Month: June 2015

Senior Tour Player Tom Watson

Watson Leads Opening Round of U.S Senior Open

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By Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO –

Tom Watson was not affected by the scorching heat and took the first round lead at the U,S. Senior Open at the Del Paso Country Club. Watson may have benefitted from the early tee time and took advantage of it shooting the low round of the day.

Watson finished his first round shooting a 66 . Watson had a birdie opportunity on the final hole of his round

“Man, did I want to make that putt. I was grinding on that putt more than any putt in a long time. Shoot my age in a U.S. Open Championship, that would have been pretty special.”

Watson will have an afternoon tee time in Round two. When asked about the heat yesterday after his practice round.

“Most of the players are not too bothered by the heat,. It’s the cold that gets to them. When the weather is in the 80s we start putting on the cashmeres.” said Watson.

Watson started his round on the back nine. He got off to a strong start and birdied the 10th. Watson also birdied the 15th. He struggled at the 16th where he found the water.

“The golf course is in excellent shape. The only problem is where is the shade?” Watson said “We need to map out where the shady spots are on the course.”

Watson who continues to be one of the longer hitters on the tour did struggle on the longer holes despite his advantage in driving length.

“I didn’t play those holes very well. 18, even though I hit the fairway, I didn’t hit a good second shot, rolled it over the green. Did not play those tough holes well. You’ve got to play those holes well. But I made up for it on the front nine.”

Despite that Watson felt he made things up with his play on the greens.

“I didn’t miss any makable putts with the exception of the very first hole I played in, No. 10, hit it six feet from the hole and missed it. But the putter felt good in my hands as it did in the Watson Challenge a couple weeks ago.”

Five players are one shot behind Watson, including Lee Janzen. Janzen began his round on the back nine where he shot a five-under 31. On the front nine he was two over par.

Like many of the players, Janzen was pleased with the course conditions.

“The golf course is in fantastic shape. The greens are rolling well. Everything seems to be very firm. With all the heat, the staff’s doing a great job with the firmness and the consistency and all of that. So I didn’t have to worry about any of the guessing there.” Said Janzen after his round.

Janzen also played in the U.S. Open last week, but missed the cut there.

I was playing well enough to maybe get in the top ten” which would have been a great accomplishment. I would have been very happy with that. So there’s a little bit of I knew I could do better. It carries over into this week.”

Just a stroke back from the tournament leader Watson, Janzen said, “I think it’s great Tom Watson’s playing well.

Sacramento native Kevin Sutherland got of to a great start and had a 2-under par round . Sutherland is just two shots back of Watson, Sutherland had a large group of followers throughout his round.

Sutherland who had one of the later tee times, said the heat started to get to him at the end.

“I was feeling it out there today. About hole 15, I felt like my legs were starting to go, and I got a little bit of a headache.”

Despite being local and being used to the heat in Sacramento, Sutherland had this to say about the weather conditions.

“It’s hot. There’s no way around it. It’s just hot. Hopefully, Saturday is supposed to be a lot nicer, and Sunday I hope it’s better too.

I felt I drove the ball well today for the most part. Keeping it out of the rough, which is a nice thing. I hit a lot of greens. I had a lot of tap-in pars. I left a lot of it short today. A little bit of pressure, I think, I was putting on myself today. Sutherland said about his round.

Sutherland was asked his feelings of the conditions of his home course at Del Paso.

The USGA came out about two years ago and changed the width of the fairways. As a general rule, the membership loves it. It’s given the course a lot more definition, and it’s really made the course a better golf course. The rough is not normal. The rough around the greens is definitely not normal. You can usually play out of it, and now you’re just kind of hacking out of it. I know the membership this spring was having a hard time getting around the course, but I know they’re enjoying this week. They’re having a great time.”

The Kings take Willie Cauley-Stein with the sixth pick in the NBA Draft

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings went big in the 2015 NBA Draft when they selected 7-foot, 240-pound center Willie Cauley-Stein from Kentucky with the sixth overall pick. Many draft experts had Cauley-Stein going to the Kings early on, but most had him falling lower on the draft board in recent days. Most experts projected the Kings would select point guard Emmanuel Mudiay if he was available.

Mudiay was available and the Kings went with Cauley-Stein. Mudiay was selected seventh by the Denver Nuggets.

