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Hideki Matsuyama surges to a 5-shot lead in steamy Memphis

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Hideki Matsuyama felt his lower back starting to act up. On a whim, he decided to put a new putter in his bag for the start of the PGA Tour postseason. And now the Japanese star has a five-shot lead going into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

“I am surprised,” Matsuyama said through his interpreter, breaking into a big smile when he added, “but I did play well today.”

He played well enough for a second straight 6-under 64 that enabled him to pull away from a crowded field and put plenty of distance between him and Nick Dunlap.

Matsuyama quickly atoned for an early bogey by drilling a 3-wood over the water to 15 feet and making the eagle putt. He kept adding birdies the rest of the day in more steamy weather and no one could stay with him.

Denny McCarthy, who was tied for the 36-hole lead with Matsuyama, put four bogeys on his card before registering his first birdie. Sam Burns had only five pars — and a broken driver — in his round of 70 to fall back. Scottie Scheffler lost ground with a few suspect chips and was seven shots behind after a 69.

“I felt like I got away with some stuff, so hopefully clean it up a little bit and give myself a lot more opportunities,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler was at 10-under 200 along with Burns, who slammed his driver to the ground on No. 9 and the head broke off. He made double bogey to go with five bogeys and seven birdies. It was quite a day.

Dunlap did his best to stay close and was within three shots until one wild drive too many. He went so far right on the 12th that he cleared the water and landed on the other side, and then managed to save par. But he hit right again on the 13th in deep grass, couldn’t reach the green and took bogey.

He shot 66 and will be in the final group, extending his remarkable run. A year ago, he was winning the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. He won The American Express in January as an amateur, turned pro, and then won the Barracuda Championship last month.

“I should be playing the U.S. Am this week, and I just got done playing a round of golf with Scottie. It was pretty cool,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap is among five players with multiple wins this year and still was a long shot to extend his season. He was No. 67 in the FedEx Cup because he was an amateur for his first PGA Tour title and received no points.

Even if he can’t catch Matsuyama, Dunlap has a chance to not only be among the top 50 who advance to the BMW Championship next week, but lock up a spot in the Tour Championship for the top 30.

Matsuyama was at 17-under 193 and in position to capture his first FedEx Cup playoff event.

But this postseason opener was all about moving on. The top 50, along with getting to the next playoff event outside Denver, are assured of getting into all eight of the $20 million signature events next year.

Viktor Hovland, the defending FedEx Cup champion who started this postseason at No. 57, took a big step toward advancing with a 66. He was alone in third, six shots behind.

“The ball is starting to behave like I’m expecting it to,” Hovland said. “The misses are way smaller than they used to be. Before they would be off the planet, whereas now it’s manageable and I can make a nice up-and-down or make a long putt or whatever it is.”

Jordan Spieth’s season effectively ended when he made two double bogeys in his round of 74, leaving him in 69th place against a 70-man field.

Will Zalatoris came into the postseason at No. 49 and shot 67 on Saturday. He was tied for sixth and all but assured of staying well inside the top 50.

Among those on the bubble to advance going into Sunday are Justin Rose and Adam Scott. Rose is No. 55 in the FedEx Cup and was tied for ninth after 54 holes at the TPC Southwind. He shot 71 on Saturday after making double bogey on the last hole. Scott is at No. 46. He shot 68 and was projected inside the top 50 going into the last day.

Others projected to be just inside the top 50 include Harris English, still coping with a bad back, and Phoenix Open winner Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C.

Taylor remains the top Canadian in the field, sitting at 4-under 206, after shooting a 70 on Saturday. He’s trailed by Taylor Pendrith (71) of Richmond Hill, Ont., Corey Conners (70) of Listowel, Ont., Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin (67) and Mackenzie Hughes (70).

Rory McIlroy, who was seen playing tennis after his opening round in sweltering heat on Thursday, had a bogey and two double bogeys after just four holes Saturday. He shot 74 and was toward the bottom of the pack. But he could afford a lackluster week having started at No. 3. He was projected to fall no more than a spot or two.

Matsuyama has three top 10s in his last six starts, including the bronze medal he won at the Paris Olympics. Why change putters? He’s not really sure.

“I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought it might be a good week to debut that putter,” Matsuyama said.

He leads the field in the key putting statistic, gaining on average nearly seven shots against the field. He also has 19 birdies and an eagle.

___

AP golf:

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Canada’s Denis Shapovalov wins Belgrade Open for his second ATP Tour title

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BELGRADE, Serbia – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.

The 25-year-old Shapovalov beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Belgrade Open final on Saturday.

It’s Shapovalov’s second ATP Tour title after winning the Stockholm Open in 2019. He is the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour-level title this season.

His last appearance in a tournament final was in Vienna in 2022.

Shapovalov missed the second half of last season due to injury and spent most of this year regaining his best level of play.

He came through qualifying in Belgrade and dropped just one set on his way to winning the trophy.

Shapovalov’s best results this season were at ATP 500 events in Washington and Basel, where he reached the quarterfinals.

Medjedovic was playing in his first-ever ATP Tour final.

The 21-year-old, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF title last year, ends 2024 holding a 9-8 tour-level record on the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Talks to resume in B.C. port dispute in bid to end multi-day lockout

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VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.

The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.

The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.

The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.

The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.

MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.

In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.

“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.

“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”

In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.

“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.

The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.

“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”

The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.

A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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The Royal Canadian Legion turns to Amazon for annual poppy campaign boost

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The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.

Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.

Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.

“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.

“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”

Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.

“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.

Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.

“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”

But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.

Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.

“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.

Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.

The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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