Injury too much for Rafa; out of Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal could beat them all, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, could beat practically every opponent he faced. Except one. His own body.   

The problem for Rafa the last year isn’t another guy on the court, it is himself getting on the court.

He was going to return to competition this week at the BNP Paribas Open, which started Wednesday at Indian Wells, supposedly having recovered at last from the hip injury suffered at the 2023 Australian Open. Yes, 2023, 13 months ago.

Everything was lined up. He would start against one-time Wimbledon finalist, Milos Ronicl, the Canadian, who also had hip trouble, if not as severe as Rafa.

Then Wednesday night, the BNP and Nadal announced he had withdrawn.

There were the usual condolences. “It is with great sadness that I have to withdraw from this amazing tournament,” was Nadal's statement.

There also were the usual questions.

Is this, as people suggested during the long absence, the end of Nadal’s brilliant career?

Even before the fateful Australian Open Nadal had a series of injuries, disappointing but not surprising for someone who this May will be 38 and plays tennis as aggressively as an NFL linebacker plays defense.`

Then came the big one, the hip.

Rafa was special, along with Federer and Djokovic, one of the Big Three in the men’s game, so important in a sport where there are no home teams but there are home fans, whose appreciation soars on the skills and personalities of athletes from around the globe. It didn’t matter to the public that Nadal was from Spain — in fact it was a part of his appeal— only that he could chase a backhand down the line and return it with a flourish and hit a thundering forehand for a winner.

There are no home games in the individual sports of tennis, golf, and boxing. There are, however, home fans. They find their guy, or lady, and stay loyal until the end.

Which this could be for Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam tournaments, two fewer than Djokovic, who after all his nonsense about his refusal to be vaccinated, returns to Indian Wells.

You dare not predict the future, especially in sports, but one suspects we may never see the return of Rafa Nadal at Indian Wells. Or any other tournament.

He spoke in his apology of sadness. That’s a word all too appropriate for all of tennis.

For Warriors, awful end to great road swing

It was an awful game for the Warriors. A historically awful game. It took place Sunday at the end of what had been a successful and encouraging road trip. However, it surely made the trip seem worse—as if anything could be worse than being down 44 points at halftime to the despised Celtics at TD Garden in Boston.

Or for that matter anywhere. Yet it only was one game, which determines very little. Other than the indisputable fact the Celtics, with the 140-88 victory, are every bit as good as people say.

Then again, when the teams played at San Francisco's Chase Center in December, the Warriors won. Perhaps not as awesome as the Celtics did this game, that one a 132-126 victory in overtime. But this isn’t European soccer. They don’t count cumulative scores. And while this one was jarring emotionally, it didn’t mean any more or less than a one-point defeat.

More important and no less impressive was the victory at Toronto on Friday night after the Warriors spent Thursday night until around 9 am on Friday morning stuck on a jet because of airline problems.

No whining there, just winning.

That’s the mark of a focused team. You were reminded of the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s. Ice, snow, the gloom of darkness? Who cares? Where’s the ball?  

This Sunday, too often the ball was in the hands of the Celtics and in short order in the basket. If the traveling hadn’t caught up with the Warriors, who were on an eight-game road win streak, Boston definitely had.

The Warriors, who were banged up Sunday, were also ineffective. Steph Curry, bothered by bursitis in his right knee, missed all nine of his 3-point attempts and finished with only 4 points.

Yes, awful historically and perhaps bewildering.

Although not to the point where Warriors coach Steve Kerr could allow it to linger, Kerr smartly took out Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green after the first half because it made sense—particularly in the case of Thompson who has a sore hamstring.

Kerr had what might be described as a typical coaching response to an atypical Warriors game. “You flush it down the toilet,” Kerr told Monty Poole at NBC Bay Area. “We had a great road trip, 3-1. We've had a million games. Boston was amazing. We weren't beating them today. So, we head home and get ready for Wednesday.”

When the Warriors face the Milwaukee Bucks at Chase, as the cliché goes—for a reason—no easy task, but most likely considerably easier than trying to stop the Celtics. A 44-point halftime lead? Wow.

“At least there wasn't a lot of wear,” Kerr said. “But it's different when you give a guy a day off. If he gets a day off, it's mentally refreshing as well. So, this was not a day off for Steph, although he probably could have used one. He's played so well and for so long this year. But hopefully, the next few days will get him recharged. Hopefully he'll go out and play golf or something and get away from it and come back Wednesday night ready.”

Rick Barry and Cliff Ray talk about a long ago title

That was an informative and enlightening start to the Warriors broadcast Sunday night, Rick Barry and Cliff Ray discussing old times past, the Warriors’ 1975 NBA championship sweep of the heavily favored Washington Bullets.

Barry called it, somewhat excessively, possibly the greatest upset in sports. Yes, a bit over the top, but he and Cliff were there.  

So was I, in the press section, which in those days was on the court, not up in the oxygen zone.

Rick said this year’s Warriors team, scrappy and feisty, reminded him of that team that nearly 50 years ago won a title. Then with optimism filling the air and because station KNBR the lost airwaves, the Warriors blew a 15-point lead and lost to the NBA champ Nuggets, 119-103. Here we are still trying to get over the Super Bowl, and the defeats continue to pile up. Who even has a clue where the bedraggled (still in Oakland ) A’s may end up, geographically or in the standings.

And thus far there’s nothing encouraging about the San Francisco Giants, who have scored in only two of the 18 innings they’ve played in the Cactus League. Indeed, they were exhibition games. Or as Allen Iverson might have put it, “we talking about practice, man.” 

And, as we know when the regular season begins every team is 0-0, unbeaten and of course unscored upon. The Giants will remain scoreless, or relatively so, while the dreaded Dodgers will roll up run after run.   