Cauley-Stein is a big man who thinks defense first. He was the first Kentucky player to pull down more than 500 rebounds, block more than 200 shots and record 100 or more steals in the school’s history. He does not need the ball to be a force on the floor.

Many have called Cauley-Stein a game-changer on defense. One his major strengths is the ability to defend against any player on the floor. Of course you would not expect a 7-footer to be guarding a point guard, but scouts say Cauley-Stein can do that.

Cauley-Stein is called a “rim-runner” by many. He is not afraid to work down low in the paint and protect the rim. Having Cauley-Stein working the rim would allow the Kings to use DeMarcus Cousins more on the high-post to take advantage of his great passing and his outside shooting skills.

Cauley-Stein is not without abilities on offense. He can run the floor and be the recipient of outlet passes on fast breaks. He is capable of going on scoring streaks in short spurts.

After his workout in Sacramento, Cauley-Stein said he felt many were overlooking his prowess on offense. Per Cauley-Stein, he did not do that much on offense at Kentucky because the Wildcats did not need him on offense. He also indicated that he is looking forward to developing his offensive game.

For those you who worry about the “hack-a-big-man syndrome” late in NBA games, Cauley-Stein shot 62-percent from the free throw line last season in Kentucky.

Another plus for Cauley-Stein is that he is not a “one-and-done” player. He played three seasons at Kentucky. Cauley-Stein is battle tested at the highest level of collegiate basketball. The big NBA stage should scare him.

One more plus for Cauley-Stein, he is 21-years old. Those two extra years of maturity could helpful when comes time to learn and work in the NBA. He is not just another wide-eyed kid who can handle a basketball. Cauley-Stein has been a leader of young men at Kentucky.

One of things that Kings vice-president of basketball and franchise operations, Vlade Divac, said before the draft was the Kings were not all that interested in players who did not work out for them. Mudiay declined to come to Sacramento. Cauley-Stein made the journey to the Capital City and obviously impressed the Kings brain trust.

The A’s stay hot, sweep the Rangers.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for sonny gray

The Oakland A’s are definitely on a roll. Must be something in the water. Maybe it’s the pixie dust from being near the Golden State Warriors but the A’s have seemingly started to turn the season around as they won for the fifth time in a row by coming from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 Thursday afternoon. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray was not at his best but was still good enough to beat the Rangers and A’s nemesis, Colby Lewis. Gray went six innings allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out seven to notch his ninth win. Gray was the pitcher of record when the A’s scored three times in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. The much-maligned bullpen performed well again as Drew Pomeranz, and Edward Mujica combined to pitch two scoreless innings. Closer Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his thirteenth save of the year.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer to center field that traveled some 412 feet. Joey Gallo doubled, and came home on a Robinson Chirinos single to left field. The A’s came back in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Rangers’ starter Colby Lewis may have been affected by the heat as he walked Ben Zobrist, Brent Lawrie, and Ike Davis to load the bases with one out. After Marcus Semien had lined out to short, Sam Fuld singled to center to drive in Zobrist and Lawrie.

The lead didn’t last long. The Rangers scored their third run of the game to take a 3-2 lead in their half of the inning. Prince Fielder reached on a double and scored on a Mitch Moreland single.

The A’s took the lead for good in the seventh. Lewis was done after six innings and was replaced by Keone Kela. Kela retired the first two batters that he faced. Billy Burns started the rally going by hitting a single to left. Eric Sogard and Stephen Vogt singled to load the bases. Lefty Sam Freeman was now pitching for Texas, and he walked Ben Zobrist to force in a run and the bases remained loaded. Josh Reddick singled off  Freeman to drive in Sogard and Vogt. Pomeranz, Mejica, and Clippard kept the Rangers off the board to win the game for Oakland.

Game Notes – The A’s have won five games in a row, the longest winning streak of the year and have won nine of the last eleven games played.The A’s are now 34-41 and are in fourth place in the AL West. After the game Josh Reddick commented on the three-game sweep of the Rangers “this is the kind of run we need to stay on, we’ve gotten to the point where we’re clicking on all cylinders.” Billy Burns’ hit in the seventh extended his hitting streak to fifteen games.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said he got no argument from Sonny Gray when he took him out of the game. “He knew it was the right thing. He battles himself sometimes. He can be as tough on himself as opposed to battling the opponent, and there are periods during the season when you just don’t feel completely locked in, which is odd to hear about him.”The A’s return to Oakland to start a ten game homestand against the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, and the Seattle Mariners and will play fifteen of the next eighteen at home.

