Bilderecke » itish Rana held fort briefly for 28 runs, but was fox

RIO DE JANEIRO -- From the top step of the podium, Justin Rose bowed his head as the Olympic gold medal was placed around his neck, and he stared at it for the longest time.Even for a major champion, this was more than he ever imagined.Its a moment youve seen in many other sports, Rose said. The medal ceremony is what its all about, really.This was why the 36-year-old Englishman circled the Rio Games on his calendar all along, even as some of the biggest names in golf began pulling out. Rose came to Rio to watch, and to win.And when his turn came Sunday, he delivered a gold-medal performance worthy of a 112-year wait.The final round was so tense that no one led by more than one shot until Rose hit a 40-yard pitch to 3 feet, a shot every bit as significant as the 4-iron from 229 yards on the 18th hole at Merion when he won the 2013 U.S. Open.The birdie gave him a 4-under 67 and a two-shot victory over Henrik Stenson to win golfs first gold medal since 1904 in St. Louis.Matt Kuchar of the United States closed with a 63 to win the bronze.How big was golf in the Olympics?Ive never been so happy with a third-place finish in my life, Kuchar said.And then there was Rose.As the final putt fell into the cup, he thrust his fist into the air and popped the British crest on his shirt before turning to embrace Stenson. He raised both arms, pumped his fist again and took a bow.The reality is incredible. The reality hasnt sunk in, Rose said. The whole week, Ive been so focused. Ive been so into it. Ive been up for it. Ive been just so determined, I suppose, to represent Team GB as best as I could. And it was just the most magical week.Stenson already faced one duel this summer at Royal Troon to win the British Open with the lowest score in major championship history. Deep in the round, the Swede said his spine locked up on him. He was stretching on all fours on the 13th and a physiotherapist worked on him at the 14th, where a poor chip cost him the lead. Stenson kept firing away, however, tying Rose with a pitch to 4 feet for birdie on the 16th.They were tied coming to the final hole, fans lining both sides of the fairway, exactly the moment and atmosphere golf needed to make a good impression on the International Olympic Committee.Stensons pitch from 50 yards came up short, just over 20 feet away, and then Rose delivered what amounted to the winner. Knowing that Rose was in tight for birdie, Stenson rammed his birdie putt some 7 feet by the cup and missed the par putt, giving him a 3-under 68.He made a birdie and I didnt, and thats why hes got a gold medal and I got a silver, Stenson said.Its not nearly as valuable as his silver claret jug from Royal Troon, but still special.We said that all along in the Olympics, youve got some pretty good consolation prizes, Stenson said.Rose is the first gold medalist in golf since George Lyon of Canada won against a field of mostly Americans.Golf organizations lobbied hard to get the sport back into the Olympics, only for some of the biggest stars -- including the top four in the world -- to withdraw in the month leading up to the Rio Games for reasons that ranged from fears over the Zika virus to security.Padraig Harrington referred to them as sheep for following each other out of Olympics. The 60 players who came, dressed in their country colors and team bags -- and three medals at the end of the week -- showed what the absentees were missing.This is one of the greatest golf trips Ive ever been on, said Bubba Watson, who had planned to stay in private housing until moving into the Olympic Village on Tuesday because he didnt want to miss out on the experience.Even better was seeing a teammate make his way to the medal stand.Were asked to play for our country and he pulled us through today, Watson said. Im so proud he got the bronze.The lasting memory of golfs return was Rose and Stenson going toe-to-toe for more than five hours before a sellout crowd (capped at 12,000 tickets), neither with more than a one-stroke advantage until it was over. And there was Rose at the end, wildly pumping fists as British fans waved the Union Jack around the 18th green.He won the U.S. Open at Merion three years ago. Rose said he always wanted his career to be remembered for multiple majors.But lets just call it major champion and Olympic gold medalist, Rose said. Id be a very, very happy man. Shawn Kemp Thunder Jersey . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Luguentz Dort Jersey . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. https://www.thunderrookiesshop.com/Mike-Muscala-City-Edition-Jersey/ Chris Paul Thunder Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Steven Adams Thunder Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Karnataka 414 (Gautam 63*, Agarwal 56, Nair 53, Samarth 53, Sood 4-80) beat Delhi 90 (Aravind 4-12, Gowtham 3-26) and 164 (Sood 41*, Gowtham 5-35) by an innings and 160 runsScorecardDelhis coach KP Bhaskar lamented how batsmen these days, particularly in domestic cricket, undermined the use of technique in search of flexibility. Back in our days, technique was most important. Then came potential, and fitness was third. Today, technique has gone to number three. On Saturday, the third day in Kolkata, his batsmen did not do much to disprove that theory as Karnataka won by an innings and 160 runs to walk away with seven points. That Delhi were nearly bowled out twice in under a session each time, even as Karnataka stacked up 414 showed the Eden Gardens surface was not to blame for the batting debacle. This was a classic case of what Daljit Singh, BCCIs chief curator, termed the middle wicket that assisted seamers early on, eased out for batsmen to make merry and then took turn. By being bowled out for 90 in the first innings, Delhi did not give themselves a chance to make best use of the surface, where as many as five Karnataka batsmen made half-centuries.If it was S Aravind, who ran through Delhis line-up in a fine exhibition of seam bowling in the first innings, offspinner K Gowtham, playing in only his second first-class game in nearly four years, did the bulk of the damage on Saturday. That he had the luxury of attacking fields helped him lure the batsmen repeatedly with flight. And batsmen fell into the trap of trying to break free. The end result was a maiden five-wicket haul.After a failure in the first innings, this was an oopportunity for Gautam Gambhir to knuckle down and bat long.dddddddddddd If match time was what he wanted, he could not have asked for a better challenge. Abhimanyu Mithun, darting the ball both ways, and Aravind, coming off a four-for in the first innings, tested Gambhirs front-foot play. But three plays and misses later, he poked at an away-going delivery that was gobbled at second slip by Robin Uthappa. Mithun had two in two when he got a ball to deviate late to square up Dhruv Shorey and hit the top of off stump.Nitish Rana held fort briefly for 28 runs, but was foxed by a straighter one from Gowtham. Delhis lack of application and match awareness increasingly became visible when Rishabh Pant, coming off a triple-century in the previous game against Maharashtra in Mumbai, started with a six, but fell soon after when he was sucked into a drive that carried to second slip. Unmukt Chand, the vice-captain, tried to fetch a slog sweep from outside off, only to top-edge to Karun Nair at first slip. At 94 for 7, there was a possibility of the match finishing before lunch.That they just managed to stretch it beyond was largely due to Karnataka switching off briefly as the interval approached. It took them little over 10 overs into the second session to wrap up the match, when Aravind, quite fittingly, had the final wicket when the ball beat Pawan Suyals slog to send the off stump on a cartwheel. Varun Sood swung his way to 41 not out in the interim, when Delhi needed to bat out 180 overs to save the game. ' ' '