Meanwhile, back in the NBA, the Warriors added a lacrosse player. They didn’t add a player named LeBron James, despite a delicious (and apparently fictitious) rumor the deal was an item.

It was no rumor the Warriors’ Steve Kerr was given a new contract that makes him the highest-paid coach in NBA history. Which is wonderful. Not so long ago, when Draymond was out, and the team was down, those so-called NBA insiders were saying Kerr might be fired at the season’s end. Oh, well, we all make mistakes.

The Warriors are off on a road trip which, not to be too dramatic, is critical to their playoff chances. They’re 10th in the Western Conference, a game and a half behind the Lakers, who still have LeBron.

Nothing is forever in sports or life, but it’s hard to imagine the Lakers, so dominant in the ‘90s, and the Warriors, winners four times starting in 2015, struggling to get in that final playoff spot.

But great athletes in any sport age all too quickly.

Teams draft and trade, hoping and working to bring together the combination which then brings success. But even as a city is staging a victory parade, there’s a newer, younger team, taking over.

Matsuyama’s 62, “The beauty of the game,” said Zalatoris

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif — The round was magnificent, the sort that gets one into the record books as well as the winner’s circle. 

Hideki Matsuyama came from six shots behind Sunday to capture the Genesis Invitational, with a 9-under par 62 at famed Riviera Country Club, and of all the observations arguably the best was provided by the man three shots back in second.

“This is the beauty of this game, you know,” said Will Zalatoris. “Kind of nice when you get beat by somebody who shoots 62 on Sunday. That’s usually going to win a tournament or make a lot of money. Hats off to Hideki, that is just stellar playing.”  

Stellar, dominating, overwhelming, record-setting and not the least triumphant. He finished with a 17 -under 267.  

Matsuyama finished at 17-under 267 and that 62 was the best closing round by a winner since Doug Tewell in 1986.It was one off the course record of 61 set by Ted Tryba in 1999. 

The 31-year-old Matsuyama now has more victories, nine, than any other golfer from Asia. One happens to be from a tournament where he earned not only plaudits and a paycheck but also a green jacket, the 2021 Masters.

As you know there’s no way to play defense in golf. You have no control over the other players and sometimes not even over yourself. On Sunday, the Genesis seemed to belong, in order, to Patrick Cantlay (who shot a one over 72 and tied for 4th), Luke List (who short 68 and tied for 2nd), then Will Zalatoris (who shot a 69 and tied for 2nd), Adam Hadwin (who shot a 65 and tied for 4th), Xander Schauffele (who shot 70 and tied for 4th), and finally Matsuyama.

“Yeah, you know, to win in this tournament was one of my goals ever since I became pro,” said Matsuyama through an interpreter. “After Tiger being the host, that goal became a lot bigger. A little disappointed that I wasn't able to take a picture with Tiger today.”

That’s because Woods, who is a co-host of the tournament, withdrew Friday because he had the flu.

“Reaching nine wins was one of my big goals, passing KJ Choi. After my eighth win, I've been struggling with my back injury. There were a lot of times where I felt, you know, I was never going to win again. I struggled reaching the top-10, but I'm really happy that I was able to win today.”

Which certainly Cantlay, who played Riviera maybe two dozen times when on the UCLA golf team. It would have been interesting to learn what happened to his game the final 36 holes, but there were no explanations. 

What we needed to know, apparently was on the card.

At Riviera Patty Ice can win like the Wee Icemon

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — No Tiger (out with the flu). No Jordan Spieth (out because of a scorecard error). No problem for the Genesis Invitational Saturday, where a guy nicknamed “Patty Ice” is going to make people at Riviera Country Club remember a guy nicknamed “The Wee Icemon.”

Nobody would dare equate Cantlay, although a top current player, with Ben Hogan, one of the greatest golfers of all time.

But here we are at Riviera, “Hogan’s Alley,” where Ben won three times, including the 1948 U.S. Open—it was the Scots who called him “ Wee Icemon,” for his victory at Carnoustie.

And there is Cantlay continuing to stay ahead in the Genesis, if by three fewer shots than 24 hours earlier.

Cantlay had a 1-under 70 for a 54-total of 14-under par 199. His longtime pal and rival Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris, who both had 65s, are at 201.

“Yeah, I mean I played solid UCLA golf today,” said Cantlay. “I didn’t make any long putts or anything. Didn’t really give myself too many chances, but all in all a solid play and in a good position for Sunday.”

The chance he has here is to go wire-to-wire in what in effect is not only his hometown event (he’s from Long Beach, 20 miles away) but to win on the course across Sunset Boulevard.  

From where he went to school, UCLA. 

He also has the chance to toss a few good-natured pointed remarks at Schauffele, who is from San Diego, and San Diego State, maybe another hour and a half down Interstate 5.

“It’s a pretty comfortable pairing for us,” said Schauffele. “We play a lot week in and week out. We both love to compete. There’s nothing more we like to do than compete in big events.”

This may not be as big as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in which Schauffele won the gold medal for men’s golf, but it’s big and historic enough, especially in a city full of celebrities and at a location where there’s a statue of Hogan next to the practice green.

“I have a lot of friends and family out here watching, friends from Virginia Country Club where I grew up.”

Cantlay has won eight times on Tour, including the FedEx Cup. He knows what to do. So does Schauffele. So do Schauffele and Zalatoris. 

No Tiger. No Spieth. As a substitute, we have a potentially exciting conclusion.

At Riviera, a Zalatoris Ace, a Tiger WD and a continuing Cantlay lead

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — There is no disabled list in golf. If you’re injured or ailing, that’s not a team’s problem, that’s your problem. Or in the case of a unique attraction like Tiger Woods, a tournament’s problem.

