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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." Devon Kennard Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. 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Arsene Wengers team was on the ropes in the early stages of a lively FA Cup tie, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal against the run of the play.TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan had zero intention of losing to the Golden State Warriors for a second time this season. DeRozan had one of his best games of the season as he scored 32 points to lead the Raptors past the Warriors 104-98 on Sunday afternoon, with the memory of Toronto giving up a 27-point lead to Golden State in December still lingering in his mind. "It was a big win, big win against a great Western Conference team," DeRozan said. "Especially with the way we lost at their place. The way that we lost was definitely tough, we understood that coming into tonight so it was definitely a big win." Acknowledging that the December loss was something Raptors players had thought about coming into Sundays contest, DeRozan downplayed his own stellar offensive output. "I just got out and played, to be honest," DeRozan said. "Just try to go out there and play to win. I understand that every game we go out and play, how important it is and everybody in this locker-room really wants to make the playoffs so Im just going out there doing whatever I can." DeRozan did more than just play on Sunday afternoon. He won the efficiency battle against Stephen Curry to give Toronto its first victory against the Warriors with Golden States all-star guard in the lineup. While Curry finished with 34 points on 13-for-27 shooting, DeRozan put in an all-star performance, scoring his 32 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor and 11-for-12 from the line. He also recorded four rebounds, six assists and a steal. Kyle Lowry added 13 points and eight assists for Toronto (33-26), while Patrick Patterson had 12 points and five rebounds. Currys 34 points for Golden State (36-24) were a game-high. David Lee added 20 points and 11 rebounds. While DeRozan was quiet about his own big night, he was effusive in his praise of his point guard. "Whatever I say about Kyle is an understatement," DeRozan said. "We go off him to be honest, man. We just ride off him, thats a hell of a player right there. Hes there reason why Im getting 30 points." Golden State went ahead by five points early in the fourth quarter before the Raptors reeled off an 11-0 run to take a 92-86 lead with less than six minutes remaining. Torontos fourth quarter scoring attack was led by DeRozan who scored 12 of his 32 in the quarter. "We just lost our composure on the offensive end a little bit and didnt play solid enough on the other end in the last five minutes," Curry said. "We had a five-point lead with eight minutes left, they went on aan 11-0 run and we didnt have an answer for it.dddddddddddd." The game was close throughout, with Toronto holding a five-point lead at halftime. Things remained tight in the third with Curry scoring 14 in the quarter. The Warriors took a three-point advantage into the final quarter, ahead 78-75. Toronto shot 57 per cent through the first quarter, but found themselves behind by three at the end of one. Terrence Ross missed the game for the Raptors after spraining his ankle in the first half of Torontos triple-overtime loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday. Landry Fields started in his place. It was the second start for Fields this season and he made his presence felt early, scoring six points in the opening quarter. After the game, Fields was singled out by coach and teammates for stepping up when he was needed. Casey said he went with Fields in the starting lineup because of what he could bring to the floor defensively. "He got switched off on Curry a few times and I thought his length helped us," Casey said. "Im a defensive guy and if guys are willing to play defence theyre going to have a big advantage over guys who are not defensive minded. Landry has done that for us and I commend him on his professionalism. Not playing at all, he was ready to go when his number was called." Lowry echoed the words of his coach. "Landrys just being professional," Lowry said. "He hasnt played in a while and he comes in tonight, unbelievable defensive effort. Saved me a few times by cutting backdoor, just being there and being athletic the way he can play. Hes been through a lot and youre just happy for him as a player, as a teammate. Youre happy for the opportunity and the things he was able to do tonight." For a team that has continued to say that they are 15 players deep, seeing a teammate step up meant a lot to the Raptors locker room. "Weve got great 15, 14, 13 guys. Weve got guys, Julyan (Stone), (Dwight) Buycks, Landry (Fields), Steve (Novak), theyve been true professionals. People dont see it from the outside looking in, but theyre as big a part as this team as anybody." Jermaine ONeal was not available for the Warriors after the team discovered he was missing his passport. ONeal had been with the team for their previous game against New York and head coach Mark Jackson said the team would meet him in Indiana for their Tuesday night game against the Pacers. Former NHLer and star of the 1972 Summit Series Paul Henderson was in attendance as was current Toronto Maple Leaf Joffrey Lupul. 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