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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." Wholesale Jordan Shoes From China . -- New York Yankees centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was sent for an MRI Thursday of his ailing right calf, which was negative. Cheap Jordans For Sale . NORRIS COLE (Heat): Its funny, you watch a guy play and now really produce and it just jumps off the page at you - why? 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The CFL club is making the move after holding its camp and regular-season practices at the University of Toronto campus in Mississauga, Ont.ASPEN, Colo. -- Canadas Kaya Turski had one final chance to test her surgically repaired knee in competition before the Sochi Olympics, and she won a gold medal while doing so. The Montreal native, who was competing just five months after having surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament, captured her fifth Winter X Games gold medal in womens ski slopestyle Sunday. "I just wanted to get out there and land a run that was clean and solid, get back into the groove of things," said the 25-year-old. "My knees feeling really good. Ive had a lot of great support, a physical therapist travelling with me, all my sponsors have been really involved. Everyone is making sure Im on the right program." Turski injured herself back in August while training and it was uncertain then if she would be ready in time for her sport to make its Olympic debut in February. But with determination, and a great support network, she says was able to return back to the slopes well ahead of schedule. "I wasnt listening too much to what other people were saying," said Turski. "The moment I blew (my knee) so many things were going throough my head like, whats going to happen with the Olympics?.dddddddddddd.. (But) I knew if I put in my everything I could get back to as strong as I was." Turski scored 91.33 on her second run to cruise to first place, but admitted she has more to give. "I think that I was rewarded for my flow on the course, just keeping it cool and looking smooth," said Turski. "I want to bring that to the Olympics. I didnt want to throw my hardest tricks on the course today because I didnt want to compromise my chances heading into the Olympics." American Maggie Voisin took silver with 90.00 points and Kim Lamarre of Quebec City earned bronze with a best score of 85.00. "I was thrilled to have Kim on the podium with me, shes one of my best friends," said Turski. "Shes one to watch, shes a really, really strong athlete. She can have a winning run." Dara Howell of Huntsville, Ont., finished fourth with a score of 84.00 while Yuki Tsubota of Whistler, B.C. was eighth at 75.33. All four skiers are on Canadas freestyle team heading to next months Olympics in Sochi, Russia. 20:53ET 26-01-14 China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '