INTERVIEW-Golf-Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Still feeling a little giddy after a barn-storming finish to his 2012 campaign, Ian Poulter is itching to plug the only hole in his otherwise glittering career resume by winning a major championship.
The fashion-conscious Englishman, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, has achieved virtually everything else in professional golf and says landing one of the four majors would fulfil a long cherished dream.
Poulter will launch his 2013 campaign this week at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and readily admits he has been unable to work out the final piece of the major puzzle.
"I don't know what it takes," the flamboyant Englishman told Reuters in a recent interview. "If it means taking off 20 weeks before playing in a major, then I would take 20 weeks off. If it means playing five in a row to win one, then I would do that.
"I've tried a lot of things but I just need to keep doing what I am doing, to be honest with you. I just need to keep working on the same things.
"You need to ride a bit of luck in these majors at certain times to be able to pick one up. No question, I'd really love to win one."
Poulter rebounded from a slow start to last season with a spectacular run of success and consistency that included three top-10 finishes in the majors and his second World Golf Championships (WGC) crown.
"It was an amazing back half of the season," said the 36-year-old, who sealed a two-shot victory in the elite HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament at Missions Hills in China in November.
"The first part of the year was very solid, then three top-10s in the majors ... I must be doing something right. And then I got to the Ryder Cup and backed that up with some great golf."
POULTER SPARK
Late on the second day of the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club, Poulter provided the spark which inspired Europe's astonishing, come-from-behind victory over the United States.
The matchplay specialist finished with five consecutive birdies to earn one of two valuable points in the fourballs, giving his team a slim hope of retaining the trophy as they headed into Sunday's concluding 12 singles trailing 10-6.
"I still get goosebumps just talking about it," Poulter said of his scintillating display in the fourballs. "How it happened I just don't know. It all happened in slow motion.
"It was amazing to see the atmosphere change in the team room that night," he recalled. "The spirit, it just changed. Guys were pumped up ... we just felt there was that little glimmer of hope."
Poulter was one of eight European players who won that Sunday and ended the week at Medinah with a perfect 4-0-0 record as his team stunningly triumphed by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2.
"That Ryder Cup far surpasses anything I've ever felt before on a golf course," said the 12-times European Tour winner.
Four months later, Poulter is ready to launch his 2013 PGA Tour season on the Hawaiian island of Maui in an elite, winners-only field of 30 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

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No. 1 Duke tops Davidson 67-50 to remain unbeaten

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — It was supposed to be Seth Curry's homecoming — then Ryan Kelly stole the show.
Kelly scored 18 points to help top-ranked Duke remain unbeaten with a 67-50 victory over Davidson on Wednesday night.
Quinn Cook scored 15 points and Mason Plumlee scored eight of his 10 in the second half for the Blue Devils (13-0), who are one of only four undefeated teams remaining in Division I. Tyler Thornton added 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to spark Duke.
"For our guys to go 13-0 with our nonconference schedule is just magnificent," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's terrific."
The game was tied 29-all at halftime before Duke opened the second half with a 12-0 run. The Blue Devils, who led by as many as 19 in the second half, heated up from 3-point range after the break, going 3 for 4 in the early minutes of the period.
During that six-minute span to open the second half the Wildcats had nine empty possessions.
"That's when they made their run," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "You wipe that six minutes out, well. ... But that's why Duke is number one. Somehow they are going to make you pay during that six-minute period. They've done that in every game they played this year."
Curry, playing in front of his hometown fans and against his older brother Stephen's alma mater, had a rough night, finishing with six points on 3-of-11 shooting. Earlier in the day, Stephen Curry — who plays for the Golden State Warriors — wrote on Twitter that he was rooting for Davidson but hoping his brother dropped 30-plus points.
That didn't happen, but Kelly picked up the slack, hitting 5 of 8 from the field — including 3 for 4 from 3-point range.
"I got the shots that I wanted. I just wasn't able to get them to go down," Curry said. "Maybe I was pressing a little early trying to get going. I'm just going to have to bounce back on Saturday."
It didn't help that Davidson placed an emphasis on rotating and taking away opportunities from Curry and Plumlee.
That benefited Kelly, who was left open for shots.
"They were physical, they were riding us," Kelly said. "That made it tough on Mason to get his shots. But once we figured it out, we saw the holes in it. Mason is the type of player where he's unselfish. He passed out of double teams and it created for others."
Duke is set to open ACC play at home against Wake Forest on Saturday, while Davidson is home to face Southern Conference foe UNC-Greensboro.
Jake Cohen led Davidson (7-6) with 19 points and eight rebounds despite battling through early foul trouble, and De'Mon Brooks pulled down 12 rebounds and scored eight points in the Wildcats' 24th straight loss to Duke.
Plumlee scored on an inbound play to ignite Duke's 12-0 burst coming out of halftime.
Kelly followed with a pair of free throws, Quinn Cook hit a foul-line jumper and Thornton knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing. Kelly capped the run with a 3-pointer from the left corner, his third of the game, to push the lead to 12.
Duke had seven assists and two turnovers in the second half after just one assist and nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
They held Davidson to 30 percent shooting for the game, and the Wildcats were just 4 of 19 from behind the arc.
"I thought our defense was terrific," Krzyzewski said.
Davidson, which hung tough in the opening half, would never get closer than eight after Duke's run to start the second half.
The Wildcats entered the locker room at halftime tied despite shooting just 32 percent in the first half. Cohen, last year's co-conference player of the year along with Brooks, sat out 15 minutes after picking up his second foul less than three minutes in.
Davidson did it with hustle, outrebounding the taller Blue Devils 22-15 in the opening half, including a 9-1 edge on the offensive boards.
"In the first half we gave up offensive rebounds and in the second half we didn't and to me that was the key to the ball game," Krzyzewski said.
Brooks, who has been a factor inside for the Wildcats all season, struggled to get off shots against Duke's defenders, who began collapsing on him in the paint. He finished 4 of 13 from the field.
NOTES: Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs and Charlotte Bobcats guard Kemba Walker were among those who attended the game. ... Cook was 6 of 9 from the field for the Blue Devils.

