MARANA, Ariz. -- Jason Day of Australia and Victor Dubuisson of France reached the 18-hole final of the Match Play Championship on Sunday. Day, a semifinalist last year, led from the start in a 3-and-2 victory over Rickie Fowler. Dubuisson became the fourth player to reach the championship match on his debut in the 15 years after this World Golf Championship began in 1999. He had to take down Ernie Els in the most compelling match of the morning on Dove Mountain. Els, trying to reach the final for the first time, went 3 up through four holes and was on the verge of stretching his lead until the 23-year-old Frenchman halved the hole with a tough par putt at No. 7. Dubuisson won four of the next five holes to take the lead, only for the 44-year-old Els to battle back. Els made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to square the match, and they headed to the 18th hole. Dubuisson hit to the back fringe, while Els came up short with a 6-iron into the breeze and found a bunker. He blasted out to just outside 12 feet, and narrowly missed the par putt to extend the match. Dubuisson said he didnt sleep well Saturday night and didnt feel well when he arrived at the golf course, perhaps because "I realized I was in the semifinal of the World Golf Championship against Ernie Els." "Im a big fan of Ernie, so I have always been watching him winning majors," he said. "I knew I had to play my best golf. Its what I did." Dubuisson is the first player since Geoff Ogilvy in 2006 to reach the final match in his first time playing this event. Ogilvy went on to win the title. It was a big blow to Els, who badly pulled an 8-iron far left of the flag on the 17th, losing a chance to put pressure on Dubuisson, and then came up short on the 18th. "Its tough to take," said the four-time major champion. Day won the opening hole with a birdie and never looked back, though Fowler didnt give in. Day was 3 up through 11 holes when he missed a 6-foot par putt on the 12th and Fowler made birdie on the 13th to cut the deficit to one hole. The turning point came at the 15th, when Fowler missed far enough left with his drive that he had no shot at getting close. He hit a flop shot strong that went over the green, hit another strong pitch and missed the par putt. Fowler had a chance to go 1 down on the 16th with a tee shot into 6 feet. But he missed the birdie putt, and then missed the 4-footer coming back for par to end the match. "The start of the season, thats all Im trying to do is win," said Day, with only one PGA Tour victory in his career. "I felt like I had a really good chance at maybe having a shot at winning this week and Im definitely in the final now and Im really looking for to it." cheap Ray Ban .J. Fair didnt have many chances to be the main option for Syracuse last season. cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses . -- Ted Ligety has been brazenly bashing skiings governing body for what he feels is an infringement on his livelihood. http://www.uscheapraybanoutlet.com/[/ur... . -- Alabama coach Nick Saban said he received overtures for other jobs after claiming the second national title in three years. [url=http://www.uscheapraybanoutlet.com/]Ray Ban outlet . Check out todays trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat. And follow TSN.ca each day until Deadline Day for all the updates. Broadway Bound? Less than a full season after returning to Edmonton, theres the possibility that Ryan Smyth could be leaving again, this time to New York. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- David Clarksons debut was supposed to help the Toronto Maple Leafs establish an identity. Instead, he and his teammates were outworked by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a penalty-filled 5-2 loss Friday night at Nationwide Arena. Clarkson took the first of eight minor penalties in a choppy game that left players searching for answers. "We know weve got better, we know we have to do the right things to be an A-team in this league and we didnt do the right things tonight," said forward Dave Bolland, who scored the Leafs second goal and took two penalties. Special teams play was a major reason Toronto entered the game 7-3-0 despite coach Randy Carlyle lamenting his teams lack of an identity early this season. The Leafs only gave up one power-play goal to Columbus, but the parade to the penalty box still hurt them. They spent 11 minutes 32 seconds shorthanded, forcing goaltender Jonathan Bernier to take on a heavy workload and disrupting the flow of the game. Six of the minor penalties were stick infractions, in part the result of what Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards figured was his groups best skating game of the year. "Theyre a good team, they work hard, they had a good forecheck on us," said Bernier, who stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced. "We had some scoring chances, we just didnt put it in the net." The Blue Jackets got on the board on the power play, as defenceman Ryan Murray scored his first NHL goal just 39 seconds after Clarkson was penalized for hooking Nick Foligno. Marian Gaborik scored in the third not long after Nazem Kadri was released from the box after the second of his three penalties, and Brandon Dubinsky scored the game-winner with Columbus shorthanded later in the period. "The power plays were definitely lopsided, and then we get a break to go four-on-three and we give up a short-handed (goal)," Carlyle said. "Kind of set the table for what happened tonight." It was an uneven performance from the get-go for the Leafs, who were outshot 16-5 in the first period and didnt get on the board until Phil Kessel scored 40 seconds after the first intermission. Penalties piled up after that, and Bernier did his best to keep his team in the game. "Weve got to get a better effort," said Clarkson, who had four shots, two penalty minutes and a minus-1 rating in 15:10 of ice time. "Especially Bernies been playing that well for us, and we kind of hang him out to dry there a little bit." Bernier said the Leafs didnt bring their "effort" against the Blue Jackets, but that wasnt lacking from Clarkson, who missed the first 10 games of the season while serving a suspension for leaving the bench to enter a pre-season fight. Carlyle figured Clarkson looked "rusty" but expected that after so much time away from game action.dddddddddddd "Hes going to try, hes going to work," Carlyle said. "The other things as far as the stick-handling and the turnovers and stuff, I think youve got to give the guy some slack. He hasnt played any games this year. Everybody else is about 10 games ahead of him." Clarkson didnt feel rusty but wasnt giving himself any glowing reviews, in part because of the final result. "Any time you lose, you dont feel good," Clarkson said. "I felt like on the forecheck my jump was there, I felt OK. ... (But) its all about winning right now, and it doesnt matter how anyone feels weve got to find a way to win it, weve got to play better than that." After signing a US$36.75-million, seven-year deal with the Leafs in the off-season and taking on the expectations that went with it, Clarkson was anxious to make an impact. Weeks of bag skates prepared him for this moment, but once the puck dropped he tried to forget about all that. "I think Ive played in the league long enough that its not just another game, but when youve been out that long, you want to get out there and get some hits and get on the forecheck and make some plays," he said. "All that stuff, hopefully one down and now well get going." Clarkson wasnt to blame for the Leafs third-period meltdown, which included Gaboriks fifth goal of the season and Dubinskys shorthanded that came on a bad break. In his third straight start, Bernier faulted himself for not making enough saves, but the ex-New York Rangers forward made just about the perfect shot. "Youve got to give the shooter credit sometime," Bernier said. "He put it right under the bar. It was a good shot." Clarkson and his teammates must try to rebound quickly, with Sidney Crosby (18 points in 10 games) and the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Just like the Penguins after a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, the Leafs have little time to dwell on this performance. "Were going to be fine, weve got to bounce back," Clarkson said. "This is the game of hockey, youre not going to win every game. I think we know what weve got to be better in." Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at (at)SWhyno NOTES - Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, last years Vezina Trophy winner, stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced. ... Foligno scored the Blue Jackets fifth goal against Bernier with seven seconds left after Ryan Johansen put the puck into an empty net 20 seconds earlier. ... Kessel left the game briefly late in the second period and went down the tunnel toward the locker-room but returned at the start of the third and finished with 16:20 of ice time. ' ' '