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18th hole at Pebble Beach

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am commentary & podcast: Taking you through the experience of being at the Pebble Beach course

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by Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness

PEBBLE BEACH–For those of you who have never been at Pebble Beach you usually go to the lodge when first arriving for the AT&T and if you go around the corner on the right hand corner of the lodge and as your going around the corner one of the first things that you see is the coast crashing against the 18th Fairway and the 18th hole, it makes your jaw drop it’s gorgeous.

The golf is great but you get the bonus of the glorious creation of the land and the sea it breathtaking and gorgeous. The setting couldn’t be better and this tournament started out in Southern California and Bing Crosby moved it to the Monterey Peninsula and he picked the right spot and were all still being rewarded for that decision.

If you think about it, think about the name of the tournament like the last tournament in Torrey Pines in San Diego it’s corporate sponsored Farmers Insurance Open and so is this one but they didn’t call the last one Farmers Insurance LaJolla, this one is actually called the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am. You put the name of the location that tells you how important that location is.

The experience of meeting the celebrities is special in this event. It give you the experience of getting up in front of people in the entertainment industry that you normally wouldn’t get a chance to get in front of. If there are any presidents playing which there are not there will be that much more people and their staff and security working the event but we won’t have that this year.

Speaking about LaJolla, Torrey Pines is a wonderful golf course but it is not Pebble Beach. There are a lot of players to look forward to seeing in this tournament that will be appearing Ernie Els being one, Jason Day, J.B. Holmes who won last week’s tournament will be playing this week. There will be some good golfers showing up at the tournament, also the PGA had a rough week this week losing Tiger Woods after 11 holes at Torrey Pines to a back injury, the passing of the PGA’s first black player Charlie Sifford passed away at age 92 and Billy Casper passed away at the age of 83.

Also it’s not known how long Tiger is going to be out, he had to leave in his last three tournaments due to a bad back. Since the big story of the spat between ex-wife Elin Nordegren in December 2009 Woods has not played up to his past potential. Whether Woods can come back based on what happened in LaJolla is still a mystery and the PGA hopes that Woods can make a comeback soon he’s been the face of the PGA for decades.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to Jeff’s podcast below

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament commentary: The course is breathtaking and the tournament historical

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by Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness

Spyglass Hill at Pebble Beach will be the site of the AT&T PGA Tournament this golf course is enough just to take in the view and almost make the tournament secondary with it’s slight breezes and views of the ocean crashing behind the competitors. When you get ready to club your way thought the first five holes to greet you with sand hill dunes making the golfers use their skills and strategy and the player’s aim carefully.

Get past those five holes and look out for the next 13 holes with pines that are gorgeous to view and greens that are elevated, the bunkers can be tricky to drive the ball around and when you get there you try to skillfully avoid certain conditions. There are holes that are noted for being one big rough. They have even named some of the holes for it’s challenging greens and uneven areas one is named the “Black Dog” and the other is named “Billy Bones”.

After looking at what the participants are up against in this tournament it’s wonder they’re fully aware that Spyglass Hill Golf Course is the toughest course in the world. The course rating is at 75.5 and the slope rating is 147. Look for holes six, eight and 16 amongst the toughest holes on the course. For example the stroke average was a whopping 79 during the U.S. Amateur in 1999.

Historically Spyglass was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr and opened in 1966, it took the course six years until completion, the course is in rotation for the AT&T as the tournament has been hosted by the Pebble Beach Company. Bing Crosby lent his name for the tournament, after Crosby died in 1977 the Crosby family hosted the event and then in 1985 AT&T bought the naming rights.

In 1937 Crosby first hosted the National Pro Am Golf Championship in Southern California at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. PGA all time tour winner Sam Snead won the first tournament when the tournament had just 18 holes and Snead won the lion’s share of $500. In 1938 the tournament added another round through 1942. In 1947 the game grew and the tournament added 54 holes near the Monterey coast.

Beginning in 1947 the tournament was at the Pebble Beach Golf Links at Cyprus Point Club and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club until 1966. In 1958 the tournament grew to 72 holes and in 1967 Spyglass Hill replaced the Monterey Peninsula Country Club as the third course. In 1991 the Cyprus Point Club was dropped by the PGA when they would not allow an African American member in the club and the tournament was then moved to Poppy Hills.

The players were not happy with Poppy Hills due to it’s unkempt condition and the tournament was later returned to the Monterey Peninsula Country Club in 2010 and the rest is history.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Burned in the Desert, Lose Second Straight

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By: Joe Lami

The Arizona weekend has turned into one from hell, as the Cardinal were swept by both Arizona teams after the Wildcats win over Stanford 60-57 on Sunday afternoon. It’s the first time the Cardinal were swept on a Pac-12 road trip since 2008, where USC and UCLA gave Stanford fits.