They don’t bring in a backup from the bench. There is no bench. Just vacant tee times and frequent questions. Just frustrated, worried golfers. And disappointed fans.

This is what happened Friday at Riviera Country Club during the second round of the Genesis Invitational: The top of the leaderboard remained unchanged. Patrick Cantlay, who played his undergraduate golf at UCLA, a couple of miles and a few multi-million dollar residences away from Riviera, shot a 65, and at 3-under 139 for 36 holes, is in front. Tied for second at 134 were Luke List, 69, Jason Day, 69, and Mackenzie Hughes, 65.

The 27-year-old Zalatoris is not that all displeased. He was hurting, literally for a long time, kept going and then, wham.

“Kind of a golfer’s worst nightmare,” he said, “is feeling your back giving out on the driving range at Augusta 30 minutes before your tee time.”

After surgery, Zalatoris, once a Northern Californian who moved to Texas while in high school, did a lot of things — go to Wimbledon and take courses at Wake Forest — except doing what he wanted most,  swinging a club.

He returned to the Hero, Tiger’s little grouping in the Bahamas, came back to the Tour in January and then Friday, another Wham. Of the most positive sort.

Zalatoris made a hole-in-one at the 184-yard 14th, using a 7 iron, and won two Genesis automobiles, one for himself and one for his caddy Joel Stock.

“Lucky to go in,” said Zalatoris. “A nice little bonus.”

Not so little but very nice.

An ace certainly helps any scorecard, and this one enabled Zalatoris to shoot 70 for 136. With half the Genesis still to play, he’s in contention.

Tiger, of course, no longer is in the tournament, and you wonder at his age, with his troubles, how much golf he’ll be able to play as the year goes forward.

Rob McNamara, executive vice president of TGR Ventures, said Woods began to feel ill Thursday night, after playing the first round.

“This morning,” he said Friday, “the symptoms were worse than the night before and he had a little bit of fever. He felt better during the warmup, but when he got out there and started  walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy.”

Jordan Spieth was healthy enough but that didn’t keep him from committing the age-old mistake of signing an incorrect scorecard. Despite the Tours’ well-planned design of avoiding that error by providing scorecards with tear-off strips so the player can match the card of the scorekeeper, Spieth wrote in  3 when he made bogey 4 on the 4th.

At least his back isn’t bothering him, only his arithmetic.

At the Genesis Cantlay, Tiger, and a caddie’s 600 mile round trip by car

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Two kids from southern California, separated by years and a notable degree of success, returning once more to a course and a tournament so much a part of their lives.

Riviera Country Club, where photos of movie stars line the clubhouse walls and a statue of the great Ben Hogan stands alongside the practice green. Day one of the Genesis Invitational, successor to the Los Angeles Open and as almost always the last event of PGA Tour’s West Coast swing. An almost perfect blending of history, memory and possibility, and where else but in the place nicknamed “La-la-La-Land.”

The No. 1 story on opening day, Thursday, was a matter of opinion and perhaps not so much a matter of news judgment as emotional linkage.  

Maybe it was the 7-under par 64 good for first place by Patrick Cantlay, who is from Long Beach and went to UCLA, virtually across famed Sunset Boulevard to Riviera.  

Maybe it was the 1-over-par 72 by 48-year-old Tiger Woods, who was playing competitively for the first time since withdrawing from last April’s Masters with an injury to his right ankle requiring fusion surgery.    

Maybe it was Alex Ritthamel, the caddy following last week’s WM Phoenix Open, drove the 600-mile round trip, LA to Arizona and back, to bring the clubs here. As Tiger, Griffin shot a 1-over 72, on Thursday.

You’ve heard the line from the pros, you can’t win a tournament in the first round, but you can lose it. Numerous golfers made sure this first round they weren’t going to lose it. In addition to Cantlay were most top golfers. Following Cantlay at 65 were Cam Davis, Luke List and Jason Day. At 66 were Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris.

“I thought it was a good round,” said Cantlay, who has a reputation for not smiling — California Cool— and making putts practically from everywhere. He has won 8 times, including the FedEx Cup.

“I think I am really comfortable at this place,” said Cantlay, and why not? He played it numerous times while on the UCLA team. And since then as a pro. Cantlay is opposed to rolling back the length of the ball, which the U.S. Golf Association wants to do because of increased yardage and reduced scores.

“I think it would be good for the game to keep it the way it is,” he said. “I think more people are excited about golf than ever, hearing some of the numbers. Hearing some of the numbers that there’s been more rounds played the year before than ever in this country. I think that’s fantastic and I know it is growing worldwide as well. That should be the emphasis.”

The emphasis for Tiger Woods is staying healthy and being able to play month after month. “I love the game,” he said again. 

On Thursday those who love to see Tiger play the game had their first chance in months.

“Definitely nervous,” Woods admitted about the comeback. “I care about how I play and certainly I was feeling the nerves starting out.”

“I got off to a good start birdieing the first and getting right back up on the next two holes and made a couple more birdies. It was one of those days, just never really got anything consistently going and hopefully (Friday) I can clean it up.”

Woods (yes) shanked his approach on 18. That was rare. Overall, so was the entire first round of Genesis.

Tiger back to place he started—and never won

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — He’s back to the place where it all began, back to where Tiger Woods played a Tour tournament for the first time, back to golf with a newly fused ankle and an old hope, to get a victory at Riviera Country Club.

So many rounds of golf, so much success, at St. Andrews and Pebble Beach, at Royal Liverpool and Augusta National. But never at Riviera, tucked in a canyon off the Pacific, where on Thursday the Genesis Invitational returns.

And so does Woods.

“A nice W would be nice, right?” Woods said Wednesday, a redundant aside that was as much a statement as a question. “I haven’t ever won this event. I’ve played in it since ’92.” (when he was a 16-year-old amateur).