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No. 7 Orange beat Rutgers 78-53; Boeheim gets 903

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Jim Boeheim achieved another milestone in his impressive career at Syracuse, and yet passing Bob Knight for second place all-time on the victory list almost seemed like an afterthought.
"I'm proud to be able to do that. I'm happy to get it done," Boeheim said after his seventh-ranked Orange had defeated Rutgers 78-53 on Wednesday night for his 903rd victory, one more than Knight among men's Division I coaches. "To me, this game is not about numbers, it really isn't. It's not about how many points you score or the assists you get. It's about all the people, all the people you meet on the way. It's been an unbelievable experience."
Boeheim, in his 37th season at his alma mater, trails only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who has 940 victories, and he was more touched by the phone calls and letters than anything else.
"I got a call from (former St. John's star) Chris Mullin, I think after 900," Boeheim said. "That call meant as much to me as anything because he's the best player, you could argue, who's played in this league. And I got a note from (Butler) coach Brad Stevens, which is interesting because I'm probably his biggest fan. He just thanked me for my contributions to the game.
"If a young coach thinks that way about me, then I'm really happy. That's what I'm really proud about."
Boeheim was also proud of the way Syracuse (13-1, 1-0 Big East) performed en route to its 33rd straight home victory, the longest active streak in the nation. The Orange have beaten Rutgers (9-3, 0-1) 13 straight times.
Brandon Triche had a season-high 25 points, hitting 5 of 7 3-point attempts, and added six assists and four steals to lead Syracuse. Michael Carter-Williams finished with 12 points and 10 assists, his eighth double-double, and C.J. Fair had 15 points and three blocks.
Eli Carter led Rutgers with 19 points while Myles Mack, who entered the game averaging 14.5 points, did not score and was 0 of 3 from behind the arc. He entered the game leading the Big East at 51.2 percent from 3-point range.
The Scarlet Knights had won five straight but were no match for Syracuse in coach Mike Rice's first game back after a three-game, 16-day suspension for inappropriate behavior and language. Rutgers went 3-0 under associate head coach David Cox, capped by a 68-56 win over Rider on Friday.
Rice was suspended without pay and fined $50,000 on Dec. 13 for a violation of athletic department policy. Rice, 43, who returned to the team on Saturday, is in his third season at Rutgers. A former guard at Fordham, Rice came to Rutgers from Robert Morris, where he took the Colonials to the NCAA tournament twice.
Rutgers has defeated three top 10 teams at home under Rice, but the program has never accomplished the feat on the road. Syracuse won the game with a 21-0 run over the final 6:42 of the first half to break open what had been a tight affair.
Rutgers committed 10 turnovers in each half and was outscored 20-7 on the fast break.
"We're really good when we're scoring and things are going our way," Rice said. "The team response — we lacked the energy, we lacked the toughness. In this league, bad things are going to happen, whether it's missed shots or turnovers, which we really couldn't have against Syracuse, but we had them.
"How are you going to respond defensively? That's what limits their runs, and our defense was a no-show after we stopped scoring."
Carter's runner in the lane at 8:07 gave Rutgers its only lead at 20-18. It was the final basket of the period for the Scarlet Knights. They missed seven shots, committed three fouls and had two shots blocked as the Orange ran away.
Fair followed his own miss to start the Orange surge and consecutive baskets by Carter-Williams, the second a pretty underhanded scoop with reverse spin, gave Syracuse an eight-point lead.
Triche's fast-break layup after a block by Fair and a bank shot off the glass by Rakeem Christmas kept the Orange rolling, and James Southerland's transition 3 made it 35-20 with 2:22 to play.
"It did snowball," said Austin Johnson, who had six points and four rebounds for the Scarlet Knights. "It's a tough place to play. We just have to remain confident and do what we know we're capable of out there. If we do that, we can compete with anybody. Tonight was definitely a clunker."
Triche's lob to Southerland completed the run as Syracuse finished the half 14 of 29 (48.3 percent) from the field while holding Rutgers to 8 of 29 (27.6 percent). About the only mistake the Orange made was Christmas's turnover out of bounds in the final seconds as Syracuse tried to hold for the final shot.
At the outset, the game had the makings of a barnburner. Triche hit three 3-pointers in the first 6 minutes of play, all off assists by Carter-Williams as the Orange gained an early lead. But Carter kept pace with three 3s and another 3 from the wing by Jerome Seagears tied it at 16.
The score was tied four times before Syracuse took control.
"We were playing really well and we were down two," Boeheim said. "I was getting ready for it to be a battle right down to the end, so I'm shocked at what happened during that period of time. We were playing well. Then we started playing even better."
Both teams are leaving the conference, Syracuse after the season for the Atlantic Coast Conference and Rutgers for the Big Ten at a date that's still to be determined.