The Cardinal completely collapsed in the second half, as they went into halftime with a 12-point lead. Arizona came out of the half strong, dominating the Cardinal on a 15-6 run that lasted ten minutes. The last minute was the most crucial though, as Arizona was able to go on a 10-0 run to finish the win.

Candice Warthen had seven of the final ten points, as she led the Wildcats with 19 points. It marks Arizona’s first win over Stanford in 25 attempts. Sunday is just Arizona’s second conference win of the season.

Amber Orrange and Lili Thompson each led the way for the Cardinal with 13 points apiece. They were the only Cardinal to get into double figures in scoring. Bonnie Samuelson, Karlie Samuelson and Taylor Greenfield did get close with eight points each.

The Cardinal look to rebound from the loss, with a home game back on Maples Pavilion against USC on Friday.

Shorthanded Kings Come Away with a Victory over the Suns

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AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

By Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO–

The Kings came away with a nail biter in the fourth quarter thanks to DeMarcus Cousins who scored two big baskets in the final seconds of the game  His first one tied the game and his second fell into the basket as time expired and the Kings came away with an 85-83 victory over the Suns in front of 17, 013 fans.

The Kings win was surprising mainly because the Kings were shorthanded hosting the Suns at Sleep Train Arena without Rudy Gay and Darren Collison in the lineup.

A good start for The Kings who were without the play of their strong offensive player Rudy Gay played well on both ends of the floor in the first quarter and held the Suns to just 28.6 percent shooting. The Kings shot 68.8 percent in the first. DeMarcus Cousins had 10 points and four rebounds in the first. The Kings turned the ball over seven times in the first that resulted to just four points for the Suns.

It was a full team effort by the Kings and excellent production from the Kings bench,  Ben McLemore scored 13 points. including a great play by McLemore in the first after the Kings turned the ball over McLemore outran Suns guard Goran Dragic and blocked his layup attempt. McLemore added some additional flare by quickly sinking a long 24 foot 3-point jump shot

Cousins gave the Kings what they scoring 28 points, with 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Former Kings player and fan favorite Isaiah Thomas led the Suns in scoring with 26 points

The Suns who lead the NBA in fourth quarter scoring made a game of it outscoring the Kings 24-12 in the fourth.

Cousins picked up his  fifth technical foul of the season walking to the bench during a timeout. Cousins is now tied for 6th most in NBA w/6 other players including the Kings Rudy Gay

After the game DeMarcus Cousins surprised the media with his comments

“The city done put me through so much. I stayed loyal….I just want to know how you’re going to stop God’s plan.” Said cousins who seemed fed up. Cousins has been receiving the blame for the Kings potential coaching decisions since Michael Malone was fired by the team in December.

Up next The Kings will head Chicago to face the Bulls on Tuesday night.

Notes: Kings signed Quincy Miller to a second 10-day contract.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament commentary: Billy Casper winner of 51 PGA Tours passes at age 83

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by Jeff Hall & Jeremy Harness

After passing out at the PGA Masters last year golf great Billy Casper’s son Bob knew that it was the start for his father to get the medical help he needed and later a rehab program for his heart condition. Through all their hard efforts to get Casper back to health again Casper passed away on Saturday at the age of 83 at his home in Utah. Casper in his golf hey day was overshadowed by the “Big three” Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Casper was rehabbing from heart problems and pneumonia and recovered by Thanksgiving. Bob said he started feeling bad this past week, Casper was married for 62 years to his wife Shirley who was at his side when he passed.

Casper’s career in golf would have put him in the headlines in today’s game he was among legends in the game and his numbers proved it winning 51 PGA Tours putting Casper at number seven on the all time winning list behind such greats as Sam Snead (82), Tiger Woods (79), Jack Nicklaus (73), Ben Hogan (64), Arnold Palmer (62), Byron Nelson (52), and Casper at 51.

Casper had three major wins to his career and he had a great comeback in his career in 1966 he won the U.S.Open. Casper was down seven holes at the Olympic Club and came back to win it after tying Palmer and won it in a 18 hole playoff. His other two majors that he won was at Winged Foot in 1959 and at the 1970 Masters. Casper went into the Golf Hall of Fame eight years later in 1978.

