web1_123813928-db2e0beafdbc4426b01fcf3f53b6497e.jpg

College Basketball: Michigan State opens at No. 1 in AP Top 25 preseason poll

web1_AP19290142646481.jpg

NBA ‘19-20: Suspense returns; LA teams seek Hollywood ending

<p>INZAI CITY, Japan &#8212; Not only did Jason Day win the inaugural &#8220;The Challenge: Japan Skins&#8221; game on Monday, beating Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama, he also won the needling contest.</p><p>Turning to Woods after receiving the trophy, Day asked how many similar events Woods had played in.</p><p>&#8220;Tiger, this is what &#8212; your fifth of sixth?&#8221;</p><p>Before Woods could reply, Day supplied the rejoinder.</p><p>&#8220;He hasn&#8217;t won one yet. I found that out today when he told me.&#8221;</p><p>Woods and everyone else laughed, which captured the lighthearted day at the Narashino Country Club, where the made-for-TV skins game finished under floodlights on the 17th and 18th holes.</p><p>&#8220;First time I&#8217;ve ever finished under lights, so that was exciting,&#8221; Day said, surprised the sun goes down about 5 p.m. in the fall in the Tokyo area.</p><p>Day won eight skins and $210,000. Woods had five skins and $60,000 with McIlroy taking four and winning $60,000. Matsuyama won only one skin and $20,000.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m disappointed I had only one,&#8221; Matsuyama said, speaking through an interpreter and also getting a laugh.</p><p>It was Woods&#8217; first event after surgery two months ago, the fifth on his left knee. He&#8217;ll get a stiffer test at the Zozo Championship that opens Thursday &#8212; the first-ever full PGA Tour event in Japan.</p><p>Wood said it was great &#8220;just being able to compete again. I haven&#8217;t done this in a little bit now.&#8221;</p><p>By his own assessment, he started very slowly.</p><p>&#8220;I did not play well at the beginning,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I hit a lot of bad shots and did not putt well. Once I got into the flow of competing and feeling the round, it just got exciting. We were competitive, the banter was great, the back and forth.&#8221;</p><p>Woods, who had a hand in organizing the event, said he hoped &#8220;we were entertaining everyone and everyone who&#8217;s watching had a good time.&#8221;</p><p>They probably did.</p><p>On No. 4, Woods seemed to try to take advantage of the fact the Narashino Country Club has two greens on every hole. It&#8217;s a tradition at some courses in Japan, alternating greens to keep them both in good shape.</p><p>Woods hit a shot between two greens and Day got on him.</p><p>&#8220;I asked him (Tiger) to let me know which green he was going for,&#8221; Day said. &#8220;But he was in between so I still don&#8217;t know which one he was going for.&#8221;</p><p>Woods agreed.</p><p>&#8220;I hit in between the greens, so it looked kind of like I kind of didn&#8217;t know what I was doing,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Both greens at No. 4 will be used this week at the tournament. A hole will be cut in each and players will choose which to play to.</p><p>The Narashino club is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Tokyo in Chiba prefecture. The course for next year&#8217;s Tokyo Olympics will be at Kasumigaseki Country Club in neighboring Saitama prefecture.</p><p>Four famous rugby players really got the match moving at No. 7 when they paired up with the pros for one hole.</p><p>Matsuyama dropped a 35-foot putt for birdie, and then was embraced by his teammate &#8212; former South African rugby player Bryan Habana. The 100-kilogram (220-pound) Habana almost crushed Mastuyama as he screamed: &#8220;That&#8217;s my partner.&#8221;</p><p>Seconds later, former Ireland rugby player Brian O&#8217;Driscoll holed another long putt, matching Matsuyama&#8217;s birdie. Jason Day then holed another shorter birdie putt.</p><p>Walking one fairway, McIlroy was asked by a TV interviewer about comments by Brooks Koepka about the Irishman&#8217;s game.</p><p>Koepka said last week: &#8220;Rory hasn&#8217;t won a major since I&#8217;ve been on tour, so I don&#8217;t view it as a rivalry.&#8221;</p><p>McIlroy last won a major in 2014 at the PGA Championship.</p><p>McIlroy said Koepka &#8220;wasn&#8217;t wrong. He&#8217;s been the best player in the world for the last couple of years. Four majors. I don&#8217;t think he needed to remind me I haven&#8217;t won in a while. And I love Brooks. He&#8217;s a great guy; obviously super-competitive like we all are. I can see where he&#8217;s coming from.&#8221;</p><p>McIlroy then paused and also added: &#8220;I think that&#8217;s good for the game, and I think if you take what Brooks said out of context &#8212; then it can become this big thing it&#8217;s become. Brooks and I are good. We&#8217;re good friends.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-877ef7ccefce4220ab0f75b313eb1483.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tiger Woods of the United States, left, and Jason Day of Australia, right, hold their hands on the 18th hole after the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-877ef7ccefce4220ab0f75b313eb1483.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tiger Woods of the United States, left, and Jason Day of Australia, right, hold their hands on the 18th hole after the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-3775e967289c44e189013c25c576b8af.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits a shot out of a bunker on the sixth hole during the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-3775e967289c44e189013c25c576b8af.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits a shot out of a bunker on the sixth hole during the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-4f0a90b044e54780989676189f434f14.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tiger Woods of the United States, center left, and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, center right, walk during the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_123813871-4f0a90b044e54780989676189f434f14.jpg</photo2><caption2>Tiger Woods of the United States, center left, and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, center right, walk during the Challenge: Japan Skins event ahead of the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at Accordia Golf Narashino C.C. in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Stephen Wade</p><p>AP Sports Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

Jason Day beats Tiger in Japan Skins