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." Brandon Bolden Jersey . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Joe Thuney Jersey .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. http://www.patriotsauthenticshop.com/Patriots-Duron-Harmon-Draft-Jersey/ .com) - Baltimore Ravens running back Justin Forsett is active for Sundays matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Malcom Brown Jersey . Coetzees finish, with six birdies and no bogeys, took him to 19-under 268 overall and past South African compatriots Thomas Aiken and Justin Walters, the overnight co-leaders. Coetzee was flawless on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to clinch his maiden title after 24 top 10 finishes. Mike Gillislee Jersey .C. -- Colin Kaepernick raced into the end zone, then pretended to rip open his shirt with both hands imitating Cam Newtons Superman touchdown celebration.WASHINGTON -- Every point matters more than ever to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, who are part of a logjam in the Eastern Conference -- and on the outside of the playoff race, looking in, at the moment. So blowing two-goal leads, as the Capitals tend to do, and losing key players such as centre Nicklas Backstrom to injury are not exactly what they want. All of those bad things happened to the Capitals in a 5-4 shootout loss Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, who came back after Ovechkin scored two early power-play goals. "Obviously, you miss Backy, but every team has guys that go out," said Capitals coach Adam Oates, who would only say that Backstrom has an upper-body injury. "Youve got 19 other guys that have got to do the job. Weve got plenty of guys that can do the job." Also "being evaluated," as Oates put it, after the game was defenceman Jack Hillen, who was involved in a scary moment halfway through overtime, colliding with Ovechkin at centre ice. Hillens helmet slammed into Ovechkins chest, and the game was put on hold for a bit. Ovechkin got the wind knocked out of him and took a knee, but returned to the game. Hillen got the worst of the impact and remained face-down on the ice while a trainer checked on him. Washington is ninth in the East, one spot out of the playoffs based on tiebreakers, even though it is one of four teams with 80 points, alongside No. 7 Columbus, No. 8 Detroit and No. 10 Toronto. The Capitals have nine games left, starting Saturday at home against Boston. So among the Capitals, there was a mix of relief at the idea of picking up one point against Los Angeles -- and disappointment at failing to get two after leading 2-0 thanks to Ovechkin before the game was 7 1/2 minutes old, and then being ahead 3-1 entering the third period. "Theres no excuse. We have to find a way to win when we are up two goals," Washington forward Marcus Johansson said. "It hurts a lot. You never know when it comes down to it -- in or out (of the playoffs) by one poinnt.dddddddddddd" Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored in the shootout for the Kings, and goalie Jonathan Quick caught Eric Fehrs attempt after rookie forward Evgeny Kuznetsov whiffed on Washingtons opening shot. Kuznetsov had tied the wild, back-and-forth game with 41.5 seconds left in regulation on his first NHL goal, a short-hander that came when he reached in to knock home a loose puck after it trickled through Quicks pads on Ovechkins shot. Plenty of fans thought Ovechkin was responsible for his third goal of the night, and they tossed their hats onto the ice. But his total stayed at a league-leading 48. While Kuznetsovs goal got the crowd excited, in the end, the Kings wound up winning their seventh consecutive road game and their fourth game in a row overall. They began Tuesday sixth in the West, and their playoff status is looking a lot more secure than Washingtons. Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter wasnt pleased with the way his team started Tuesday. But he liked the way his players turned things around. "We just kind of hung in there," Sutter said. Mike Richards, Dwight King, Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings in regulation. The most important goal might have been Kings, which came 45 seconds into the third period and pulled Los Angeles within 3-2. "The boys stuck together, stuck with it," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "We knew the whole time we were going to get back in that game." NOTES: LW Dustin Penner netted his first goal for the Capitals since arriving from Anaheim at the trade deadline. ... The Kings have seven victories in a row over Washington. ... Midway through the second period, Capitals F Troy Brouwer and Kings D Willie Mitchell were both called for penalties after a skirmish in front of Quicks net. Brouwer stayed down on the ice for a bit, then was helped up and led to the locker room. It wasnt immediately clear what was wrong. ... The Kings record is eight straight road wins, in the 1974-75 season. Wholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '