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MELBOURNE, Australia -- Japanese ace Hideki Matsuyama has already left his imprint on the World Cup, much to the despair of the course superintendent of host golf club Kingston Heath.Matsuyama spent so long on the practice putting green in stifling heat on Monday that his footmarks burned the grass in three spots which then had to be temporarily cordoned off.While few early arrivals even ventured outside in the 35 degrees (95 F) heat, the world No.6 worked undistracted for five hours to perfect his putting technique to prepare for the fast greens that are one of the trademarks of the 7111-yard (6503-meter) par 72 course thats ranked second behind Royal Melbourne in this citys famed sandbelt golf region in the south-east suburbs.Matsuyama, who has won three of his past four starts, including the recent WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, laughed off the marathon putting lesson, saying: Those footprints are there because I weigh a lot.Japan is the pre-event second favorite behind Australian pair Adam Scott and Marc Leishman, with Matsuyama joined by a fit-again Ryo Ishikawa for the teams competition of foursomes on Thursday and Saturday and four-balls on Friday and Sunday.Ishikawa, sidelined by a lower back injury for six months from February, said the invitation was motivation for his return that has already netted a win in Japan and top 10 finish in Malaysia.Hideki is definitely one of the hottest players right now. Im just coming in here trying to do my best and be able to compete with him because its definitely a great opportunity here this week, Ishikawa said.Hot is also an apt description for Swedens Alex Noren, who will partner 65th ranked David Lingmerth, after victories at the Scottish Open, European Masters, British Masters and, just two weeks ago, the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.Norens world rankings trajectory, from as low as 654th after his first tournament of 2015 to checking in at No.9 last week is an astonishing climb.Noren has the benefit of being an occasional visitor to nearby Huntingdale when it was home of the Australian Masters.While a Monday night storm and subsequent showers for two days have deadened the greens, Scott predicted that precision rather than power would be the key on the tight, tree-lined layout where the bunkers are cut into the side of the putting surfaces, with no fringes to stop a wayward approach shot.Irelands Shane Lowry said he and colleague Graeme McDowell had a game plan after the first practice round and have already changed it due to a different wind direction.The foursomes will be a tough test and youve got to try to make a score in the four-balls, Lowry said.McDowell believes the event is wide open despite the focus on the Americans Rickie Fowler, whose world ranking is 12, and Jimmy Walker (19), along with the Australian and Japanese pairings. Englands Chris Wood (37) and Andy Sullivan (40), Scotlands Russell Knox (18) and Duncan Stewart (315) and Spains Rafa Cabrera Bello (30) and Jon Rahm (125) all look capable of victory.McDowell was tied eighth when Scott won the 2012 Australian Masters at Kingston Heath. New Zealands Ryan Fox, tied fourth at last weeks Australian Open, was tied 14th in that same tournament. Others with Kingston Heath experience are Austrias Bernd Wiesberger, tied 14th when Tiger Woods won the 2009 Masters title and Germanys Alex Cejka, who shot 76 and 80 to miss the cut that year.Lower ranked teams with genuine chances include Belgium (Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts), Thailand (Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat) and Denmark (Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen). Paul George Shoes Free Shipping . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Paul George Shoes From China . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Wholesale Paul George Shoes . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. Paul George Shoes For Sale . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. There was a moment on the final afternoon of the Rajkot Test when Ben Stokes swapped his position at slip with Ben Duckett and moved to extra cover.With Adil Rashid bowling, the ball was being driven in that direction often and he wanted to be in the game more.A little while later, with the batsmen stealing runs to Alastair Cook at mid-on, Stokes moved the England captain out of the way and took the position.He had already been promoted to No. 4 in the batting line-up, as England searched for quick runs before the declaration, and he had proved himself Englands premier bowler of reverse swing in Bangladesh. Hell, he even bowled a few overs of off-spin in the UAE last year.Increasingly, the answer to every question that England pose is Ben Stokes. Increasingly, he resembles that super-talented bloke in the school team who opens the batting and the bowling and then keeps wicket for a bit.Now, sitting in the team hotel in Visakhapatnam (and looking so like a Van Gogh self-portrait that you fear for his ears), he laughs at the description. But he doesnt deny it.Its come from the coaches, he says. Im always getting told, when the spinner is on and the ball is looking like it is going to a certain position all the time, go there. It was the same when Pujara was hitting the ball to Cooky at mid-on, I went over there.But I think I get given the responsibility to move myself and I have more confidence to do that. Rather than before, when I thought Id look a bit arrogant if I just said swap, and its come from the coaches as well which is good. The players dont take any offence.The desire to be in the thick of the action is nothing new for Stokes. But the confidence to ask players - including the England captain - to swap positions is new and reflects Stokes new-found self-confidence and status within the side. At times this winter, he has looked Englands best batsman, best bowler and best fielder. At times this winter - and yes, these are relatively early days - its looked as if Stokes has graduated from promising to the real thing. Notwithstanding Andrew Flintoff in his pomp, England havent had a better allrounder since Ian Botham.Stokes agrees that he owes his improvement, to some extent at least, to the faith shown in him by the England management. In particular, he credits his promotion to No. 6 in the batting order as crucial.I started off decent in Australia, but after that it was pretty shit, to be honest, he says. I didnt score a run against India in three innings. But they kept on picking me and picking me and, once Paul Farbrace got me back up the order to six, it carried on from there. The more Ive played, the more confidence Ive got. The last 18 months has been the turnaround period for me.Playing on low, slow, turning wickets was, in Cooks words, probably the last challenge facing Stokes. But, after an innings of 85 in Chittagong and 128 in Rajkot, it seems he has made substantial progress. Working with Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash, he learned a method to defend against spin bowling so that he is able to soak up periods of pressure and capitalise if the bowlers tire or stray.Ive always known I can hit the big shots, he says now. But I tightened up the other things which dont come as easy: the defensive side of it and rotating the strike. I was doing sessions of not getting out, playing defensively, going forward or back no matter what the ball was. As nets progressed, I started getting into a few more attacking shots.My feet have got better. I do not get stuck on the crease as much as I used to. It still happens now and again, but Im generally getting right forward and right back. My technique against spinners has gone up a level and its good to be able to look back from a year ago and understand why I am being more successful.The century in Rajkot was, he believes, the first time he has batted for more than 200 balls in a single innings (he faced 198 for his epic 258 in Cape Town in January). Whilee he accepts he had some luck - there were times I was laughing at myself and the amount of times the ball seemed to land in between fielders - he also hopes he has proved himself against what he calls the best team in the world and the best bowler in the world.ddddddddddddRavi Ashwin knows exactly where he is going to bowl every ball, Stokes says. He changes his pace and almost seems to read you. Its almost like you are telling him that youre going to run down the wicket and he bowls the ball where you dont want it to be. And Ravi Jadeja doesnt miss the area where he wants to bowl. To perform against them is a good feeling. Its the best feeling Ill have. All the work Ive done is paying off. We take confidence from it that we got 530 or whatever it was and lost only two wickets on a fourth- and fifth-day pitch. So from that point of view I think were pretty confident in the way we managed to hold off those two.The demands of batting for so long in hot conditions took their toll on Stokes. Cramp forced him off the field and, for the first portion of the India reply, he was unable to play a meaningful role with the ball. He accepts this is partially due to his difficulty in eating while he is batting - he explains that it makes him uncomfortable - and left the England support staff, in his words, trying to force-feed him.Our physio, strength-and-conditioning coach and doctor were trying to force-feed me pretty much, he says. I cant eat when Im not out, I dont know why. I literally cant eat, not even a protein shake or anything. Ive never been able to. I eat on a bowling day, definitely, just when Im not out I cant seem to eat anything.That was the reason for the cramp. Ill have to put up with a bit of cramp here and there, I think. Everyone gets it, except Cooky because he never sweats so he doesnt lose any fluid.I think this is the first time Ive realised it is tough to bat and bowl and try to back one of the skills up with the other. It doesnt really affect you in England because it is always freezing.For all the talk of giving Stokes responsibility - he was vice-captain to Jos Buttler when the ODI side played Bangladesh recently - he dismisses any suggestion that he might one day want to be captain.No, he says when asked if the responsibility appeals. You have to be boring like Cooky if you want to be captain. Im just enjoying being where I am at the moment which is having opinions valued by captains, coaches and other guys.I enjoyed being Joss right hand man. It didnt feel like I was doing anything different. The difference was Jos would have a few discussions whereas you normally see Cook and Rooty doing that or Eoin and Jos.He is frustrated, though, at Englands status as underdogs for this series, despite their improvement over the last 18 months or so - their Ashes win, their series victory in South Africa, their performance in the World T20 and an ODI series victory in Bangladesh that had proved beyond so many others of late.No matter what we have done over the last 18 months, we always seem to get underdogged, he says. But we pull something out of the bag, win and it seems a surprise to people. We are heading in the right direction in all forms of the game.Trevor Bayliss is a man of few words but one thing he complimented us on after every session in Rajkot was our attitude towards fielding. We were never switching off. We were always on it.We were not going into series thinking we were going to lose. We have taken a lot of confidence from knowing we were ahead of India pretty much the whole Test match. We have taken confidence from knowing how well we have done with bat and ball. Weve four games left and we are going to try and win all four.Investec is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. For more on Investec private banking, visit investec.co.uk/banking ' ' '