And it’s extremely doubtful that at age 48, not competing in anything since the ankle repair last April, other than the father-and-son competition in December, he could win this Genesis.

Still, if there’s something we’ve learned, from the time he was five down to Steve Scott in the final and won the 1996 U.S. Amateur to his triumph in the 2019 Masters, it’s never wise to underestimate

He’s golf. Period. Especially to people only peripherally interested in the activity.

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the others fill our screens, and with those amazingly large payoffs, fill their bank accounts, yet they’re merely role players.

This is a true story. Last summer after the British Open, we were in Paris, at the Louvre. A guide asked about my line of work.

“Sportswriter,” I conceded.

“Do you know Tiger Woods? “ she asked.

Everybody knows Tiger Woods, of course. The people who run golf as well as those who play it, also know there’s no one as transcendent.

He’s the franchise and seemingly always will be.

The elements came together, and with the departures from competition of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson, Tiger Woods burst onto the scene at the most critical of times. These days, as his career ebbs, Tiger is grateful for being able to walk and swing without pain.

“I'm just happy to see the man not limping as much,” Max Homa said. “It’s pretty amazing what he brings to an event with his presence on the golf course. ... You have less people watching you play golf, but there are more people watching golf.”

Woods, while not giving any hints he will retire — he hasn’t undergone the medical procedures just to sit around — has expanded his horizons.

Woods joined the Tour board and was involved in negotiations that led to Strategic Sports Group becoming a minority investor in a deal worth as much as $3 billion. 

“Ultimately we would like to have the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) be a part of our tour and a part of our product,” Woods said Wednesday at Riviera. “Financially, we don't right now.”

Ultimately, it would be great to see Tiger Woods win at Riviera. To end with a flourish at the place he started.

Mahomes does it to Niners. Again.

The Super Bowl. Again. The Kansas City Chiefs. Again. Patrick Mahomes. Again. Heartbreak for Northern California. Again.

This is the fact of sports: Sometimes the other guy is better. Sometimes the other team is better.

You train and work out. You try your hardest. And you lose.

So much excitement. So many dreams of glory. And then defeat. That’s the way it went for guys facing Roger Federer. Or women facing Serena Williams. Or NFL teams facing Mahomes in the biggest games.

No ifs. No might-haves. No, “They got all the good breaks.”

No blaming the offensive line or the fact that an injury caused Dre Greenlaw to miss the entire second half. Just Chiefs, 25, San Francisco, 22, Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“Two good teams facing each other,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said honestly and sadly.

And the 49ers weren’t quite as good as Kansas City because of Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.

“He can pass, and he can run,” affirmed Niners linebacker Fred Warner.

Most of all he can beat you.

The Niners went far this season, and won the NFC Championship. But for Niner fans who carry in their head reminders of the glory days of the 1980s, that’s not far enough.

Strange, so strange, and so perplexing. This time the San Francisco defense was king. For a while. Until Mahomes, virtually unstoppable, knocked away the crown.

The anticipation kept growing as the Niners kept advancing. The Bay Area’s television stations were relentless in the promotion. Overkill is a way of life in the media.

America’s so-called favorite city and the city’s favorite sports franchise. Add in the bright lights and myths of Vegas, and well isn’t that a bit of perfection?

Yes, until game time. Until the Niners had trouble scoring and until Mahomes — the necessary evil in this plot — got up and lifted Kansas City.

“Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are great players,” said Shanahan, who, when he was an assistant at Atlanta lost a lead in the Super Bowl to Brady, and as head coach of the Niners, has lost two leads and two Super Bowls to Mahomes.

He didn’t blame his guys, whether second-year quarterback Brock Purdy or veteran running back Christian McCaffrey, the offensive player of the year, or the special teams for a missed extra point. Which in the end didn’t really matter.

He simply gave credit to that quarterback, Mahomes, who produced a great ending for the Chiefs and a miserable one for the Niners and their followers.

“We are all hurting,” said Shanahan. Again.

Shanahan Back (pack) to the Super Bowl

Wonder if Kyle Shanahan still has that backpack? The green one, exactly the same as mine, the one I accidentally walked away with and caused a lot of temporary agony for Kyle. And me.

The biggest sporting event in America, yes, the Super Bowl, at times is responsible for stories that in fact grow from almost nothing to overwhelming.

Stories such as the one before Super Bowl IV of the quarterback Len Dawson hanging around with gamblers (before the NFL started hanging around with gamblers). Or birds’ nests in the practice facility before a Super Bowl in Houston.

Or (know) a sports columnist being accused of lifting a coach’s property to provide inside information to the opposition. 

The real problem, of course, is there are two weeks between the conference championships from which this year the Niners and Kansas City Chiefs emerged.

Nature abhors a vacuum, we’re told, thus aligning it with the idea that if there is nothing newsworthy at a Super Bowl, the papers and TV screens still will not miss a beat.

By now everyone knows Brock Purdy was the final selection in the 2022 draft. What we didn’t know for sure back in 2017 was who was going to be the next 49ers coach. The presumptive candidate was Shanahan, offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, who were going to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

The game was at NRG Stadium in Houston. But media night was at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros. Obviously, my target was Shanahan, who I located sitting on a low wall in the left-field bullpen.

I hurriedly plopped the green backpack with my laptop on the ground, next to a low wall that embraced the bullpen, and joined the group interviewing Shanahan, who was properly coy when asked about the Niners.

When all was said and done, I reached back over the little wooden wall snatched my backpack, and hiked a few steps towards an area serving as a temporary press facility. The first call I got was from Jarret Bell of USA Today. who said, “The Falcons are looking for you.”

Shanahan was in a semi-panic, not because he was worried the Patriots would get his game plan, but because there were several thousand dollars worth of Super Bowl tickets to be distributed.

When a Falcons staff member caught up with me he didn’t say hello, just “Where is it?”

I was more concerned about my computer. I never opened either backpack, the reason I didn’t know one from the other.

Instead of working on the story, I had become the story. I was accused of spying for Bill Belichick. 

A year later when the Niners made it to the Super Bowl, they would be up against Kansas City. I asked Shanahan if he would take the backpack. ”Yes,” he said, “and I’m not going to let you near it.”

A big night (yes night) for Wyndham at Pebble Beach

So the PGA Tour moves on to Arizona where presumably the golfers won’t  have to worry about soggy socks and storm warnings, and play will go the full 72 holes and conclude before dark.

Unlike the past weekend’s AT&T Pebble “Why didn’t we stick to a game that can be held indoors” Pro-Am?

True, the weather has been a major factor in the event  that began in the 1930s as the Crosby, but this year it was extreme to a point well, or well, is terror an exaggeration? Yes, but if you were getting pummeled, things were dicey. 

The situation at that good, old, seaside Pebble was no worse off than the rest of California, where (man the lifeboats) lowlands were flooded, hillsides washed away and trees were hoisted aloft onto roads by winds gusting into the 40s. Considering all that, it may be remarkable the tournament event was held.

Wyndham Clark was the winner. Or if you choose, the survivor.

Clark won the U.S. Open in June at Los  Angeles Country Club,  which, apropos of nothing but pertinent to many things, shows the man can play.  He certainly played Saturday, shooting a course-record 12-under par 60 at historic Pebble.

That gave him a 199 for 54 holes, 17-under par and a one-stroke advantage. The chance the fourth round might have to be pushed from Sunday to Monday placed Clark in a good position. The decision not to hold it, left him in a great position.    

They’ve played abbreviated AT&T's numerous times in the past. Dustin Johnson won at three rounds, but the decisions to reduce the number of holes came just before tee off or maybe late afternoon following round three.

This one, Sunday, came just before 6 pm, cocktail hour if you will. Some of the journalists were eating, not drinking, at a restaurant pub when one looked up from his iPhone and shouted, “It’s over. They called it off.”

Meaning all the 30-year old Clark had to do was sign his card and happily respond to questions after a Tour staff member notified him.

“Everyone was celebrating and congratulating me,” Clark said. “I even said to myself, ‘This feels like I just won the tournament,’ and yet we had another round to play. Today, waking up and they cancel the day, you’re trying not to go too far in the future. I get a call that we’re going to cancel and you’re the winner. It’s pretty surreal right now.”

Surreal or not, Wyndham Clark has the trophy and will have his 1st place check of $3.6 million.

You can buy a lot of umbrellas for that.

Clark an inch from a 59 at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH — On a day when the big concern at Pebble Beach was about the future, Wyndham Clark did something about the present.

Clark shot a 12-under par 60 Saturday in the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a course record.

And was within one inch, the distance his birdie putt at 17 halted short of the cup, of recording a magical 59.

“I hadn’t been in contention probably since my U.S. Open win,” conceded Clark. “To kind of have those nerves, and then obviously you’re chasing 59.” 

The U.S. Open was in June at Los Angeles. The ATT is in February on the  Monterey Peninsula where rain has been falling—it arrived again on  Saturday around 2:30 p.m. after play concluded—and according to forecasts will hit in apocalyptic proportions on Sunday.  

Which is the reason for the continual worry about what might happen. Will the course be flooded. Will competition need to be delayed? Will the tournament end on Monday? Or Tuesday (as last year and many years in the past)? Or not at all?   

PGA Tour officials will check the weather maps, the course conditions and decide early Sunday whether it’s go or no-go.

“We need to make every effort to play 72 holes,” said Gary Young of the Tour.

With 54 of those 72 completed, Wyndham—not unexpectedly after his 28-32-60, from two eagles, nine birdies and a bogey (on the par-3 12th)—is in front with a 17-under par 199.

Then comes Ludvig Aberg, 67-200, Matthieu Pavon, 66-201, Mark Hubbard, 65-202, and Thomas Detry, 69-202. 

Clark won twice in 2023, including the U.S Open at LACC, and then was chosen for America’s Ryder Cup team, which in early autumn was whipped by Europe. He hadn’t done much the start of 2024. Until Saturday.

Those 60s will get you on to any leader board.

“Probably what was going on internally,” said Clark, when asked what impressed him about his golf. “I started feeling the nerves at 10, and you know making that bogey putt at 12 was huge.”  

“But in my mind, I think in the past I would have kind of coasted and shot a nice 8-9 under. To keep the pedal down and to stay aggressive mentally was the impressive thing about myself. And then making all those putts was out of the ordinary, It was awesome.” 

The issue in golf, as in any sport, is to concentrate on the matter at hand.  Friday, Scottie Scheffler, confronted with a question about weather possibilities, said he was too busy thinking about how he might hit practice shots. In other words, what he could control, not about the havoc nature could create.

“As far as no round (Sunday),” said Clark, “I’ve definitely thought about it, with everyone saying how bad the weather is going to be. All right. Well, you definitely got to have the mentality that today’s the last day and go for broke.”  

He went, and almost broke 60.

At Pebble Beach, Detry is best in the world of golf

PEBBLE BEACH — The world of golf, indeed, is the world of golf, a place where it’s no less important to have a passport than a repeating swing and tournaments may need to distribute pronunciation guides along with yardage books.

Yes, there were three U.S. citizens scattered among the high finishers Thursday in the opening round of the UN — sorry, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Colin Morikawa; all Californians.

But they were as much the exception as the sunshine that was present and accounted for until late afternoon showers returned to Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill courses still soggy from an overnight downpour.

