Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November.

Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan agreed that the lure of representing England in this weeks World Cup of Golf was impossible to resist despite both players having to postpone their holidays. The Ryder Cup stars were scheduled to take an extended break from the game following the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, but they have changed their plans to compete at the superb Kingston Heath course in Melbourne.But Danny Willett, who had chosen Lee Westwood as his partner, opted to pull out to protect his suspect back and Wood was the next highest-ranked player to be given the option of teeing it up with Justin Rose unavailable. Chris Wood chose to play with Andy Sullivan in Melbourne Wood decided to bring in Sullivan rather than retain Westwood for the competition, a move that prompted the latter to express his disappointment during the European Tour finale last week.Wood responded on Sunday by hinting that Willett was in the wrong for choosing Westwood in the first place, with four other English players higher up in the world rankings. Lee Westwood was disappointed to be left out having initially been chosen by Danny Willett I went down the rankings and I did it in as fair a way as I could, Wood said after his final round at the Jumeirah Golf Estates. There wasnt this much fuss when Danny jumped myself, Tyrrell Hatton, Fitzy (Matt Fitzpatrick) and Sully to get to Lee.I totally understand Lees frustration, youre ready to go, but myself and Sully are hungry to go and play and surely thats what you want. Willetts withdrawal opened the door for Wood to chose his partner And on their arrival in Australia, Wood and Sullivan insisted they were happy to interrupt their breaks as they bid to become only the third English pair to win the event after David Carter and Nick Faldo in 1998, and Paul Casey with Luke Donald 12 years ago. Sky Sports Black Friday sale Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price! I was having six weeks off just to chill out a little longer, said Sullivan. But Im not sure how many World Cups Im going to be invited to play, so when you get the opportunity to come and play, the only answer I was going to give was yes.Wood added: I had a holiday planned with my wife, so she went home instead of being on holiday with me in Dubai. I had to deal with that gently! Wood and Sullivan are long-time friends and practised together during the Ryder Cup But the chance to play in a World Cup and the golf courses down here are so good. These sort of sandbelt courses I could play for the rest of my life, so the opportunity to come down here and play, Im always going to take it.Weve got a height difference to overcome for the week, but it will be great. We both play the same ball so it will be pretty easy for us. Weve both had pretty good years, both played Ryder Cup. So this is a great end to the season for both of us. Wood and Sullivan are one of only two teams featuring two players ranked inside the worlds top 50, the other being the American Ryder Cup pairing of Rickie Fowler and PGA champion Jimmy Walker.Thomas Pieters, the leading points scorer on his stunning debut at Hazeltine, plays alongside former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts for Belgium, while the home nation are represented by Adam Scott and Marc Leishman.Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4! 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Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. PHILADELPHIA -- Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel had a simple trick to help his team get over a brutal loss in Memphis the previous night.I let them sleep in, Vogel said.Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 20 points, Nikola Vucevic had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and the Magic awoke from its slumber to cruise by the Philadelphia 76ers 105-88 in a matchup of slumping Eastern Conference teams Friday night.Serge Ibaka, Evan Fournier and Jeff Green all added 16 points for the Magic (8-12), who had lost five of six coming in, including a one-point loss to the Grizzlies on Thursday in which they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead.I thought we played well last night and we just didnt close the game out, Vogel said. Were continuing to show we have one of the top defenses in the league. Were going to be a great defensive team and were going to score enough to win.Bismack Biyombo had 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who shot 50 percent from 3-point range and 47.4 percent from the field.The Sixers (4-15) lost their fifth straight despite 25 points and 10 rebounds from rookie Joel Embiid. It was his fifth double-double of the season.Jahlil Okafor, who saw extended action with Embiid for the first time this season, also had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.Nobody else scored in double figures for the Sixers, who shot 37.9 percent from the field. They missed 20 of their 26 shot attempts in the first quarter and allowed the Magic to go on an early 16-0 run to fall behind for good.Sometimes you read so much into back-to-backs, Sixers coach Brett Brown said. You assume people are tired or depressed because they lost at the buzzer. I give them credit. They came in and played with great energy. I dont know how to explain that.The game was the first for the rested Sixers in four days after Wednesdays scheduled matchup against the Sacramento Kings was postponed because of moisture on the Wells Fargo Center court.TIP-INSMagic: Orlando was back in the same building where it overcame an 18-point deficit in a 103-101 win over the Sixers a little more than a month ago. The Magic have won four straight vs. Philly. ... The Magic havee two games left of a five-game trip.dddddddddddd.76ers: Robert Covington left in the fourth quarter with a left knee sprain after logging nine points and six rebounds. ... PG Jerryd Bayless missed his third straight game with left wrist soreness after previously sitting out the first 13 games.THE EMBIID-OKAFOR EXPERIMENTEmbiid and Okafor looked sharp when paired together as the crowd roared in delight watching the two cornerstones of the franchises rebuilding effort. In the second quarter, Embiid hit a 3-pointer, fed Okafor for a basket and then hit a jumper to pull the Sixers within 23-21.During their second stint together in the fourth quarter, the two centers produced 12 of the teams 19 points while combining to shoot 5 for 5 from the field in just over 7 minutes.I thought we had our moments, said Embiid, who had his minutes restriction increased from 24 to 28 two days after being named the NBAs Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November. We made shots. Obviously we need to play more together.MEEKS BIG RETURNMagic guard Jodie Meeks made his season debut after a foot injury held him out for the first 19 games. He finished with 10 points and three steals in 17 minutes, while shooting 2 for 3 from 3-point range.Vogel didnt think it was a coincidence that the sharpshooters return coincided with Orlandos best shooting night of the season.Its contagious, I guess, Vogel said. It was good to see him back out there. He was a little rusty in certain areas but thats to be expected. But he looked a lot less rusty than I thought he would.CLUTCH SHOOTING (AND PASSING)The Magic put the game away in the third quarter thanks to consecutive 3s from D.J. Augustin followed by one from Gordon -- shots Vogel called pivotal.Gordon, who shot 9 for 14 from the field and 2 for 4 from 3-point range, credited the teams passing for all of the baskets.I think our passing was very good tonight, he said. We were on time and on target.UP NEXTMagic: At Detroit on Sunday night.76ers: Host Boston on Saturday night. ' ' '