The A’s series with the Royals should be interesting. There was a lot of bad blood between the teams when the A’s played in Kansas City earlier in the season. Melvin said, “water under the bridge, Just baseball, that’s the way I look at it.”

Jesse Hahn (5-5, 3.40ERA ) will pitch for the Green and Gold Friday night. Hahn has been very effective as he is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.25 in his last six starts.

Game time will be 7:05 at the O.co Coliseum.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Exclusive interview with LA Angels Albert Pujols

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Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Angel Stadium, Anaheim.

During night games, usually around 4PM every afternoon here in Anaheim, when the Angels are playing at home, manager Mike Scioscia speaks to the media, and around that same time Albert Pujols and other Angels players also come out to the field for practice.

Albert Pujols is leading the American League with 23 Homeruns, and currently is #16 in the All-Time Homerun list with 543 Homeruns. This interview took place around 4:30PM, prior to the game on Wednesday night that took 13 innings and the Angels won 2-1 over the first place Houston Astros. The Angels won the 3-game series and now are 4.5 games behind the Astros.

Sat in the corner of the Angel dugout with Albert Pujols.

Q: What you have been doing these past two weeks is really remarkable, and especially during this month of June, you have been hitting Homeruns with great frequency.

Pujols: I do not think much of that, I just want to help this team win, that has been my mission which I have been focused since I signed with the team four years ago.

Q: I see you always hanging with shortstop Erick Aybar(also Dominican like you) and you are always talking with him. What do you guys talk about?

Pujols: Everything…but mostly baseball all the time, we are always talking about the game that day, what do we see in a particular, the pitcher we are facing, some other times we just talk about our approach at the plate, Erick is a great competitor and he always gives this team a great at bat.

Q: What is your best advice for a young hitter?

Albert: If he is lucky to make it to this level, he has to keep working all the time, stay in good shape(I have been hurt in the past here in Anaheim, but the trainers here do a sensational job)and I have been blessed to have the good people around me. But basically you need to play the game correctly and always have a good approach and work very hard to accomplish what you want for you and for your team.

Q; You have seen for the first time in this series the young Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, (born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, same town as Orlando Cepeda)the #1 pick of the draft, he has been here just for a couple of weeks, and he has impressed everybody. What can you tell me about him?

Pujols: He is already a very good player and at his age of 20 years, he looks like a guy that is going to be here for a long long time, I like the way he swings the bat and his approach at the plate, he is a great young talent.

Q: You have 543 Homeruns as of today, this season you have passed a bunch o great sluggers, guys like Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Mickey Mantle and others, and today you are just a handful of Homeruns behind Mike Schmidt for the 15th place on the All Time Homerun list. Can you talk about that?

Pujols: I really do not like to talk about that. When I am finished and I retired we can talk about that, but not now, I really do not follow that stuff, I try to play and approach every game the same way…I will talk about that when I am done playing.

Q: Tony LaRussa was here last homestand with the Arizona Diamondbacks, you once said you have a special place for Tony in your life. Can you expand on that?

Pujols: He has been my favorite manager, he was like a father to me in St Louis, I was very happy last year when he went into the Hall of Fame, everytime I see him we talk about the times there and also about our families and all that, Tony is a special person for me.

Q: Your young 14-year old son A.J sits with us in the Fox Sports Spanish TV booth here at Anaheim, and we see him before the games shagging balls in the outfield during batting practice. Do you want him to follow your steps?

Pujols: He knows that as long as he does well in school, he can come here, and sometimes he travels with me, but it all depends on his grades in school. If he wants to be a player, I would help him and always be there for him, but whatever he wants to do in life, I will support him.

