THE BULLETIN • MoNday, aprIL 12, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
S PORTS
A5
Hideki
Matsuyama
becomes the
first Japanese
player in a
green jacket
THE WAIT
IS OVER
Hideki Matsuyama, of Japan, tips his cap after winning the Masters golf tournament on Sunday in Augusta, Georgia. Matt Slocum/AP
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
A
UGUSTA, Ga. — Hideki Mat-
suyama delivered golf-mad Ja-
pan the grandest and greenest
prize of all.
Ten years after Matsuyama made a sterling
debut as the best amateur at Augusta Na-
tional, he claimed the ultimate trophy Sun-
day with a victory in the Masters to become
the first Japanese winner of the green jacket.
Matsuyama closed with a 1-over 73 and
a one-shot victory that was only close at the
end, and never seriously in doubt after Xan-
der Schauffele’s late charge ended with a tri-
ple bogey on the par-3 16th.
Moments before Dustin Johnson helped
him into the green jacket, Matsuyama
needed no interpreter in Butler Cabin when
he said in English, “I’m really happy.”
So masterful was this performance that
SWIMMING
& DIVING
Katie Ledecky
dominates 1,500
Katie Ledecky won the
1,500-meter freestyle at
the Pro Swim Series meet
with the world’s fastest
time this year.
She touched in 15
minutes, 40.55 seconds
in the out-
door pool
on Sunday.
Ashley
Twichell
finished
Ledecky
second in
16:06.68.
Ledecky’s time was 17
seconds quicker than the
second-fastest swimmer,
Simona Quadarella who
swam 15:57.03 at the re-
cent Italian Olympic trials.
Ledecky set the world re-
cord of 15:20.48 in 2018.
Ledecky’s 800 split
would have won the in-
dividual event in Mission
Viejo and would have
been the world’s fastest
this year as well. Her final
time in the 1,500 would
have been good enough
to place third in the men’s
event, won by Jordan
Wilimovsky in 15:10.44.
Ledecky finished sec-
ond in the 100 free in
54.22 seconds. Abbey
Weitzeil won in 53.68.
The women’s 1,500 will
be an Olympic event for
the first time at the Tokyo
Games.
—Associated Press
Matsuyama stretched his lead to six shots on
the back nine until a few moments of drama.
With a four-shot lead, he went for the green
in two on the par-5 15th and it bounded hard
off the back slope and into the pond on the
16th hole.
Matsuyama did well to walk away with
bogey, and with Schauffele making a fourth
straight birdie, the lead was down to two
shots with three to play.
The next swing all but ended it. Schauf-
fele’s tee shot on the par-3 16th bounced off
the hill left of the green and dribbled into the
pond. His third shot from the drop area went
into the gallery. It added to a triple bogey,
and his third close call in a major.
Never mind that Matsuyama bogeyed
three of his last four holes, the first Masters
champion with a final round over par since
Trevor Immelman shot 75 in 2008.
See Masters / A6
Last 15 Masters
Champions
David J. Phillip/AP
Hideki Matsuyama, of Japan, holds the trophy af-
ter winning the Masters golf tournament on Sun-
day in Augusta, Georgia.
2021 — Hideki Matsuyama
2020 — Dustin Johnson
2019 — Tiger Woods
2018 — Patrick Reed
2017 — Sergio Garcia
2016 — Danny Willett
2015 — Jordan Spieth
2014 — Bubba Watson
2013 — Adam Scott
2012 — Bubba Watson
2011 — Charl Schwartzel
2010 — Phil Mickelson
2009 — Angel Cabrera
2008 — Trevor Immelman
2007 — Zach Johnson
NASCAR CUP SERIES
TRAIL BLAZERS
Truex outlasts Hamlin to win again
Kanter has 30
rebounds in win
BY HANK KURZ JR.
Associated Press
MARTINSVILLE, Va. —
Martin Truex Jr. won a stir-
ring, laps-long duel for the
lead with teammate Denny
Hamlin in the delayed NA-
SCAR Cup Series race at Mar-
tinsville Speedway on Sunday.
Truex, who nudged Ham-
lin repeatedly in the turns and
tried to get to his inside on the
straightaways without success,
finally made the pass with 15
laps to go, ducking underneath
Hamlin coming out of the sec-
ond turn. He sailed off to vic-
tory without another challenge
as Hamlin and Chase Elliott
battled the rest of the way for
second.
Truex won for the third time
in the last four races on the
0.526-mile oval, and became
the first repeat winner this
season.
The race was rained out af-
ter 42 laps Saturday night, and
was completed as the second
part of a doubleheader that
started with the completion of
the rain-delayed Xfinity Series
race from Friday night.
Elliott, who won here last
fall on his way to winning the
series championship, held off
Hamlin for second. Hamlin
was third, followed by William
Byron and Kyle Larson.
“That was a lot of fun there
at the end, racing with Denny,”
Truex said about his Joe Gibbs
Racing teammate. “We raced
Steve Helber/AP
Martin Truex Jr. gives a thumbs-up as he celebrates with a fan after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race
at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, on Sunday.
clean and we were able to
come out on top.”
The outcome was not only
disappointing for Hamlin,
who had a dominant car and
led 276 laps, but also for Ryan
Blaney, who won the first two
stages and led 157 laps but
dragged an air gun out of his
pit after the final stop and was
sent back to 19th in the field.
Earlier, he and Hamlin were
dominant.
Blaney passed Hamlin for
the lead on Lap 75 and cruised
to victory in the 130-lap Stage
1, and Stage 2 played out much
the same. Hamlin was fast
early in the run, pulling com-
fortable ahead, but Blaney
eventually ran him down to
win that stage, too.
The race featured several
drastic changes in fortunes,
perhaps none bigger than for
Joey Logano. He was in dan-
ger of being lapped at the end
of the first stage, but gambled
with others by staying on the
track to gain track position
when most of the leaders pitted.
It worked because another
caution flew shortly thereaf-
ter, allowing him to pit for the
fresh tires most other teams al-
ready had and stayed near the
front the rest of the way.
Logano finished sixth.
Misfortune was the case for
Alex Bowman, Brad Kesel-
owski and several others be-
cause of a major pileup on the
backstretch involving more
than a dozen cars on Lap 387.
Bowman had gotten as high as
second before getting caught
up in the mess that ended his
day, and Keselowski, a two-
time winner at Martinsville,
also had to call it a day after
the wreck.
With each rebound
that Enes Kanter added to
his new Portland record,
his teammates on the
bench wildly cheered.
Kanter had 24 points
and a franchise-record 30
rebounds, and the Blazers
beat the Detroit Pistons
118-103 late Saturday.
Kanter bested Sidney
Wicks’ Portland record of
27 rebounds set in 1975.
Kanter also surpassed his
own career high of 26 set
while with the Knicks in
2018.
The raucous sideline
cheers were a fitting trib-
ute to Kanter, who has
served as both a backup
and a starter this season
as needed.
“I was so happy when
I looked at the bench and
everybody was up, every-
body was cheering, ev-
erybody was smiling, ev-
erybody was supporting
their teammates. That’s
what we’re all about,”
Kanter said. “That’s what
Blazers basketball is all
about, just supporting
each other.”
Damian Lillard had
27 points and 10 assists
and CJ McCollum added
26 points for the Blazers,
who snapped a two-
game losing streak.
Center Jusuf Nurkic
was not available for the
Blazers. Kanter started in
Nurkic’s place.
— Associated Press