Anyone who spends 15 years in charge of the Royal & Ancient surely is entitled to at least one mulligan. Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. "As you know, we dont have them over here. I was 2 down with four to play and on the par-3 15th, I shanked one. So I said to him, Ill have my mulligan now. And with my next shot, I had a hole-in-one. I think he was so rattled that he lost the match. I never allowed myself to take another one. I had to keep my record intact." Dawson is keeping another record rather tidy, somewhat by coincidence. He announced last month that he will retire in September 2015 as secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and chief executive of The R&A, a business division he wisely created 10 years ago. He will have served 16 years, the same tenure as the three R&A secretaries before him. What sets him apart is coping with perhaps the most challenging times in the clubs 260-year history. He is proud of a central role he played in getting golf back into the Olympics for the first time in more than a century, and Dawson will stay on as head of the International Golf Federation through the Rio Games. One of his favourite moments was gathering British Open champions at St. Andrews in 2000 to celebrate the millennium, an exhibition that brought together the likes of Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros on a glorious late afternoon at the home of golf. But the Royal & Ancient game has been moving at warp speed over the last two decades, and Dawson has been in the middle of it. He took over in 1999, about the time Callaway introduced the thin-faced ERC driver with a trampoline effect that was not allowed by USGA, yet approved by the R&A standards. That three-year period of golfs ruling bodies not being on the same page is the one "working mulligan" Dawson would have wanted. Three years later, the R&A and USGA published a "Joint Statement of Principles," and pledged to work more closely together. The most recent example was the decision to publish a new rule in 2016 that will ban the anchored stroke used for long putters -- a putting stroke used to win each of the four majors over the last three years. There remains strife among leading golf organizations over the ban, though Dawson isnt budging. He also has heard plenty of criticism about changes to the Old Course at St. Andrews, seen as sacrilege by purists who believe the R&A is changing golf courses instead of reining in technology. And in September, the R&A Golf Club is to vote on a proposal to allow female members for the first time, which Dawson endorses. The vote is two years after Augusta National invited female members to join for the first time. Was it all enough to make Dawson want to retire? "That was just normal course of business," he said dismissively. "Quite often, the media perception of what is weighing heavily on us is not particularly so." What weighed heaviest on Dawson, and still does, is striking the balance between technology and skill. There is pressure from one corner to slow the golf ball and reduce the size of drivers, and pressure from another corner to make the sport easier at a time when golf participation is in decline. "Keeping the balance right has been the biggest intellectual challenge," Dawson said. He is comfortable that the R&A and USGA got it about right. That will be debated long after Dawson leaves, and it figures to confront the next R&A chief. Dawsons reputation, unlike that of predecessor Sir Michael Bonallack, was built on management more than golf, and it was the right fit for the times. The next R&A chief could be a blend of both. No obvious candidates have emerged in the last month. Asked for the best qualifications, Dawson mentioned someone steeped in the values of golf, with commercial and international experience, and two other attributes -- diplomacy and humility. "One of the things you have to do as a governing body is to treat golf as a sport, as opposed to a business," Dawson said. "Other bodies might put business first because of priorities. The commercial side of what we do is very important to allow us to fulfil the governance role, and you cant lose sight of that. But I view golf first. Business is close. If youre scrambling for finances, its difficult to maintain your principles. So the financial success is important to sport." Martin St. Louis Jersey . Ramirez is still hitting behind Puig, only now they are in the third and fourth spots, and the change is starting to generate positive results for manager Don Mattingly. Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . "Im going to send Webbie a six-pack (of beer) tonight," she said. Webb wasnt sure that would help. "Ill probably drink one and go to sleep," the Australian veteran said. The two players set up a Sunday showdown between former HSBC champions after finishing off their third rounds with identical birdies over three of the last five holes Saturday to separate themselves slightly from the rest of the crowded leaderboard. http://www.hockeylightning.com/authentic...ghtning-jersey/. To be fair, the celebrations are already anything but tame. Nerf ball tricks shots are just the tip of the iceberg for a group that has performed in zero gravity, faced pro-skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and an assembled team on the MTV series "Fantasy Factory", and even hit a basketball trick shot from a passing blimp. Ryan McDonagh Jersey . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit. Steven Stamkos Jersey . The Brazilian driver had the second-best time in last months tests at Jerez and said the "good start" could play to his advantage when the season gets underway in Australia in March.ERIE, Pa. - Connor Brown and Dane Fox both scored in regulation and in the shootout, as the Erie Otters extended their win streak to 10 games by defeating the London Knights 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Foxs goal was his league-leading 41st of the season for the Otters (29-4-1). He has 18 goals in his last 10 games. Hayden Hodgson and Darren Raddysh also scored for Erie. Ryan Rupert, Chris Tierney and Brady Austin scored for the Knights (24-6-3), who had their seven-game win streak halted. Devin Williams made 30 saves for Erie as Jake Patterson stopped 15-of-18 shots for London. The Otters went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Knights went 0 for 4. --- ICEDOGS 5 BULLS 3 BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Brendan Perlini scored once and set up two more as Niagara downed the Bulls. Aaron Haydon and Anthony DiFruscia each had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs (10-20-4) while Graham Knott and Mitchell Fitzmorris rounded out the scoring for Niagara. Aaron Berisha, Cameron Brace and Remi Elie supplied the offence for Belleville (8-21-4). Brent Moran made 35 saves for Niagara, while Charlie Graham allowed five goals on 24 shots for the Bulls. --- PETES 3 WHALERS 2 (SO) PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Jonatan Tanus scored the shootout winner as Peterborough handed Plymouth its eighth loss in a row. Josh Maguire and Michael Clarke scored in regulation for the Petes (13-18-3). The Whalers (11-19-4) got both goals from Ryan Horvat. Andrew DAgostini stopped 29 shots for Peterborough as Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 28-of-30 for Plymouth. --- FRONTENACS 9 STING 1 SARNIA, Ont. -- Ryan Verbeek scored four times and Darcy Greenaway had three assists as Kingston crushed the Sting. Michael Moffat scored once and added two assists for the Frontenacs (17-10-4) while Robert Polesello, Lawson Crouse, Warren Steele and Conor McGlynn tacked on the others. Alex Carnevale scored Sarnias (11-19-3) lone goal. Matt Mahalak made 25 saves for Kingstoon as Barrick Brodie gave up all nine goals on 52 shots for the Sting.dddddddddddd --- GREYHOUNDS 3 GENERALS 0 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Matt Murray turned away all 40 shots he faced as the Greyhounds blanked Oshawa for their first win in three outings. Blake Speers scored twice for Sault Ste. Marie (22-8-3) while Jared McCann had a goal and an assist. Ken Appleby started in net for the Generals (24-9-2) but was pulled after two periods after allowing three goals on 17 shots. Daniel Altshuler came in for the third and stopped all six shots he faced. The Greyhounds went 2 for 7 on the power play as Oshawa went 0 for 5. --- RANGERS 5 SPIRIT 1 SAGINAW, Mich. -- Darby Llewellyn scored twice and Matthew Greenfield made 45 saves as Kitchener snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Spirit. Scott Teskey, Max Iafrate and Curtis Meighan also scored for the Rangers (12-19-1) and Ryan MacInnis chipped in with two assists. Jimmy Lodge scored for Saginaw (16-13-5). Nikita Serebryakov stopped 36-of-40 shots for the Spirit. --- COLTS 4 SPITFIRES 3 BARRIE, Ont. -- Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 52 shots and Andrew Mangiapane scored the winner at 15:03 of the third period as the Colts slipped past Windsor. Mangiapane earned the games first star after scoring three times for Barrie (17-13-3) while Brendan Lemieux had the other. Cristiano DiGiacinto, Ben Johnson and Chris Cobham scored for Spitfires (20-11-1) and Brady Vail had two assists. Alex Fotinos stopped 33-of-37 shots for Windsor. --- STORM 4 ATTACK 0 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Matthew Mancina stopped 35 shots and Robby Fabbri scored twice as Guelph shutout the Attack. The Storm (22-7-3), who jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play, also got goals from Scott Kosmachuk and Pius Suter. Brandon Hope turned away 31-of-34 shots for Owen Sound (16-11-5). Guelph went 2 for 6 on the power play while the Attack failed to score on three chances with the man advantage. ' ' '