Albert Pujols is the ultimate professional, usually if somebody wants to interview him, you would have to ask the media relations person for the team, and usually if you ask in advance you can get an interview. Here in Anaheim Mike Trout is the player(reigning MVP)that gets more demands for interviews, and we have talked before prior to our telecast in the past, but during the past few weeks, Albert Pujols, whose 23 Homeruns to lead the league, prior to the All Star Game is the most he ever had since the 2009 season in St Louis when he won that year the MVP.He is getting a lot of attention, even from reporters that are coming from out of the area. Pujols has done it all, MVP, Gold Gloves, hitting records, All Star games, World Series and he shall be someday after he retires(5 years after he retires)a unanimous choice for Cooperstown.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the Angels have the day off, and Friday they will host the first of a three game series against division rival Seattle Mariners.

This Angels homestand is the last one prior to the All Star Break, and the team will finish the first half of the season on a roadtrip to Texas, Colorado and Seattle.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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Buster, Vogey lead dominant Giants

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By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Ian Kennedy came into Wednesday’s game with some serious ownage on the Giants. He had amassed a 10-4 career mark against the Giants to go along with a 2.42 earned-run average, with most of that coming from his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Not to mention that the Giants had lost 10 of their previous 11 home games, including a recent three-game sweep at the hands of an Arizona team that currently sports a losing record.

At least for one night, Posey put all of that to rest with one swing of the bat.

In the third inning, Posey took advantage of a mistake in location by Kennedy, and he made the San Diego starter pay dearly for his transgression, sending the knee-high pitch that caught too much of the plate into the left-field seats for a grand slam to help the Giants sail past the Padres, 6-0, before 41,744 fans at AT&T Park.

It was the fourth-career grand slam for Posey, who currently leads all National league catchers in the most recent All-Star voting, and it also broke him out of his own 0-for-9 skid.

“I love three-run homers, but grand slams are even better,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “(They are) always big for a staff, too. (After that), they (approached) the hitters a little different, I think.

“It was a huge hit; it just got us over the hump.”

That quickly took the pressure off of starter Ryan Vogelsong, who proceeded to glide his way to a stellar outing that saw him surrender only five hits through six shutout innings, striking out four hitters against only a pair of walks.

It was Vogelsong’s second straight scoreless start and has not given up a run in the last 12 2/3 innings, after he had dropped three decisions in a row prior to his shutout win over Seattle last Thursday to start the current roll that he’s on now.

The only time that he faced any real trouble was in the fourth, when a Justin Upton double put runners on second and third with nobody out.

He started his climb out of the hole by striking out Derek Norris, and then after fielding Will Venable’s grounder, he caught Yonder Alonso wandering too far off third base and initiated a rundown that eliminated Alonso from the bases.

He then finished the job by getting Will Middlebrooks to ground out, keeping intact the shutout that the bullpen would maintain.

“He was pitching real efficiently,” Bochy said. “He made some great pitches, and he kept his poise.”

The Giants added to their lead in the fourth. Susac hit one into the gap in right-center, and when Matt Kemp fumbled it on the warning track, that allowed the slow-footed catcher to make it to third standing up. The next batter, Gregor Blanco, singled up the middle to bring him in and extend the Giants’ lead to six.

A continuing development for the Giants involves lefty specialist Javier Lopez. He has clearly not lost his deft touch against lefties – they are 2-for-38 against him this season, and he has not surrendered a hit to the last 28 left-handers he has faced – but he has shown much more of an ability to get righties out as well.

That was on display in the top of the seventh, as he faced three straight right-handers and retired them in order. If that trend continues, that is expected to save the Giants’ bullpen a considerable amount of wear and tear down the stretch while also forcing opposing managers to think longer about pinch-hitting scenarios in the later innings.

NOTES: With a double to go along with his triple on Wednesday, Susac extended his hitting streak to a career-high six games. On the other hand, Matt Duffy saw his eight-game hit streak – another career-high – come to an end, as he went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Brett Lawrie’s Grand Slam Leads the A’s to Victory over the Texas Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for brett lawrie athletics

