S.F. Examiner: Suns Sets On WGC-Cadillac Field

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

Mother Nature won this one. The people running the WGC-Cadillac match play tried to beat the setting of the sun, and in the end neither Rory McIlroy nor Paul Casey could — or beat each other.

The quarter-final between McIlroy and Casey at Harding Park was suspended after 20 holes Saturday, three of them extra, because of darkness, with the match all square at 8:03 p.m. — or two minutes after sunset.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Simpson turns back clock at Harding Park

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

One day, it was San Francisco nostalgia and a $48 hamburger for Webb Simpson. The next, it was a victory in the World Golf Championship Cadillac Match Play tournament over a former champion, Ian Poulter.

Simpson on Tuesday went to Olympic Club, where three years ago he won the U.S. Open, ate one of the classic burgers from a stand on the course and recreated the chip shot on the 72nd hole which saved par and the tournament.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Match Play at Harding Park is test of character

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

San Francisco? Herb Caen’s cool, gray city of love? Rudyard Kipling’s town of mad people? Golf capital of the universe? Indeed, all of the above.

Last week, it was the ladies at Lake Merced Golf Club, the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. Thanks, girls, you were great, and mostly, in this place of wind and chill, so was the weather. Please, no reference to the comment Mark Twain never made, that the coldest winter he ever spent was, well, enough already.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Persistent Ko repeats as Skirts champ

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

DALY CITY — This kid’s got it, big-time, the game, the composure, the success. She’s No. 1 in the LPGA rankings, and she’s only 18. As of four days ago. Lydia Ko already has been called the Tiger Woods of women’s golf, a 5-foot-tall giant from New Zealand who hits her woods a mile and her putts into the cup.

Two years they’ve held the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club. Two years Ko has won. A year ago with a birdie on 18 to hold off Stacy Lewis. This time with a birdie on 18 to win a sudden-death playoff over Morgan Pressel that lasted two holes.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Mum Raiders have draft options

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

The two men in charge of the Oakland Raiders threw shadows at a few media types on Friday. To no surprise. The subject was the upcoming NFL draft, and the team’s possible selection in the first round. Which will be a surprise until made.

Teams are built from the draft, we’re told. And from patience. Construction of the Great Wall of China seemingly was completed before construction of the Raiders, who for seasons have been putting things together brick by brick. And taking them apart in much the same manner.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Inkster turns back clock at Swinging Skirts

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

DALY CITY — The beauty of the game. That’s how Juli Inkster phrased it at Lake Merced Golf Club on Thursday. She wasn’t talking about those who play women’s golf, although that would not have been inappropriate, but of the nature of the sport.

That she at 54 can be competitive against ladies who are the age of her daughters.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Harbaugh talk sounds like sour whine

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

So Jim Harbaugh, who restored the 49ers almost to what they used to be, turns out to be fanatical. Which of course, those who played for him, such as the now-outraged Alex Boone, didn't dare mention while it mattered — meaning while they were playing for him.

Coaching football never has been equated to raising zinnias or marigolds. More like raising Cain. Of the great Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships, his defensive tackle Henry Jordan once said, "He treats us all the same — like dogs."

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: No secrets: Better, smarter, stingier team won

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

OAKLAND — It took so long this time. The Warriors won it, because at the end they had the better team, and they were playing at home, at Oracle Arena, where losing is as rare as California rain. But they had to work, because playoff basketball is as much about adjustments as personnel.

Game 1, it was the Warriors start to finish, and the misconception was Game 2 would be a duplicate. That doesn’t happen in the NBA.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Giants go from bad to worst

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

Bruce Bochy was alone at his desk, studying numbers that could only reinforce what he knew, what we knew — the Giants are a team in trouble. The scintilla of optimism that burst forth Saturday night like the reflection off the championship rings that had been awarded, and the victory that at last was achieved after eight straight defeats, had disappeared.