In first with a 9-under par 63 at Spyglass was Thomas Detry of Belgium (and the U of Illinois). After decades of almost becoming secondary to the celebrity amateurs, under the revised format, the pros were very much dominant.

Maybe not as many laughs—as mentioned, the prime attraction was no longer entertainer Bill Murray, but the world’s No. 2 ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

He was in the lead for a while at Spyglass but after a penalized incorrect drop—the rule changed at the beginning of 2024, McIlroy shot a 69 at Spyglass.

Cantlay had  64 at Spyglass, which because it is on rolling hills and not alongside the Pacific, usually fares better in the rain. The low round at historic Pebble was by Matthieu Pavon of France, with a 65.

He won last weekend’s Farmers at Torrey Pines. Some 400 miles down the coast, where Detry had the lead with a hole to play in the 2nd round, but had golfer’s luck.  His beautiful pitch shot h to the 18th green rolled off and into a pond.

Here at Pebble Beach, this opening round was the foreign invasion, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (66), Si Woo Kim of Korea (66), Ludvig Åberg of Sweden (68), and Justin Rose of England — the 2023 champion — also at 68.

“Good today,” said Detry. Then, more emphatically, “Perfect.”

 At least perfect enough to get in front with three rounds remaining.

He holed his approach on the 18th at Spyglass for birdied three which gave him the lead.

“I’m not going to lie,” said Detry of his failure to close the second round of the Farmers. “Last weekend was a bitter pill to swallow. I played some great golf, and I didn’t really have the finish that I wanted.”

In a tournament, only one person does, no matter which country he’s from.

A new pro finds out about Pebble—and wind

PEBBLE BEACH — That joke, about small golfer warnings? Nobody was laughing at Pebble Beach, particularly Nick Dunlap, the PGA Tour’s new kid on the tee.

“Different weather here than at La Quinta” said Dunlap who down in the warmth of the desert made history. “It’s windy and chilly here.”

Indeed. It’s AT&T weather here, hardly unusual on the Monterey Peninsula in mid-winter, where historically Mother Nature often is the dominant  personality. 

Dunlap, 20, should be the story. A week and a half ago he became the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to win a pro golf tournament. Then, no surprise, announced he was going professional.  

Yet, as we well know, for the AT&T, the weather takes the headlines and the TV highlights. Among the notable comments from an event started in the 1930s as the Crosby Pro-Am was run by the late singer-comedian Phil Harris, who insisted after a deluge, “I’m going to get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.”

What Dunlap wanted to get into was the money list and standings for the Fed-Ex Cup. He was unable to collect the $1.5 million winner’s check for the victory in the American Express tournament. After all, there does seem to be some true difference between amateur and pro golf.

But he was wearing Adidas logos for a long while, and surely that wasn’t because of his sense of fashion

Dunlap, who took the U.S. Amateur last year, is the new face of golf, bringing in the curious as well as the serious.

There may never be another Tiger Woods, but that doesn’t mean someone like Dunlap won’t fill the grandstands as he fills his wallet.  

In interviews immediately after winning the American Express, Dunlap seemed both humble and perceptive. His two years at the University of Alabama were well spent learning to deal with people as they were learning to deal with breaking greens.

“Trying to figure out what I’m going to do with school, moving forward,” said Dunlap. “Whether to take a couple of classes or drop (out) for the semester.”

Dunlap is a winner. He also is a learner. There’s so much about the Tour and about life he must experience even though his unexpected breakthrough, which made him exempt on Tour and qualified him for the Masters and British Open, elevated him into a special category.

“Right now,” he said, “I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I know that in golf you have your ups and downs. Right now I’m on an up, which is awesome. That’s why we play golf. The downs make these times so great.” 

No matter how hard the wind blows.

The new AT&T: Rory McIlroy in place of Bill Murray

PEBBLE BEACH — The Pacific Ocean still is there, crashing against the edge of one of the world’s great golf courses.  And the threat of weather that so often has defined the tournament through the years remains on the horizon and in the forecast.

But so much—virtually everything else—has changed about the event that advanced from the Bing Crosby Pro-Am to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Basically, it’s gone from Bill Murray, who once tossed a large frozen fish on the 18th fairway to Rory McIlroy, who doesn’t throw out much more than compliments or criticism.

What in effect was a huge party of pars and laughs—chants from the gang at Pebble’s 15th tee—is now a good, old-fashioned competition among many golfers who conveniently avoided the AT&T because of the format and conditions.

Now, for this year’s event, which begins Thursday, as commercials have touted, AT&T has its finest field of pros ever, players such as Scottie Scheffler, No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, and McIlroy, No. 2. 

Does that compensate for a lack of singers and comedians?

The first two days there will be numerous NFL quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers, who won the amateur title a year ago under the old format. But not many Hollywood types.

Will the revisions mean a lot? Who knows? They tell us the key to life is adapting. Fore!

Surreal comeback gets Niners to Super Bowl

It was a comeback that seemed as much surreal as successful, one that equaled the greatest in NFL postseason history and no less meaningful elevated them into the Super Bowl.

The 49ers were being overrun and overwhelmed in the NFC Championship Sunday by the Detroit Lions, seemingly destined to be left in the dust as well as the distance in their quest for the championship game.

They couldn’t stop the Lions on defense and couldn’t score against them on offense, behind almost from the opening moments and trailing by two touchdowns and a field goal as late as the third quarter.

But it changed so quickly, and for the home team, so magnificently. And there after key stops and against-the-grain maneuvers by nonconformist Detroit coach Dan Campell who defied basic football logic, going for it twice on fourth down and short—and failing—the Niners were 34-31 winners. 

They advance to Super Bowl LVIII on February 12 in Las Vegas against the Kansas City Chiefs, whose victory over the favored Baltimore Ravens earlier in the afternoon appeared to preview a Niners defeat.  