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Poulter seeks final piece in major puzzle

 Still feeling a little giddy after a barn-storming finish to his 2012 campaign, Ian Poulter is itching to plug the only hole in his otherwise glittering career resume by winning a major championship.
The fashion-conscious Englishman, widely regarded as one of the best putters in the game, has achieved virtually everything else in professional golf and says landing one of the four majors would fulfill a long cherished dream.
Poulter will launch his 2013 campaign this week at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and readily admits he has been unable to work out the final piece of the major puzzle.
"I don't know what it takes," the flamboyant Englishman told Reuters in a recent interview. "If it means taking off 20 weeks before playing in a major, then I would take 20 weeks off. If it means playing five in a row to win one, then I would do that.
"I've tried a lot of things but I just need to keep doing what I am doing, to be honest with you. I just need to keep working on the same things.
"You need to ride a bit of luck in these majors at certain times to be able to pick one up. No question, I'd really love to win one."
Poulter rebounded from a slow start to last season with a spectacular run of success and consistency that included three top-10 finishes in the majors and his second World Golf Championships (WGC) crown.
"It was an amazing back half of the season," said the 36-year-old, who sealed a two-shot victory in the elite HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament at Missions Hills in China in November.
"The first part of the year was very solid, then three top-10s in the majors ... I must be doing something right. And then I got to the Ryder Cup and backed that up with some great golf."
POULTER SPARK
Late on the second day of the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club, Poulter provided the spark which inspired Europe's astonishing, come-from-behind victory over the United States.
The matchplay specialist finished with five consecutive birdies to earn one of two valuable points in the fourballs, giving his team a slim hope of retaining the trophy as they headed into Sunday's concluding 12 singles trailing 10-6.
"I still get goosebumps just talking about it," Poulter said of his scintillating display in the fourballs. "How it happened I just don't know. It all happened in slow motion.
"It was amazing to see the atmosphere change in the team room that night," he recalled. "The spirit, it just changed. Guys were pumped up ... we just felt there was that little glimmer of hope."
Poulter was one of eight European players who won that Sunday and ended the week at Medinah with a perfect 4-0-0 record as his team stunningly triumphed by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2.
"That Ryder Cup far surpasses anything I've ever felt before on a golf course," said the 12-times European Tour winner.
Four months later, Poulter is ready to launch his 2013 PGA Tour season on the Hawaiian island of Maui in an elite, winners-only field of 30 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Asked to outline his goals for this year, he replied: "I've got lots of goals ... keep working on the same things to improve and to get better and hopefully pick up some titles along with that first major.

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Source: Bills to interview Oregon's Chip Kelly

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Oregon coach Chip Kelly won't have much time to rest after the Fiesta Bowl.
On Friday, Kelly has an interview scheduled with the Buffalo Bills for their coaching vacancy, a person familiar with the coach's plans confirmed late Wednesday night.
The interview will take place in Arizona, a day after the fifth-ranked Ducks play Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills and Kelly haven't revealed the meeting will take place.
USA Today first reported that Kelly was scheduled to interview with Buffalo.
Bills newly promoted president Russ Brandon and front-office brain trust have been in Arizona since Tuesday conducting their coaching search. According to the Bills' website, the team interviewed Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton on Wednesday, a day after meeting with former Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired Monday.
In four years at Oregon, Kelly has a 45-7 record, and is known for his up-tempo offense that has transformed the Ducks into a national power. He is regarded as one of college football's prime candidates for an NFL coaching job this offseason.
Kelly also has been linked as a candidate for the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.
According to several reports, Browns CEO Joe Banner is already in Arizona and also intends to interview Kelly.
Kelly has been deflecting questions about his future all week. He did so again Wednesday when he was asked if he expects to be contacted by NFL teams in the days ahead.
"I don't expect anything," Kelly said. "I said this a million times. I'm never surprised by anything. I do not know what the future holds. I do know we have a football game tomorrow night and I'm going to be there."
The Bills are in the midst of their fifth coaching search since 2001 after Chan Gailey was fired Monday following three consecutive losing seasons.
Though it's unclear how many more candidates they have lined up, the Bills aren't done conducting their search out west after meeting with Kelly.
A second person familiar with Mike McCoy's schedule said the Broncos' offensive coordinator is set to interview with the Bills in Denver this weekend. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not revealed their list of candidates.
As the AFC's top seed, the Broncos have this weekend off before opening the playoffs the following week. They've allotted time for teams interested in McCoy to interview him in Denver this weekend.
Horton has already interviewed twice with the Cardinals, and once with the Browns, before revealing to reporters at the Cardinals' facility that he was set to meet with the Bills.
"I'm excited about the opportunity here, and the fantastic interview I had with Cleveland last night, and am going to try to knock Buffalo's socks off," Horton said.
Horton and Whisenhunt not only coached with the Cardinals, but they also previously coached in Pittsburgh.
That makes them both quite familiar with Bills assistant general manager Doug Whaley, who is a member of the team's search committee. Whaley, who is being groomed as GM Buddy Nix's successor, spent nine seasons working as a Steelers scout before joining the Bills three years ago. He is a Pittsburgh native, as well, and played his college ball at Pitt.
Whaley, on Tuesday, spoke highly of both Whisenhunt and Horton.
"We go way back. We've won some Super Bowls together, so I have high regard for their coaching acumen," he said. "I don't think it will make a decision on if they're going to be our coach, but I can shed some insight on how they performed when I was with them and as persons."

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About 25 arrested in Moscow New Year's Eve protest

 About 25 people reportedly have been arrested in Moscow on New Year's Eve for trying to hold an unsanctioned protest.
The gathering at Triumphalnaya Square in central Moscow on Monday attracted 50 to 100 people.
Among those arrested was prominent radical writer Eduard Limonov; the Interfax news agency cited activists as saying about 25 people were taken into custody.
For about two years, activists have tried to rally on the 31st of each month with that many days, a reference to Article 31 of the Russian constitution that guarantees free assembly. Authorities routinely deny permission for the demonstrations. Limonov's faction has fallen out with other elements of the wave of opposition to President Vladimir Putin that arose last year.
In his New Year's Eve address, Putin made no reference to the protests of the past year, saying only of 2012 that "it was very important to us," according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
"We believe that we can change the life around us and become better ourselves, that we can become more heedful, compassionate, gracious" he was quoted as saying. Russia's fate "depends on our enthusiasm and labor.