Casper didn’t get much credit for his hard work, accomplishments, and his place on the all time winningest list but today Nicklaus said that Casper deserves that recognition, “Billy was one of the greatest family men be it inside the game of golf or out. I have had the fortunate blessing to meet. He had such a wonderful balance to his life. Golf was never the most important thing in Billy’s life–family was. There was always much more to Billy Casper than golf. But as a golfer, Billy was a fantastic player and I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one. I have said many times during my career, when I looked up at the leaderboard, I wasn’t just looking to see where a Palmer, or a Player, or a Trevino was. I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was” Nicklaus wrote on Facebook.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kerr Picks Up Win in MSG Debut

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AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By: Ben Leonard

Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr nearly signed with the New York Knicks during the offseason. The decision to spurn the Knicks certainly has proven to be a shrewd one, as Kerr’s Warriors took a 106-92 win in his coaching debut at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

A day after falling in a tightly contested battle to the NBA-best Hawks, the level of competition dropped significantly for Kerr’s squad. The lowly Knicks fell to an atrocious 10-41, while the Warriors moved to 40-9. Nearing the All-Star Break, the two squads already have a thirty win differential, with both heading in completely different trajectories. Draymond Green lead the way for Golden State, dropping 20 points for the squad with title aspirations against the team with its sights set on the #1 pick.

Green trailed only Stephen Curry’s game-high 22 point effort in the game, and pulled down 13 rebounds. His physical presence helped the Warriors in their effort against a ‘Melo-less Knicks team, and even blocked two shots. Without Anthony, the Knicks were even more listless than usual, making just 40.2% of their field goal attempts.

Kerr’s Warriors set the tone early, jumping out to a 32-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. Golden State went on to romp New York, holding a sizeable 89-63 advantage with just over three minutes left in the game. However, the Warriors seemingly became complacent after taking a nearly insurmountable lead, up just 95-90 with just over four minutes left to play. An ensuing 6-0 run sealed the victory for Golden State, capped by Curry’s trey with just under three minutes remaining.

Curry dropped 54 points in the Garden just two years ago, but had a relatively modest game by his standards. Although he did have a game-high total for points, he turned the ball over three times and made just 1 of 3 free throw attempts. Clearly, this is not reason for concern, but it is still worth noting.

Point guard Langston Galloway lead the way for New York with 15 points in a losing effort, grabbing four boards and dishing out three assists. Former superstar Amar’e Stoudemire also chipped in off the bench with 13 points of his own.

Golden State will continue its East Coast road trip, traveling to Philadelphia to play the ’76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN

Stanford Can’t Hang On; Loses Late to Arizona State

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By: Joe Lami

After a nine-point first half deficit, the No. 10 Arizona State Sun Devils surged in the second half to come back and beat No. 12 Stanford 53-52 on Friday night. It’s the second time this season Arizona State has beaten the Cardinal this season, as it ends a four-game winning streak the Cardinal had going. The last loss for the Cardinal came on January 19th to the Sun Devils.

Quinn Dornstauder was the difference maker, as she scored a career high 22 points off the bench. Kelsey Moos was the only other Sun Devil to reach double digits, finishing with 12.

Both teams shot incredibly poor, shooting under 40%. Neither team was able to score in the final 4:35 of the game.

Stanford had a chance to win the game, but fell short. They had the ball with 20 seconds left, deciding to hold for a last shot. The game fell into the hands of Briana Roberson, but she was unable to hit the 15-foot jump shot with a second remaining.

Amber Orrange led the way for the Cardinal with 15 points. Lili Thompson shot 33% to finish the night with 11 points.

The Sun Devils are now in the driver’s seat to winning the Pac-12 regular season championship, as they are tied with Oregon State. Each team has one loss, with just seven games remaining before the tournament in Seattle. Friday night’s loss puts Stanford in unfamiliar territory, as they sit in third place with just a few games remaining. They hope to get back on the right track with a trip to southern Arizona to take on the Wildcats.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament commentary & podcast preview: With Tiger’s back out of whack how much more can he take?; also a look at Pebble Beach

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by Jeremy Harness & Jeff Hall

PEBBLE BEACH–It’s just simply hard to believe that after three tournaments Golf’s top star Tiger Woods had to reach up for help with a bad back and had to leave the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines just 11 holes into the tournament on Thursday before calling it a night as Woods left with lower back pain.

Woods who is a 14 time tournament winner left the event with back spasms and talk show host and golf reporter Jeremy Harness can speak from experience that he has had a bad back for five years now and that was from playing golf. The thing with Tiger with the lower back it’s a common thing especially with the PGA Tour players. They say you could play golf with a bad back that’s the way it works.

Tiger has had a bad back for quite a few years and he’s had to withdraw from quite a few tournaments but keep in mind that in 2013 after he first had his back issues he was the number one player in the game and matter of fact he was the number one PGA player of the year. One of the things that Tiger was doing was hitting the ball that put a lot more stress on the back that much harder.

