Morning Briefing

COMPANY ALLEGEDLY SOLD FIELDTURF AFTER LEARNING OF DEFECTS

woodbridge, n.j.» The country’s leading maker of artificial sports turf sold more than 1,000 fields to towns, schools and teams nationwide after its executives knew the product was falling apart faster than expected and might not live up to lofty marketing claims, according to an investigation by a news organization.

Montreal-based FieldTurf said that the turf it began selling in 2005 was revolutionary for its “unmatched durability” and that it would last a decade or more. But records obtained by NJ Advance Media show that as early as 2006, key FieldTurf executives became aware the turf, known as Duraspine, was cracking, splitting and breaking apart long before it should, and long before the public had been promised.

FieldTurf — a division of publicly traded French flooring maker Tarkett — said it never misled or defrauded customers and called such claims “completely false.” The company stressed that the problem does not compromise player safety.

Most of the fields, which fetched $300,000 to $500,000 or more, were paid for with tax dollars. FieldTurf sold 1,428 of those fields in the U.S. to buyers from small towns to NFL teams for an estimated $570 million from 2005 until the product was discontinued in 2012.

Matsuyama wins World Challenge

nassau, bahamas» Hideki Matsuyama was only 5 when he first saw Tiger Woods, watching on videotape the 1997 Masters victory. Even sweeter was standing next to Woods in his red shirt to receive yet another trophy.

Right now, the Japanese star can’t seem to lose.

The return of Tiger Woods ended with Matsuyama winning his third straight tournament, and fourth out of his last five, in the Hero World Challenge.

Matsuyama had a few nervous moments on the back nine at Albany when his seven-shot lead at the start of the final round was reduced to two shots over British Open champion Henrik Stenson with two to play.

Matsuyama closed with two pars for a 1-over-par 73 and a two-shot victory at 18-under 270.

Woods found plenty of positives from his first tournament in more than 15 months, though the final round featured three double bogeys and a 76 — the highest score of the tournament — that dropped him to 15th place out of 17 players.

• Harold Varner III won the Australian PGA Championship, closing with a 7-under 65 to finish at 19-under 269.

• South Africa’s Brandon Stone ran away to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship by seven shots for his second European Tour title.

Stone closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 22-under 266.