HONOLULU, Hawaii - Some of the best golf at the Ryder Cup occurred in a match hardly anyone noticed.That should be expected. Jimmy Walker was involved.He is becoming more difficult to ignore with each victory. Walkers nine-shot win at the Sony Open — the largest margin on the PGA Tour in nearly six years — was his fourth victory in the last 15 months, the most of any American in that stretch. His world ranking is No. 13, moving him closer to his goal of playing in the Olympics.More work remains, starting with the majors, and Walker knows this.Last year was his first time playing all four majors, and while he didnt seriously contend in any, he still had top 10s in the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Thats not a bad start, and Walker has shown to be a quick study and a hard worker.Of all the new experiences from 2014, though, what stood out was Sunday at Gleneagles.The Ryder Cup long had been decided when Walker won his singles match against Lee Westwood by making eight birdies in 16 holes. With key wins early from Europes two major champions, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, there was no reason for television to pay much attention to a match that affected only the final score.But it was a big deal for Walker.He believes his performance on such a big stage, and what he learned from that match, will take him to a higher level. The Sony Open is miles away from the Ryder Cup in so many aspects, though it caused him to reminisce the way he never let up until it was over.That was huge, that Sunday match against Lee, Walker said. That was another day where I didnt want to let him have anything. After the Ryder Cup I said, I need to figure how to get in that mode, where every shot means so much. Thats how it felt. I was so engaged in every shot I hit. Ive got to try to figure out how to do that week in and week out. And thats how I felt today.His second straight victory in the Sony Open was important for a couple of reasons. It was his third straight year with a PGA Tour victory, and it was right after he lost a tournament he felt he should have won.Walker doesnt feel as if he let up at Kapalua, though he was surprised by the quick turnaround. He missed one shot that led to bogey and missed two birdie putts inside 10 feet as Patrick Reed played the last four holes in 4-under par, including an 80-yard shot he holed for eagle. Reed won with a birdie in the playoff.Given another chance six days later, Walker was ruthless.He showed the capacity to turn a two-shot lead into four, and a four-shot lead into eight. Thats the kind of golf he saw from Jordan Spieth last month at the Hero World Challenge when Spieth won by 10 shots; from Martin Kaymer at the U.S. Open last summer when he won by eight at Pinehurst; from Rory McIlroy in the first two majors he won (each by eight shots); and from Tiger Woods more times than he can remember.There was one moment when Walker even looked like Woods.One of the more fascinating moments of Woods 15-shot win at the 2000 U.S. Open came late in the final round at Pebble Beach when he hit a flyer over the 16th green and chipped to 15 feet. The tournament was over, and had been for hours, but Woods was stalking and crouching and concentrating over that putt as if he were tied for the lead. Woods buried the putt and showed as much emotion as he had all day.Later, he revealed that his sole purpose was to not make bogey in the final round. He played the last 26 holes of a U.S. Open without one.From behind the 14th green at Waialae on Sunday, and ahead by six shots, Walkers chip ran about 6 feet by the hole. With only his coin on the green, he stood over the putt and took a few one-handed swings. Finally, he replaced the ball — but still not the coin — and stood over it again, his eyes going from the ball to the hole. He did that one more time before removing the coin, and then he backed off again before making the putt.I didnt want to give anything back, he said. I didnt want to make bogey.And he didnt. Walker went on to make 15-foot birdie putts on the next two holes, a 10-foot par putt on the 17th and closed with a 5-foot birdie and a 7-under 63.I remember when Jordan did that and I thought, That guy is playing some golf. Hes making more putts than anyone. You see that and think, Wow, I want to do that, Walker said. Ive watched Tiger do that — he did it a bunch. Im watching Rory do it now. 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Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series.Though the offense has sputtered since quarterback Carson Palmer suffered a season-ending knee injury against the St. Louis Rams one month ago, the Arizona Cardinals remain atop the NFC standings. But to build on a much-needed victory and avoid a third straight road loss Thursday night - while missing their leading passer and rusher - the Cardinals must prevent St. Louis from becoming the first team in 38 years to shut out three straight opponents. For some teams, (playing in December) doesnt mean a damn thing except the seasons almost over, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. This one means a lot because everything rides from here on in, so every game is a real playoff game, especially in the NFC. Arizona (10-3) has four offensive touchdowns in four games since a 31-14 win over St. Louis on Nov. 9, when Palmer tore his ACL while being sacked by safety Mark Barron in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals werent an offensive juggernaut with Palmer under center, though they recorded at least 24 points five times while going 6-0 in games he started. They scored at least 20 in the three Drew Stanton started as Palmer was sidelined with a shoulder problem earlier this season, but have averaged 14.0 during his latest starting stint as hes thrown five interceptions in four