The swing has effected his back as opposed to an arm, leg, or a shoulder injury the back injury is a different animal. The back requires a lot more treatment and a lot more caution it’s not something you just can’t quickly rebound from in a day or two. The recovery is a long process this is what Tiger is up against.

In the Phoenix Open Tiger had back issues during the tournament there and he shot an 82 but he missed the cut by 12 strokes so there’s a lot going on and he’s struggled with a lot of issues getting back to 2014 in chipping and short putting out of the green. Tiger has lost quite a lot of weight to ease up his back. When you lose weight you take a lot of pressure off your back, the more weight you put on the more your going to feel it.

Tiger at this point has to do what he has to do to treat his back and it had a lot to do with chipping too and a lot of that has to do with technique. He has to work on his chipping and short game whereas in 2013 it wasn’t an issue at all because he didn’t have the back issues and he was on the same page with the other golfers. He was very comfortable with chipping and doing all the things he had to do to be a successful golfer.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings Fall Again 101-78

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By Tony Renteria

This game was the epitome of the Sacramento Kings (17-30) season, a strong start and early departure of that success as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks (33-18) 101-78.

The Kings had started the second quarter tied 23 up but gave up 37 points to the Mavericks, Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle kept future memebr of the Hall of Fame, Dirk Nowitzki out of the game hoping rest would help him out.

Kings All Star DeMarcus Cousins continues to put up MVP type stats in losing causes as he scored 23 points with eleven rounds, with ten of them of the defensive end.

The Mavericks pulled away early behind game leading scorer Monta Ellis, who was 9 for 16 and 3 for 6 behind the arc as he led the visiting team with 21 points.

The Kings dropped their home record to 10-17 as they lost the second game in a row.  Dallas was a tough a 18-10 on th road before tonight’s game.

The Mavericks head back to Texas to host the Portland Trailblazers on Saturday as the Kings need to fix things on the road as the head into Utah to take on the Jazz the same day.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament preview & podcast: No Tiger or Mickelson no problem ticket sales get a bump up with athletes and celebrities coming

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by Jeff Hall & Jeremy Harness

On the pro side of the AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament not having Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being absent will add a damper on the pro golf side of things but if your into sports Pebble Beach will be a great place to be you’ll see a lot of ex athletes like the San Francisco Giants Buster Posey and Matt Cain who be at the tournament. A lot of sports guys are going to be showing up Wayne Gretzky former NHL great Hall of Famer will be there.

Then there are the standards the guys who come to the AT&T every year entertainers and athletes Michael Bolton, Andy Garcia, Huey Lewis, Craig T Nelson, Ray Ramono, former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. You might remember Smith was a caddy for former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh at one of the first 49ers-Giants events at Pebble Beach. Everybody at that event said “look at the friendship developing between Smith and Harbaugh” next thing you know Smith is out at the 49ers and 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick is in.

There’s some strange things happening because you never know what your going to see at Pebble Beach and with Posey coming sales really took off on tickets and he’s now the main attraction. You know what he can do on a baseball field but it’s yet to be seen what he could do on a golf course. Then you look ten feet away and you see a pro golfer and Posey might think “I’m not so good after all.” Celebrities and athletes are what the draw is and you get to see these guys in real life.

Posey is a good drawing card but the biggest draw at this event is actor and comedian Bill Murray, Murray has been there for years and you never know what he’s going to do and that’s what makes it so exciting. The guy that will be missing from the event is Tiger and he’s aging and he’s not getting any younger. He’s been struggling with his game, he’s played a lot of golf and he’s been down awhile with an injury and that’s the way golf is.

Tiger was so great he was one of those guys that was practicing all the time and when your missing a lot of golf no matter who you are, golf is one of those games you got to keep working on no matter who you are. Tiger knows that but when you’ve been out as long as he’s been. Were seeing a different Tiger Woods we’ve never seen before. Were seeing a guy not only is he not making the cut he not close to making the cut.For Tiger that’s the kind of thing that blows the minds of a lot of people that are not used to seeing Tiger.

Going back to the AT&T is going to exciting for us as we’ve covered the event before and it’s a great place to cover at Pebble Beach and Pebble Beach is gorgeous as you know it’s located right on the coast and it’s greatest course land and sea. Your talking about one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. That’s what draws a lot of the pros unlike Tiger whose played here in the past and he doesn’t care for the celebrity events. This is one of the events where the celebrities are golfing with the pros on all four rounds.

Jeff Hall and Jermey Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament all week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to Jeff’s podcast below on the AT&T