The Oakland A’s scored early and often to defeat the Texas Rangers 8-2. The win was the fourth in a row for the A’s and the eighth win in the last ten games. The Rangers have lost four in a row. Kendall Graveman started for the A’s, and he had a 5-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Graveman went seven-plus innings allowing eight hits and just two runs. With the win, Graveman evened his record at 4-4. The veteran left-hander, Wandy Rodriguez did not have a good outing as the A’s rocked him for eight runs in the first two innings. Rodriguez was done after just four innings of work and he lost for the third time this season.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter, Billy Burns, got things going when he doubled on the second pitch of the game. The hit extended Burns’ hitting streak to a career-high fourteen games. Mark Canha ground out to the right side moving Burns to third. Stephen Vogt, who did not play last night, doubled to drive in Burns wit the first run of the game. Zobrist grounded out and Vogt advanced to third on the play. Rodriguez walked Josh Phegley and Billy Butler on 8 consecutive balls to load the bases. The next batter, Brett Lawrie hit the first pitch, a hanging curveball, over the left-center wall for a grand slam. A’s lead 5-0 before the Rangers came to bat. It was Lawries’s seventh home run of the year and his third career grand slam.

The A’s started the second inning the same way they started the first. Billy Burns doubled, advanced to third on a long fly ball off to right center and scored on a Stephen Vogt single. Vogt now leads the American League with 52 RBI. Josh Phegley followed with a home run over the centerfield wall to give the A’s an 8-0 lead.

The Rangers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus singled to put men on first and second with one out.  Leonys Martin flied to center for the second out of the inning. Catcher Carlos Corporan, hitting just .198, lined a double down the right field line to drive in both Gallo and Andrus. Rougned Odor walked to put men on at first and second again. The next hitter, Ryan Rua ground into a force out to end the inning. The Rangers challenged the call but fter review, the umpires upheld the call, and the A’s caught an enormous break as the Rangers would have had the bases loaded and their slugger, Prince Fielder, was the next batter.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers put men on at first and second with no out. A’s manager took Graveman out of the game and replaced him with Edward Mujica. Mujica worked out of the jam, and Fernando Abad closed out the game in the ninth for the A’s.

Game Notes- Graveman has been pitching very well since the A’s recalled him from  Triple-A Nashville. His ERA in his last four starts is 1.86. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, Josh Phegley, Stephen Vogt and Brett Lawrie. Burns had two doubles and a single. Phegley had two hits including a two-run home run. Stephen Vogt had a double and two singles. The star of the night was Brett Lawrie. Lawrie had three hits and the biggest hit of the evening- a grand slam in the first inning. The line score for the A’s was eight runs, fourteen hits, and no errors while the line score for the Rangers was two runs on nine hits and two errors.

The A’s play game three of the three-game series Thursday. Game time will be at 11:05 AM PT.Sonny Gray will pitch for the Green and Gold and he will be opposed by Colby Lewis. Lewis, a former Athletic, has given the A’s fits over the years. Hopefully, the A’s will be able to turn the tables.

Game time temperature tonight was 92 degrees with a breeze. 34,216 paid to watch the game.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jeremy Harness: Mad Bum misses a win in tough loss, Machi needs to make the diff, Akoi out with fracture

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by Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO–The loss by San Francisco Giant pitcher Madison Bumgarner in Tuesday’s 3-2 decision to the San Diego Padres in 11 innings was almost like his loss to the Seattle Mariners and pitcher King Felix Hernandez who threw a great game and only gave up no runs, struck out eight hitters, and walked only two against the Mariners.

The problem was Bumgarner gave up two runs, the difference was the Mariners scored the two runs off Mad Bum and the Giants couldn’t do anything off King Felix. There aren’t a lot of teams who get many runs off Hernandez anyways, every now and then Hernandez would have a blip or a bump in the road. Otherwise Bumgarner is as dominate as any pitcher there is in the big leagues.

Bumgarner on Tuesday threw and got 14 strikeouts but suffered that tough luck extra inning loss no doubt he had his stuff going. He threw a lot of pitches and he had a lot of his good stuff going. It’s always encouraging when you have that kind of arsenal. It’s kind of a funny thing with pitchers and the way you get outs is that you get strikeouts their flashy and they definitely look good on a stat sheet but what saves a pitcher’s bacon is getting a lot of ground outs.

The ground out is handy because it gets the fielders the ball and it gets your fielders involved in the game. In the movie Bull Durham Crash Davis said, “strikeouts are boring plus their fascist throw some more ground balls it’s a little more democratic.” Also with Giants right handed relief pitcher Jean Machi returning off the 15 day DL it’s also a relief for the Giants bullpen. The Giants not only for their left hand pitchers but the right hand core has to be relieved to have Machi back.