Not so fast. 

The defense started making tackles and quarterback Brock Purdy engineered a rally that would have made Joe Montana—a spectator at Levi’s Stadium—almost envious. San Francisco came out aggressively and determinedly after halftime—“We had no other choice,” said a weary head coach, Kyle Shanahan.

Campbell, the Lions’ third-year coach, had choices on fourth down—his reputation is that of a man who takes chances—and decided even with the lead to go for the first down instead of kicking a field goal.

The first time was with some seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Lions, in front 24-10, had a fourth and two on the Niners 28. Does a field goal give Detroit an insurmountable margin? An incomplete pass from Jared Goff gave San Francisco the life it seemed to lack.

The Niners kicked a field goal, and—which, yes, the Lions could have done—and now it was all different.

Early on, Goff, the kid from Marin County and Cal, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016, was outperforming the Niners’ Brock Purdy, who as we know was the last pick in the 2022 draft.  

Purdy has been criticized—unfairly perhaps—for being a “game manager”, however that’s defined, and never bringing the Niners from behind to a victory.

That belief was erased emphatically as he produced the win. ”Brock was great,” said Shanahan. “He did it as much with his legs as with his arm.”

Purdy scrambled away from tacklers several times and completed 20 of 31 passes for 267 yards.

Still attempting to remain the low-key guy he’s been, Purdy talked about the blocking and the defense. Not until pressed, did he comment on going where so few get the opportunity, the Super Bowl.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

So certainly is Shanahan. Five seasons ago, he coached the Niners to a Super Bowl against, yes, Kansas City. San Francisco then was unable to hold a second-half lead in that game.

Shanahan, however, preferred to talk about what happened against the Lions.

“I’ve never been in a game like this,” he said.

He’s not alone.

Warriors return, honor ‘Brate’ and get a win

The questionable became the memorable.

The Warriors provided an emphatic answer to how they might respond after a period when mourning replaced practice, depression replaced basketball. 

Their beloved assistant coach, Dejan Milanović, died after suffering a heart attack eight days ago. Two games were postponed, and head coach Steve Kerr was uncertain how his team would react when it returned to the court. He found out quickly enough Wednesday night. 

We found out. 

The Warriors’ week started fast and barely stopped, defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 134-112 at Chase Center before a crowd that came to honor the return and stayed to celebrate the victory.

Pre-game was both somber and gratifying, with some tears supplanted by many cheers. Both teams grouped as tributes were read. The  Sero-Croatian and U.S. national anthems were played over the public address system.

Warriors players and others in the building wore black T-shirts with “Brate” printed on the back—Serbo-Croatian for brother, and what the 36-year-old-old Milanović seemed to call everyone.

On the front of the shirts was the outline of a heart, enclosing the initials “DM”.

What the Warriors wrapped themselves around was the type of shooting and defense that had a hint of those championship seasons from decades past.

Steph Curry scored 25 points, Jonathan Kuminga 25—he was a perfect 11 for 11 from the floor—and Klay Thompson had 24. Draymond Green rebounded, defended and passed as he once did and still does. It was a reassuring triumph for a team uncertain of its future.

“It was tough going out there,” said Curry, referring to the gloom and uncertainty of the previous week. “We had to make decisions.”

Maybe both about returning to the game they felt compelled to put aside as they attempted to deal with the tragedy and the style of basketball. Suddenly their lives had changed. 

Curry was enthused by Kuminga’s improved play, “He’s so talented,” said Steph, a man who well knows talent.

When Curry hit his first field goal of the night, he pointed to the sky, well, the Chase Arena roof. It was a gesture of defiance as much as glee. Steph was back. The Warriors were back. 

Now let’s go play the game as aggressively and as well as possible. Brate, or “Deki,” wouldn’t accept anything else.

The 49ers, Lions and an unchanging halftime score

I know the halftime score of the 49ers-Detroit Lions playoff game in 1957. I kept giving it to phone-callers years after it had been played.  

No internet in those days, very little TV coverage of the NFL, but far too many people involved in sports arguments, mostly at bars, a few at homes. 

And on the night desk at the San Francisco Chronicle, having arrived in 1965 with dreams of creating stories, was a relatively young guy consigned to the night desk, writing headlines and answering questions from callers.  

The most frequent of which had to do with the halftime score of that Niners-Lions contest. Which was 24-7, Niners.

Before, moments into the second half it was 27-7, and should have been even more. Sorry. I don’t believe in should-haves or could-haves.

Callers wouldn’t believe the score 50 years ago, maybe they still don’t. In sports, it either happens or it doesn’t happen. For the Niners in 1957, it didn’t happen.

I’ll cut to the chase. The underdog  Lions won 31-27. Heartbreak by the Bay. Explanations (excuses?) by the barrel. A region in dismay.`  

The Warriors ascended for a decade. The Giants won three World Series. Still deep down, historically (and hysterically), no franchise has been as popular as the Niners, who were born here in 1946, and never left, if you don’t include a slide down the Peninsula to Santa Clara.=

They owned the place. And also the legacy of disappointment.

Now there are Super Bowl trophies in the Niners offices and frequent references to Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Steve Young, Jerry Rice and others who helped win those trophies. 

Back then in the 1950s however, they were in a constant struggle to break the bonds, get over the barriers, and finally prove they belonged. For 30 minutes of what was called the Western Conference Championship, they definitely belonged.

This one, as all Niners home games, at the time, was at old Kezar Stadium located on the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park where there were so many local politicians invited, the late sports columnist Jim Murray said it was the only press box in the country to which you had to be elected.

The Niners had their “Million-Dollar Backfield” of Y.A. Tittle at quarterback, Joe Perry, John Henry Johnson and Hugh McElhenny (money was different then, but those guys were outstanding) and quickly dominated.

