CBSSports.com: Here's hoping for a repeat of Serena-Sharapova from 2004

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By Art Spander
Special to CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Time-lapse stuff, this Wimbledon. For the ladies, nothing could be more enticing. Serena against Sharapova, back after injuries and titles, facing each other and giving the All England Championships another jolt.

As Andy Roddick correctly pointed out after his win Friday, if we're struggling for story lines at this 2010 Wimbledon, we need to get a different job -- and fast.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Roddick seems destined to face familiar foe in semis

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By Art Spander
Special to CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- They call them Nearly Men over here, athletes who get so close but can't reach the top. At Wimbledon, where he has lifted hopes but never the champion's trophy, that description might be appropriate for Andy Roddick.

Or it might not.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: A Shame Someone Has to Lose This Match

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- "Somebody had to lose,'' said the winner, John Isner. "That stinks.'' His words were on target, as was that final backhand of a tennis match which when compared to all the others ever played was matchless.

This one was a gem, an epic, a memory.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

CBSSports.com: Isner has greater ambitions, but this one's tough to top

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WIMBLEDON, England -- He'll be remembered for this, John Isner will. As will Nicolas Mahut, the man he finally beat in a match of history and perseverance that lasted a bit more than 11 hours, the time it takes a jet to fly from San Francisco to Paris.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Isner-Mahut marathon instant (incomplete) classic for the ages

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By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- It looked like a basketball score, 59-59. But it was tennis. And those were games. In the fifth set, of a match that has gone on for two days and still isn't finished.
Nothing like it has happened before.

"And nothing like this ever will happen again," John Isner said.

Read the full story here.

© 2010 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Queen Takes Over Wimbledon From Kings

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

WIMBLEDON, England -- Queen Elizabeth -- yes, that Queen Elizabeth -- is scheduled to show up Thursday at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, her first appearance in 33 years.

Not to play, though she might not do worse than most of the entrants from her country. To watch.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

Global Golf Post: Pebble Beach Revealed as Beauty AND Beast

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By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- It's a near-lethal combination, the U.S. Open and Pebble Beach, a tournament which can ruin your mind and wrench your wrists, and a course where the sun rarely shines and the putts hardly fall.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 Global Golf Post

SF Examiner: McDowell the last man standing

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH — The winner, of course, was the course, Pebble Beach. Graeme McDowell was the champion, the guy who finished first, but it was Pebble — tough, mystical Pebble — that proved the winner.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Woods misses opportunity to steal US Open win

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH — They’ll look at what happened to star-crossed Dustin Johnson, how he fell apart the first few holes, mentally as much as physically, and tossed the U.S. Open over the cliff into Carmel Bay with a final-round 82.

And certainly that was true.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

Newsday (N.Y.): Alluring Pebble proves bedeviling course

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- It's the signature hole of Pebble Beach, a par-3 that pokes into Carmel Bay beguiles golfers with its beauty and sometimes baffles them its demands. You can putt onto the green from the tee, as did Sam Snead once, or you can be forced to use a 3-iron if the wind is in your face.

"How on Earth," mused Ian Poulter out loud as he walked to the 109-yard seventh Saturday, "are you supposed to play to that?''

Very carefully. Very tactically. As virtually every hole at Pebble, site of a U.S. Open for the fifth time. Especially the holes, such as the seventh, which are on the bluffs above the central California coast.

There's nothing quite like Pebble. Poulter managed a bogey 4 on the seventh Saturday. The biggest problem is the view. The player stands on the tee, looking at the surf crashing or maybe the Santa Lucia Mountains and sometimes loses concentration, not to mention an occasionally errant golf ball.

Pebble is like that. There's beauty everywhere. There's trouble everywhere. David Duval, who did so well in last year's Open at Bethpage, shot 31 on the front nine Saturday. He was a contender. Then he had a 7-over-par 43 on the back.

And how about Mike Weir? The opening round, he was among the leaders with a 1-under 70. After Saturday, he was among the bottom-dwellers, having shot a 12-over 83, despite an eagle 2 on the short fourth. Of course, he also had three double-bogeys.