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Pope marks end of difficult year, notes God's good

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI marked the end of a difficult year Monday by saying that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails.
Benedict celebrated New Year's Eve with a vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He appeared tired during the service and used a cane afterward — an indication that the busy Christmas season may be taking a toll on the 85-year-old Benedict.
In his homily, Benedict said it's tough to remember that goodness prevails when bad news — death, violence and injustice — "makes more noise than good." He said taking time to meditate in prolonged reflection and prayer can help "find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life."
This past year was full of highs and lows for the pope, including a successful trip to Mexico and Cuba but also the betrayal of his butler, convicted in October of stealing Benedict's personal papers and leaking them to a journalist.
After the service, Benedict was brought out in a covered car to pray before the Vatican's main nativity scene in St. Peter's Square. Walking with a cane in the chilly piazza, Benedict chatted animatedly with the artist who crafted the scene, which recreated an entire village from the poor, southern Italian region of Basilicata which donated this year's crèche.
The Vatican gladly accepted Basilicata's donation after the €550,000 price tag the Vatican paid for the 2009 nativity scene was revealed in the documentation leaked by Benedict's ex-butler Paolo Gabriele.
Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He received a pre-Christmas papal pardon and is expected to soon leave his Vatican City apartment for a new home and job elsewhere.
On Tuesday morning, Benedict celebrates a New Year's Day Mass, which the Catholic Church celebrates as its world day of peace.

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Pope convinced of peace in 2013 despite world woes

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he is convinced that peace will prevail in 2013, despite the inequality, terrorism and "unregulated financial capitalism" that afflict the world today.
Benedict celebrated a New Year's Day Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to mark the church's world day of peace. His target audience was in the front pews: diplomats accredited to the Holy See, who next week will attend the pope's annual address about the plight of the world's poor and its war-torn regions.
In his homily, Benedict said that despite today's terrorism, criminality and the inequality between rich and poor, he is convinced the "numerous works of peace, of which the world is rich, are testimony to the innate vocation of humanity to peace."
He cited "unregulated financial capitalism" as evidence of an "egotistical and individualistic mentality" that is rife in the world.
Later, Benedict appeared at his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square to wish the crowds below a Happy New Year.
Nearby, a man scaled the scaffolding along the colonnade surrounding the square and draped a banner calling on Benedict to "Stop Terrorism." After a few hours of police negotiations, he came down and was escorted away.
The protest didn't appear to cause the pope any disturbance.

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France counts 1,193 cars torched on New Year's Eve

Hundreds of empty, parked cars go up in flames in France each New Year's Eve, set afire by young revelers, a much lamented tradition that remained intact this year with 1,193 vehicles burned, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday.
His announcement was the first time in three years that such figures have been released. The conservative government of former President Nicolas Sarkozy had decided to stop publishing them in a bid to reduce the crime — and not play into the hands of car-torching youths who try to outdo each other.
France's current Socialist government decided otherwise, deeming total transparency the best method, and the rate of burned cars apparently remained steady. On Dec. 31, 2009, the last public figure available, 1,147 vehicles were burned.
Like many countries, France sees cars set on fire during the year for many reasons, including gangs hiding clues of their crimes and people making false insurance claims.
But car-torching took a new step in France when it became a way to mark the arrival of the New Year. The practice reportedly began in earnest among youths — often in poor neighborhoods — in the 1990s in the region around Strasbourg in eastern France.
It also became a voice of protest during the fiery unrest by despairing youths from housing projects that swept France in the fall of 2005. At the time, police counted 8,810 vehicles burned in less than three weeks.
Yet even then, cars were not burned in big cities like Paris, and that remained the case this New Year's Eve. Minister Valls said the Paris suburban region of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the 2005 unrest started, led the nation for torched cars, followed by two eastern regions around Strasbourg.
For some, the decision to tell the public how many cars have been burned on New Year's Eve is a mistake.
Bruno Beschizza, the national secretary for security matters in Sarkozy's UMP party, said on iTele TV that publishing the numbers motivates youths to commit such crimes. "We know that neighborhoods compete," he said. Gang rivalries center on who can torch the most cars, with claims made on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, he said.
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Trade, tax, transparency on June G8 meet agenda - UK

Trade, tax compliance and promoting greater transparency will be the main focus of the next meeting of leaders of the Group of Eight major economies in June, Britain said on Wednesday as it assumed the group's rotating presidency.
Prime Minister David Cameron said he hoped the group's seven other member nations - the United States, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, Canada and Germany - would join Britain in trying to "fire up economies and drive prosperity".
"At the heart of my agenda for the Summit are three issues - advancing trade, ensuring tax compliance and promoting greater transparency," Cameron said in a letter to other G8 leaders.
The next G8 meeting is expected to be held in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland.
On trade, Cameron said deals between the European Union and Canada, Japan and the United States was on the table, and efforts are also expected to be made to close international tax loopholes and strengthen global tax standards.
Cameron also hopes to boost transparency and accountability of aid spending.
The British prime minister said the G8 economies together account for around half of the world's economic output and so should be able to achieve ambitious goals.
However, experts question the group's continuing relevancy given it does not include rising powers China, Brazil or India.

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