They’re not very good, these 2015 Giants, the defending World Series champions. They may in fact be very bad. The 5-1 victory by Arizona on Sunday set up what even Bochy, at his postgame news conference, agreed would be a critical few games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Davis awakens late, raises brows and concerns for Warriors

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

OAKLAND — In the first quarter, you virtually couldn't find Anthony Davis, on the floor or in the box score. He was in both places, of course, but we're talking figuratively.

Ten minutes plus, one basket, no rebounds. The big man for New Orleans, 6-foot-10, tons of points and boards, seemed overwhelmed by the first playoff game of his three-year NBA career. He'd been waiting for this. What was wrong?

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Baalke likes 49ers' offense, quiet about draft plans

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers, who have the 15th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on April 30, will select a football player. A big, strong one, according to what general manager Trent Baalke said Friday in what was a less-than-informative media session on what Baalke is thinking.

Standard operating procedure in the NFL, certainly, is never to give away a scintilla of meaningful information because the enemy may steal the guy you really hope to draft.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: It’s not too early to worry about Giants

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

The feeling is that of apprehension, Giants partisans watching their team stumble, falter and asking themselves, “Is what we’re in for this season?” And the answer is, it very well could be.

That eighth-inning video with Journey singing “Don’t Stop Believin’” might ease the gloom. It doesn’t change the results, which for five straight games away and home have been negative, the Giants on Tuesday night losing to the Colorado Rockies 4-1 at AT&T Park.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

S.F. Examiner: Spieth realizes greatness in Masters victory

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

AUGUSTA, Ga.— He closed the deal. Jordan Spieth came through as the best always do. Now we open the discussions. How good will this young man be?

Not that he isn’t good enough. After all, he has to be very good to win the Masters.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner 

Bleacher Report: Jordan's Jewel: Spieth's 2015 Masters Win an Unforgettable, Star-Making Display

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

AUGUSTA, Ga. — At an age almost too young and with talent almost too incredible, Jordan Spieth mastered the Masters as had only one other person in history — Tiger Woods.

Kicking any thought of competition deep into the Georgia pines, Spieth crushed not only the Augusta National Golf Club but the plans of some of golf’s current greats.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

S.F. Examiner: Spieth has waited a year to be back in this position

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

AUGUSTA, Ga. — He's one day and 18 holes from a dream. Jordan Spieth still is in front of the Masters. Three rounds, and nobody else has caught him. Now comes the round that matters, the round that means whether he gets the championship or more disappointment.

There's a theory that a golfer who challenges hard at Augusta one year often returns and wins the next year. Spieth, at 21, can only hope it holds true. And his game holds up.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

S.F. Examiner: Spieth bids for greatness

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By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner

AUGUSTA, Ga. — This is greatness realized. This is a kid who the golf experts said would be the next great American, playing like the next great American. This is the 21st century version of Tiger Woods, albeit without the Woods aura.

This is Jordan Spieth tramping around the sacred ground of Augusta National Golf Club as only people like Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson were supposed to do.

Read the full story here.

© 2015 The San Francisco Examiner

Bleacher Report: Will Jordan Spieth Handle the Pressure Cooker of a Sunday Lead at the Masters?

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After setting records on Friday and Saturday, despite a hiccup in his third round, Jordan Spieth faces the toughest test of all, in the hours before the final 18 holes of the 2015 Masters. He’s still in first, but is he in control? The night will seem to last forever.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Tiger Woods' New Reality: Will 2015 Masters Trigger Next Phase of His Career?

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By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

AUGUSTA, Ga.—  The final two rounds of the Masters will include Tiger Woods. He's very much a golfer — not a memory. Note to social security: Hold off enrolling Eldrick Woods for a long while.

Of all the athletes we watch — all right, sportsmen, if you choose — golfers have the longest competitive lifespan. The putting may be less stable and tee shots much shorter (on the second hole Friday, 65-year-old Tom Watson was 60 yards behind his partners, Danny Willett, 27, and Byron Meth, 21), but the adage holds true: it ain't how; it's how many.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.