of-21 shooting. "Normally a third-quarter run on us tends to be a downfall, but tonights game was a positive," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Guys stayed together. We got stops and then we executed on the other end." Dion Waiters scored 26 points for the Cavaliers, who played without Irving for the second straight game because of his bruised left knee. They beat Orlando in overtime on Thursday but didnt have nearly enough firepower in this one, losingg for the seventh time in eight games.dddddddddddd "Its not frustrating," Waiters said. "We win four or five big games, were right back in the playoff hunt. I mean, dont get me wrong, the East is just not doing good." Coming off a 95-93 victory at Oklahoma City on Joe Johnsons jumper at the buzzer, the Nets returned to Brooklyn to open their longest homestand of the season, a four-game stretch that turns tougher with visits from Atlanta, Golden State and Miami. They welcomed back Blatche, who missed the previous four games for personal reasons and had consecutive baskets early in the fourth when the Nets took control for good by scoring seven straight points to open a nine-point cushion. Pierce came in two points behind Iverson, who retired earlier this season, and now has 24,383 points since entering the league as the No. 10 pick in the 1998 draft. "Its just a tribute to my longevity, just being able to stay healthy, continue to work on my craft and playing with a lot of good teammates over the years," Pierce said. Evans was 3 for 4 for eight points in the first quarter, surpassing his season high of five points and helping the Nets take a 22-17 lead. It grew to 48-34 when Williams capped a 13-3 spurt with a 3-pointer with 1:51 left in the half, and Brooklyn was ahead 51-38 at the break. But the Nets managed one basket during a span of nearly 9 minutes of the third quarter, while the Cavaliers outscored them 20-4 to take a 61-58 edge on Matthew Dellavedovas 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining. Brooklyn regrouped to take a 67-65 advantage to the fourth. C.J. Miles scored 19 for Cleveland but shot 6 of 19. Notes: Nets centre Brook Lopez had surgery Saturday on his broken right foot. Besides repairing the fractured fifth metatarsal, surgeons also repositioned another bone. Nets medical director Dr. Riley Williams III said in a statement that part of the procedure "lessens the stress on the fractured bone, and decreases the likelihood of re-injury in the future." Lopez was averaging a team-high 20.7 points when he broke the foot for the second time in three seasons on Dec. 20. 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