Machi needs to get things going coming back with a record of 1-0 ERS 5.47 he was great last year for the Giants in his current role. In the post season Machi completely went into the tank and they weren’t able to use him on a regular basis. He needs to do some things to get back on track and now is the time to do it if your Machi.

Nori Akoi who is on the 15 day DL with a fractured right fibula has had such an amazing season, hitting .317 two home runs, 33 runs, 83 hits, and 19 RBIs. He has better than average speed as scouts have reported and he puts the ball on the ground in a ball park that he calls home at AT&T. This ball park is not made for home runs. The only guy that the Giants had picked up that hit home runs on a regular basis at AT&T was former outfielder Barry Bonds and that’s pretty self explanatory.

Jeremy Harness is a San Francisco Giants beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s on the way to fourth place making a move in the win column

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by Charlie O Mallonee

The Oakland A’s are 7-3 in their last ten games and they have won four games in a row, the A’s in last place are 32-41 in the A.L.West. The A’s are 9.5 games behind the Houston Astros. That’s not a real surmountable amount of games for the A’s to play catch up on. More importantly at this point in time the A’s are a 1.5 behind Seattle with the M’s being in fourth place.

That is what the major goal has to be right now for the A’s is to make up that ground and get out of the cellar and get into fourth place. If the A’s can get into fourth place. Then they can go after let’s go after .500. Currently their nine games under .500 they have improved that number, they were further down than that.

The A’s can get into fourth and they have some work to do and things are going to look different and we know that this team could look different. Take the game against Texas it was a game two weeks ago that they lost, the A’s got down 5-2 and they came back to win 8-6. The offense came out big, they had a 11 hits and they had two key home runs.

One of those key homers came from the A’s catcher Josh Phegley and then they had a two run blast from Ben Zobrist whose been off the charts. So last night they had doubles help from Ike Davis, Marcus Semien, Phegley, and Zobrist the A’s had extra base hits all the way around. Phegley is doing a great job taking over for Stephen Vogt who had to take a cortisone shot so he couldn’t play Tuesday night.

Phegley did a great job, they got RBIs from Eric Sogard, one from Billy Butler, two from Zobrist, two from Phegley and with runners in scoring position this is one thing we were talking about when they were not converting with runners in scoring position. They were 4-8 with runners in scoring position.

You’ll take a 500 percentage with runners in scoring position anytime, they just left five men on base. So the A’s did a great job on offense but the other team we talked about the M’s are underperforming so far. The A’s bullpen had really performed well on Tuesday in Detroit. A’s reliever Evan Scribner pitched two innings shutting out the Tigers and getting two strikeouts.

Charlie O does the Oakland A’s commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

PGA Tour Golfer, Kevin Sutherland

Kevin Sutherland Happy to Be Home for U.S. Senior Open

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By Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO –

Sacramento once again plays host to a professional championship and Once again, the USGA returns to the Del Paso Country Club. Del Paso has hosted more USGA events than any venues other than Pebble Beach and The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

In the 1982 Del Paso hosted the U.S. Women’s Open,

Several USGA Championships have been hosted at Del Paso. The U.S. Women’s Amateur was hosted in 1957, 1964 and 1976.

Defending Champion Colin Montgomerie defeated Gene Sauers in a three-hole aggregate playoff to win the 2014 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Oak Tree National, in Edmond, Okla. Montgomerie and Sauers advanced to the playoff with 72-hole scores of 5-under 279. Montgomerie held a one-stroke lead through two holes and sank a 16-foot par putt to claim his first USGA championship.

140-plus pros will compete at this year’s open. Some of the big names include Tom Watson, Hale, Irwin, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Bernhard Langer.

Sacramento native Kevin Sutherland spoke about playing at Del Paso Sutherland is currently a member of Del Paso and calls it his home course.

“It’s been a total treat. To play a course I’ve played just about every day when I’m at home, it’s been a great experience. Something that not all PGA players get a chance to do. It’s a special treat.” said Sutherland.

Sutherland added, “It’s been a lot fun, but it’s been an eye opening experience. I have to get my priorities straight, It’s a time to be serious and get prepared for the tournament.“

‘I feel good at how I’m swinging at it. It doesn’t matter how much experience I have here if I’m not playing well.”

