MARANA, Ariz. Gerald Green Jersey . -- Ernie Els hardly ever catches a break at the Match Play Championship. When the first edition was held in 1999 at La Costa, he was trailing Paul Azinger going to the 18th hole when his tee shot caught the worst of lies in the rough. And it didnt get much better after that. He lost in the second round a year later to Bob Estes by missing a 4-foot putt on the last hole. He once blew a 3-up lead against Tom Lehman and missed a 4-foot putt on the 19th hole. And even the Big Easy could only laugh the year Phil Tataurangi buried a 25-foot putt on the bumpy greens of La Costa to force extra holes and beat him in 20. Just last year, Els lost on the last hole at Dove Mountain by missing from 5 feet to Freddie Jacobson. So perhaps this year is a small measure of justice. Counting the conceded putts, Els had a 75 on Wednesday and a 73 on Thursday. And somehow, the 44-year-old South African is still in the tournament. The latest win was a big one. Els was 1 down with two holes to play against U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and beat him in 20 holes. "I dont know if I can say I enjoy it," Els said. "But its a different experience every time. Its a battle. Sometimes youre up for it. I found myself at times not being quite up for it. ... Its a matter of who is going to gut it out. And thats, I guess, the nature of match play, is how much you want it. "But in this tournament, I havent done that well. Hopefully, I can go further now." Rose made a bogey on the 17th hole to square their match. Then Els faced a tricky 6-foot par putt to extend the match on the 18th. "I just guessed right," Els said. "For once, I made it. Ive missed it many other times." On the first extra hole, No. 1, he stood on the crest of the hill and watched Rose hit his approach to 10 feet. Els hit his shot in nearly the exact location, and then poured it into the cup for birdie. Rose made his birdie putt, too. But it looked as though the ghosts of Match Play returned to play tricks with Els mind. With Rose in the bunker left of the green on the par-5 second hole, Els smashed a 5-iron right into the sun. He couldnt see where it was going, but thought it was good. It wasnt. The ball curled around the edge of the bunker and stayed on the slope of the brown collar. "An impossible shot," Els said. He thought about lofting a chip onto the green and let it ride a ridge behind the cup back toward the hole for a reasonable look at birdie. He caught it slightly thin. The ball went into the bank of the green and trickled down to 4 feet, a tremendous outcome. Rose left his shot in the bunker, and Els made the birdie putt to advance. "It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime shots, really," Els said. He was due for one of those. Next up for Els is another major champion, Jason Dufner. Eric Gordon Rockets Jersey . Footballs governing body said Tuesday that of the 2,577,662 tickets allocated for this years tournament, 1,041,418 have gone to people in Brazil. The U. Robert Horry Rockets Jersey . After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead.MELBOURNE, Australia -- Montreals Eugenie Bouchard is out of the Australian Open. Chinas Li Na defeated Bouchard 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday in the semifinal of the womens singles tournament. The 19-year-old Bouchard is the first Canadian woman to reach the final four of a Grand Slam tournament in 30 years. "Im proud of how Ive improved as a player throughout the tournament. But Im never satisfied with losing. Im always disappointed," said Bouchard, who received a fifth stuffed Aussie animal -- an Emu named Sheila -- from her Australian fans dubbed the Genie Army. "I always want to go further and do better. I wouldnt say I exceeded my expectations, but Im happy with how I did." Li, the No. 4-seed and the 2011 French Open champion, is the only major winner and the highest-ranked player still in contention after the fourth-round upsets of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Defending champion Victoria Azarenkas lost in the quarter-final to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. No. 5 seed Radwanska was playing Dominika Cibulkova in the second semifinal later Thursday. Bouchard was determined to build off the success she experienced at the Australian Open. "Ive been working hard my whole life to do this, play at Grand Slams and do well," said Bouchard. "Its not an overnight thing. So Im just going to go back to the practtice courts and keep working hard. Steve Francis Jersey. " Li, who lost last years final to Azarenka, was aggressive from the start against Bouchard, who started nervously and didnt win a point in her first three service games. Fittingly, Li finished off the match with a backhand crosscourt, one of 16 backhand winners in the match and her biggest weapon against Bouchard. "I think maybe she will be best player in the world. But today (Im) so lucky," said Li during a court-side interview after the match. Li jokingly apologized to the Genie Army after the match, undoubtedly increasing her own huge support base at Melbourne Park. "Sorry about that," she said. "If you guys be happy, I will go home." Bouchard said she changed her strategy to get out of her early slump. "I just wanted to get into the match a little bit more. I felt like she was really hitting her shots. I was just letting her do all these winners side to side, it wasnt really my game," said Bouchard. "I tried to get into the rallies more, try to step in a little bit more, and try to put more pressure on her because she was just putting a lot of pressure on me. "She didnt give me much breathing space, much room to do what I want to do on the court. 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