games. Top rusher Andre Ellington also struggled after Palmer went down, and he was placed on season-ending injured reserve this week with a hip problem. However, his replacement, second-year back Kerwynn Williams, came through with 100 yards on 19 carries in his third NFL game Sunday in a 17-14 home victory over Kansas City. I didnt know what my role was going to be, said Williams, who had never touched the ball prior to Sunday. I just wanted to be prepared whatever it was. The Cardinals avoided a third straight loss and remained one game ahead of Seattle in the West. They also own the tiebreaker over Green Bay for the top spot in the conference. Arizona, which fell 19-3 at Seattle on Nov. 23, hosts the rematch next weekend. The Cardinals know they first face a tough task against the Rams (6-7), who have allowed 34 points while going 3-1 since losing at Arizona. They outscored Oakland and Washington 76-0 in the last two weeks. No team has blanked three consecutive opponents since the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers. Theyre playing as good a football as anybody now, Arizona defensive end Calais Campbell said. Its a divission game, a team you know.dddddddddddd. They know us, guys youve played against multiple times. Its going to be a good football game. Though the Rams latest conquests came against two of the leagues lowest-scoring teams with a combined 5-21 record, theyre confident that dominance can continue against the offensively challenged NFC leaders. I want to see it again, said coach Jeff Fisher, whose team held Washington to 206 total yards in Sundays 24-0 road victory. We need to keep playing, keep preparing the way we are. St. Louis allowed 244 yards in a 52-0 rout of the Raiders on Nov. 30, part of an impressive three-game winning streak at home. The other two victories were against last seasons Super Bowl participants, beating Seattle 28-26 and holding Denver to its lowest point total of the season in a 22-7 win. The Rams limited the Cardinals to a season-low 28 rushing yards on 22 carries last month and have allowed an average of 58.7 while winning four of six. Weve been locked in and just getting better and tightening up on all the little plays that were hurting us, safety Rodney McLeod said. St. Louis has recorded 13 sacks in the last two games, including 4 1/2 by defensive end Robert Quinn. Guys are playing lights-out right now, said Quinn, who has 10 1/2 sacks on the season. Hopefully, we just keep it going. The Rams have recorded more than 20 points in four straight games after doing so three times in the first nine. Theyve returned two interceptions and a punt for touchdowns in those four. Shaun Hill has completed 62.0 percent of his passes with six TDs and two INTs while starting the last four games. He earned the job after Austin Davis struggled against Arizona last month, when Patrick Peterson had a 30-yard interception return for a TD and Antonio Cromartie took back Davis fumble 14 yards for a score. Five of Petersons 14 career interceptions have come against the Rams. Arizona has allowed an average of 16.5 points in the last six games, though the only time it yielded more than 20 during that stretch came in a 29-18 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 30 in its most recent road contest. Larry Fitzgerald caught a season-high nine passes for 112 yards against the Rams last month and has 29 catches for 288 with three TDs in the last three meetings. In that same span, Rams tight end Jared Cook has 274 yards and three scores. He had two TD receptions Sunday. ' ' 'ut on the leagues biggest stage. James is no finals apprentice anymore. Hes been to the title round three times since, winning the last ttwo.dddddddddddd And James is quick to point out that the Spurs arent the only team fueled by hunger in this championship round. "Both teams have motivating factors," James said. "They have a motivating factor. We have our own." Losing the finals is one thing. Losing the way the Spurs did last June, thats something else. Forget Game 7 for a moment. Game 6 will be replayed for as long as there are replays, unforgettable for both how the Heat rallied and how the Spurs collapsed. A 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter was erased, in part because Mike Miller scored three points on one shot while wearing one shoe. And a five-point lead with 28.2 seconds left, well, you know the rest. Manu Ginobili misses a free throw. James makes a 3-pointer. Kawhi Leonard makes one of two free throws. James misses a 3-pointer. Chris Bosh out jumps Ginobili for the rebound. Ray Allen started backpedaling to the right corner, hoping for a chance. ABCs Mike Breen described what happened next like this: "Rebound Bosh ... back out to Allen ... his 3-pointer ... BANG!!! Tie game!" The Heat went on to win in overtime that night, then found a way to win Game 7 and the title, 95-88. When this season began, Popovich started camp by showing his team Games 6 and 7, painful as it was. "I try to learn something every game I watch," Popovich said. "Thats what we do." And while there were plenty of teams that looked like contenders this season, neither club was surprised that the end result is the first NBA Finals rematch since 1998. "We got wined and dined with some of the other teams that kind of popped up and showed greatness throughout the year," Allen said. "The Clippers looked great. OKC, they had their issues and then they popped up. Memphis looked good at the end of the year. Indiana was always hovering. But if you go back to the beginning of the year, most people said the same thing. Pop knew how to manage his team to get to this point. Same thing with us." In other words, maybe Spurs-Heat II was meant to be. "It was," Allen said. ___ Associated Press Writer Raul Dominguez in San Antonio contributed to this story ' ' '