The placekicker was Gordy Soltau, whose son, Mark, was a sports writing (and phone-answering) colleague of mine, and was able to watch the Niners do what they couldn’t when his father played.

What happened the second half that day, Dec. 27, 1957, depends on whose words you find credible after a game Niners fans—they weren’t yet nicknamed “The Faithful”— found disagreeable.  

Only a thin board separated the two locker rooms at Kezar. The Lions players contended they heard the Niners whooping it up at half as if the game were over. That’s all Detroit needed to get inspired and get in front

Niners players, including Gordy Soltau, denied the charge. Whatever, the Lions rallied and the Niners came unglued.

And the halftime score was 24-7. No phone calls, please.

Niners, miraculously, pass their “gut check”

This one was part miracle, part courage. A football game that very well could have been lost, and maybe should have been lost but somehow, on a wet field, against an opponent who was a surprise, was a game that the 49ers won.  

Not as well played—full of mistakes and tension, rain falling to add to the scenario—but that was part of the reason the game was so enthralling and nerve-wracking. 

As the best sporting contests inevitably are.

And no less since the Niners, trailing most of the way, pulled out a  24-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium, rewarding…

Big plays, everywhere and anywhere, not the least which was the 6-yard touchdown burst by Christian McCaffrey with a mere 1:07 remaining that was the difference.

But that wouldn’t have meant much without Dre Greeenlaw’s interceptions or Jake Moody’s field goal in the falling rain or Brock Purdy’s leadership and completion on the final drive.

There was no Deebo Samuel, who was out most of the game with a shoulder bruise. There seemed no way to stop Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who kept finding ways to scramble for yards when he couldn’t find a receiver.

But among the Niners, players and coaches, there was a belief that somehow they, as good teams somehow do, would find a method to end up ahead, reach the NFC Championship and, yes, move one game from the Super Bowl.

“Everybody had a part,” said Kyle Shanahan, who was as relieved as he was delighted.

Purdy missed a few throws, but the cliché is when the weather is difficult and the opponent is stubborn, does a quarterback find a way to bring his team back on top? Purdy did. But obviously, he wasn’t alone.

Asked how he did what was required, completing six of seven passes down the stretch, Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft, was quick to credit others. “The defense and everyone.”

The 49ers were the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Packers No. 17. But Green Bay beat the Dallas Cowboys a week ago in the wild-card round, and the success made them more confident. 

“I knew they were good,” said Shanahan of the Pack, “but not until we started getting ready for them did I realize how deep they were.”

Deep and determined. Packers quarterback Jordan Love kept finding ways to scramble for yards when he couldn’t find a receiver.

The idea of Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was to keep the football away from the explosive 49er offense and for a while—well, well virtually the entire game—that worked. The Packers opted to receive the opening kickoff—many times teams defer—and thus deny the Niners their chances. 

In the first half Green Bay had the ball 16 minutes 55 seconds of the possible 30.

However, the Niners made some big plays, the Packers missed a big field goal and eventually the better team, off its season record, made it to a fourth NFC title in five years.

A statistic tossed about on television was a Shanahan-coached team trailing by five points or more entering the fourth quarter of any game had lost more than 30 straight. Well, that is no longer pertinent.  

“This was a mental challenge,” said Shanahan, “a gut check.”

The Niners passed. Although, like any big exam, it required a high degree of patience. Did someone just exhale?

Is Warriors era at an end—along with others

End of an era. Such a short phrase. Such a poignant phrase.

End of an era. Three words implying change has arrived, perhaps for the better but almost always for the worst.

End of an era. Within days, hours really, Pete Carroll is dispatched by the Seahawks, Nick Saban retires at Alabama and Bill Belichick leaves the New England Patriots.

End of an era. The Golden State Warriors tumble from greatness into such pathetic efficiency, they virtually are out of games by the second quarter and the cheers that once filled their home, Chase Center, turn into boos. 

Nothing is forever. A cliché, a reminder. There’s always someone new, some new team, another young kid as we grow old. That’s sports. That’s life. That’s coaches stepping away or being shoved away. That’s people who fail to understand we’re not going to stay on top, if we ever were fortunate to get there.

In the last months, the New England Patriots, a dynasty, had disintegrated and could barely score, dropping their final game of the season 17-3.

The last few days the Warriors, a dynasty, have disintegrated. Sunday night, they allowed 46 points in the first quarter.   

Unbelievable is both an overused and misapplied word in sport, where to be accurate, nothing—rallies, blown leads, games in snowstorms—truly nothing on a field or a court of ice is unbelievable, improbable yes.

Some of these fresh-faced partisans, who only discovered the Warriors the last decade, perhaps thought they’d never lose. Then again few of us thought they’d ever lose in the way they’ve lost recently, blown out.

Their coach said the Warriors have lost confidence. Too many new players in the lineup, possibly, and no Draymond Green, whose leadership and emotion—but not his violence—is to return shortly.

Maybe this is a false hope. Maybe, with Steph Curry wearing down and Klay Thompson inconsistent, what the Warriors used to be they’ll never be again. That also could be true for the New England Patriots, with whoever is their coach.  

So much upheaval in so short a time, and so many questions about how we can adapt. Would we have imagined the Warriors could toss away an 18-point lead? Or that Bill Belichick, Nick Saban and Pete Carroll would say goodbye in such rapid fashion?

They’re no longer coaching, although stories persist that Belichick will be back somewhere soon. The Warriors continue to play, if in different circumstances.

The other night, with the Warriors farther behind than one never would have thought, there was a TV closeup of Curry whose facial expression seemed to be a blend of bewilderment and dismay.

He’s probably thinking, how could he keep at least one sporting era from ending with all those others.