Someone nicknamed Pebble "Double-Bogey-by-the-Sea," and the description is not inaccurate. Tons of those, and on the par-5 14th hole, numerous triple-bogeys. Friday on 14, which doesn't come close to the water, Zach Johnson destroyed his round with a quadruple-bogey 9.

"It's a beautiful, great course," insisted Poulter, the Englishman.

How do you do play it? As well as you can.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/alluring-pebble-proves-bedeviling-course-1.2037865
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: Watson sentimental, satisfied at Open

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Surely today will be the last dance for Tom Watson, his final round in a U.S. Open, the tournament that to him is the most important of any, this time being played on the course that to him is the most important of them all.

“If this is my last U.S. Open,” said Watson, “it couldn’t have happened at a better place, Pebble Beach. I’m somewhat sentimental about this place. There’s a lot to this place for me. It means a great deal to play the U.S. Open, but especially at Pebble Beach.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Leaderboard all over the map at a truly open Open

in
By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH – We should have known it would be like this. Should have foreseen another U.S. Open at Pebble Beach would produce everything from eagles to quadruple-bogeys, would give us a leader board of the famous and the anxious, would be, well, very Open.

Halfway through this 110th Open, this fifth at Pebble, Graeme McDowell is leading, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson are lurking, and 60-year-old Tom Watson is playing. You can’t ask for much more.

Read the full story.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Different Tiger? By Nine Strokes

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- He said it was different, and it certainly was. Ten years different. Nine strokes different. "Now what are we to get from Tiger Woods?'' different.

Tiger owned Pebble Beach, figuratively speaking, 10 years ago. Tiger owned the U.S. Open, starting with a 65 and ending up a cumulative 12-under par. Tiger owned golf.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: Favorite Mickelson suffers through poor first day

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH — Sorry about that, Phil. But that’s often what happens when you reach 40. Your putting falls apart.

Ben Hogan was a basket case on the greens when he crossed the magic number. Sam Snead even tried hitting a ball like he was playing croquet, not golf.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Stage set for more Pebble magic

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH — It’s a place of myth, magic and great champions. It’s a name, Pebble Beach, that evokes other names, those such as Nicklaus, Watson, Kite and Woods.

A golf course can be equated to a battlefield. It’s what happened there that makes it unforgettable. Through the years at Pebble Beach, what’s happened is four times the U.S. Open was played and four times top players won.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Reacquainting with Tiger, the Golfer

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The sense of determination was heavy. Tiger Woods allowed that, yes, golf is supposed to be fun. "It's a game,'' he reminded. But a game with a purpose. To be a winner.

He sat there Tuesday, fielding questions two days before this 110th U.S. Open as he does before every major, smiling occasionally, snapping once. Whatever has gone on the last several months, and it's been a great deal, we are about to become reacquainted with Tiger the Golfer.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010

SF Examiner: 10 years later, it's a different Tiger at Pebble

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

PEBBLE BEACH — The man has changed. At least to our way of thinking. It’s a different Tiger Woods.

The course has changed. The Pebble Beach that Woods and the rest of the field will challenge starting Thursday in the U.S. Open is not the Pebble on which Woods won the Open 10 years ago.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Pebble's 18th a tough beast to tame

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By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s the beast that’s the best; water on the left, out-of-bounds on the right and possibly success dead ahead. It’s the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, a last stop on the road to glory or to oblivion.

Someone will come parading up 18 Sunday, the scheduled last round of this 110th U.S Open, surf crackling, crowd cheering, headed for America’s golfing championship.

Read the full story.

Copyright 2010 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: NCAA's Verdict: USC Out of Control

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By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com




Maybe they should change the name of that USC offensive formation to "student body wrong.''

The place known as Tailback U is now "We Caught U.'' The NCAA has nothing against players accepting pitchouts but as proved once more it's greatly opposed to handouts, illegal ones, that is.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2010