Sutherland spoke highly about the conditions of the course.

“The greens are in excellent condition and are not normally this quick. The greens faster than they normally are.”

Sutherland spoke about the additional pressure of playing on the home course.

“There’s definitely more going on. It’s been an incredible amount of fun, but it’s also an eye-opening experience to — there are so many people who are giving you so much support, but there’s a lot going on, and that’s fine. It’s about getting your priorities straight, and this is time where I’m serious about getting prepared for the tournament and, when the tournament comes around, being serious about competing in the tournament.”

Sacramento Native Natalie Gulbis knows all about this, the 14-year player on the LPGA Tour played in the U.S Women’s open in 1982 at Del Paso in front of family and friends.

Gulbis visited the media on Tuesday. Gulbis is a 15 year veteran on the LPGA tour. and is working the tournament as a Fox broadcaster. Gulbis also has experience playing at Del Paso while growing up in Sacramento.

“I played on a boys team in high school, and we would play against the different High schools in this area. Once you would get into the city events, you would start playing them at Del Paso or playing them at Northridge. This has always been one of the premier golf courses in Sacramento. So I never turned down an invitation to come and play here.”

Gulbis has some experience playing a major event in front of her hometown having played at Del Paso Country Club in the Women’s U.S Open in 1982.

“I’m so happy to be back in my hometown in Sacramento. I haven’t been in Sacramento for about a year.” Said Gulbis who spent last week following Rory McElroy in he U.S Open at Chambers Bay for Fox.

Gulbis will be playing in the Women’s U.S. Open next week.

“I love U.S. Opens. Everything about them, there’s no greater test of a player’s mental game and endurance and just the quality of shots they hit and the perseverance.“ said Gulbis .

Kevin’s brother David will be his caddie this week for the tournament.

“Knowing that we were coming here I thought I should have my brother. I have a full-time caddie, a guy named Billy Lewis, who’sactually caddying for Skip Kendall this week. He’s done a fantastic job. I talked to Billy three weeks ago and said, hey, it’s not about what you’ve done. I’m going to have my brother caddie for me. It’s going to be a great experience for the two of us.”

Sutherland spoke about the condition of the course.

“You can make some birdies early and the try to hang on. The rough is tough and it looks healthy. Staying out of the rough is the key here.”

Whoever whens this tournament is going to earn it. The last six holes will likely determine the tournament. The last six holes are hard. Every player I ‘ve talked to seems to love the place.The real scoring of the round is going to be in the middle of the round.”

Amarista wins it with a freak hit

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Alexi Amarista was on the bench all night, but with one hit, he won the game.

Amarista hit a ball off the glove of Hunter Strickland in the top of the 11th inning, as the San Diego Padres came back to defeat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 before a crowd of 42,067, the 363rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The Amarista single scored former Oakland A’s catcher Derek Norris from second base, after the catcher doubled with one out in the frame.

Madison Bumgarner went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking one and striking out a career-high 14.

It looked like it was going to be a special night for Bumgarner from the outset, as he retired the first 14 Padres until Yonder Alonso reached on a broken bat single just in front of Justin Maxwell with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.

Following the Alonso single to right field, Will Middlebrooks singled to right field; however Alonso was then caught stealing at third base to end the threat.

Bumgarner’s opponent on the mound, Odrisamer Despaigne was not too shabby either, as he went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three.

The Giants finally got to the right-hander in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Gregor Blanco was able to beat out a squibber in front of the plhe aate that scored Matt Duffy from third base. Duffy led off the inning with a double. Joe Panik then followed up Blanco’s single with a double to straightaway centerfield that scored Blanco.

Bumgarner got into a jam in the top of the eighth inning, as he walked Alonso to leadoff the inning, Middlebrooks then doubled to right field and then Will Venable doubled down the left field line to tie up the game.

Padres manager Pat Murphy was ejected from a major league game for the first time, as he contested Clint Barmes strikeout just prior to the Venable double that tied up the game.

Following the Venable double that tied up the game, he was thrown out at second base on a ball hit by Cory Spangnberg, as Sergio Romo threw to Crawford to for the second out. The play was reviewed, and after a four minute 27 second review, the play stood.