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2B – Daily News – Thursday, February 10, 2011 Johnson has title to defend and point to prove Pebble Beach National Pro-Am PEBBLE BEACH (AP) — Dustin Johnson returns to Pebble Beach with conflicting emotions. Rare is a defending champion who is looking for redemption. Johnson has a chance to make histo- ry as the first player to win three suc- cessive years at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am since this iconic event began in 1937. Forgotten is how he built a four-shot lead in 2009 and was declared the win- ner when rain cut the tournament short to 54 holes. Or how he smashed one last drive to set up an easy birdie from the bunker on the final hole last year for a one-shot victory. No, the lasting image of Johnson at Pebble Beach comes from the U.S. Open last summer. He had a three-shot lead going into the final round when he took two chips from the rough — one of them left- handed — and took a triple bogey on the second hole. Then came an aggres- sive play with the driver on No. 3 that he hooked into the bushes for a lost ball. His tee shot on the fourth went into the ocean. It added to a colossal collapse in his first chance to win a major. Johnson closed with an 82, the highest final round by a 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open in nearly 100 years. He had yet to get out to Pebble Beach by Wednesday, and planned to play only a couple of holes before sneaking over to Cypress Point. John- son has moved into the celebrity rota- tion, meaning he will play Monterey Peninsula on Thursday and Spyglass Hill on Friday before he gets his first crack at Pebble Beach. Which memories will come back? "Neither," Johnson said. "I'm just coming out to play the golf course. It's still good, even though the last time I played it I struggled a little bit. But I'm still excited to get back out there and play. I'm always going to love this golf course, no matter what. I'm just ready to get back out and play." But then he paused, and offered a slight smile. "Get a little redemption for the last round of the Open," he said. Johnson does not lose confidence easily. Despite a round that would haunt some players, he was right back in the mix two months later at the PGA Championship, poised to win another major until he failed to realize he was in a bunker on a Whistling Straits course that has too many bunkers to count. Instead of getting into a playoff, he wound two shots behind. Unfazed, Johnson won the BMW Championship a month later to mark himself as a ris- ing star. That's not to say he hasn't learned from his mistakes, especially at Pebble Beach. Johnson attributes his U.S. Open blunders to playing and thinking too quickly. He is among the fastest play- ers in the game, and Johnson spent the latter part of last year trying to slow down. "In the first couple of rounds, I might get a little quick," he said. "I probably need to do it more in the first, second and third rounds than I do in the final round. The final round is when you're thinking and you're more con- scious of what's going on. That's when it's most important, when you're under the gun and when you've got a shot to win. "Slow for me is still pretty fast," he said. "I've got to feel like I'm moving pretty slow, which probably isn't slow." The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am gets under way Thursday with the usual suspects — Johnson going for a third straight win, Phil Mickelson trying to find momentum sometime before the Masters, Davis Love III playing for the 25th consecutive year, and Padraig Harrington making his PGA Tour debut. Harrington was on his way out to Pebble Beach for a practice round when he bumped into Johnson. He stopped to shake hands and pass along a playful message. "I'm trying to take the trophy off your hands this week," Harrington said. "Good luck," Johnson said with a delivery that Clint Eastwood could appreciate. Johnson might not be on top of his game as he was a year ago, when he was coming off a runner-up finish at Riviera. His season began with a cou- ple of top 10s, including an outside chance to win at Torrey Pines. He made more news for his relation- ship with LPGA Tour player Natalie MCT file photo Dustin Johnson lifts the 2010 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am trophy. Gulbis that surfaced at Kapalua, what- ever that relationship was. Even so, he gets most of his atten- tion on the course. "We've never had an athlete like that play this tour," Paul Goydos said. "He's the best athlete that I can think of who's playing out here. It's ridiculous to watch this guy work out. He's a tremendous talent who can do things that very few people have ever been able to do." Johnson nearly had a chance to win as a rookie until he chopped up the 14th hole. He followed that with two victories. He is not sure why he has such an affinity for Pebble Beach. He just does. "I'm very comfortable out here," he said. "I think I've got this course fig- ured out pretty well. I tend to play it pretty well. Confidence is huge, espe- cially playing golf. If you're confident you're going to play well on the golf course, most of the time you do." Dent puzzled by long wait Marleau’s late goal lifts Sharks NFL LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Richard Dent looks at the current Chicago Bears and sees a player com- parable to him. Not star defensive end Julius Peppers, but Johnny Knox. Why a wide receiver? Because Knox came ‘‘out of nowhere,’’ to start in the NFL,’’ Dent said Wednes- day. Likewise, Dent rose from humble beginnings, a defensive end drafted in the eighth round in 1983. On Sat- urday night, Dent became the 27th Bears player elected to the Pro Foot- ball Hall of Fame. Dent put aside the frustration he felt over missing out as a finalist six of the previous seven years. ‘‘I’ve always felt that you can’t take a star from the sky,’’ Dent said. ‘‘It can be cloudy, but sooner or later you have to shine, and I guess this is my shining time.’’ Dent became the fourth member of the 1985 Monsters of the Midway to make it into the Canton, Ohio, shrine, following running back Walter Pay- ton, linebacker Mike Singletary, and defensive tackle Dan Hampton. He believes there are still others deserv- ing from the 18-1 team that marked its 25th anniversary of the champi- onship on Jan. 26, in particular left tackle Jimbo Covert. ‘‘Jimbo made my game easy,’’ Dent said. ‘‘I knew I wasn’t going to face a guy better than him in the National Football League, and I appreciate him so much.’’ The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Dent had an NFC-best 17 1/2 sacks in 1984 after putting on weight as a rookie in 1983 and becoming a starter. He made 17 sacks in 1985 when he went on to win Super Bowl MVP honors, and made double-digit sacks in eight of 10 seasons from 1984-93. Dent finished his career with 137 1/2 sacks, currently tied for sixth. Since making the hall, Dent said he’s heard from many Super Bowl champion teammates, including Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and assistant coach Singletary, Hampton, and defensive tackle Steve McMichael. Dent called that raucous group a key to making his career. ‘‘We bragged, we were hard on each other and I truly feel that a team that competes with one another never loses,’’ he said. Dent said he was quickly humbled when he came to Chicago to join that group under defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan and coach Mike Ditka. ‘‘When I first came in here, I looked up and I saw (6-7 offensive tackle) Keith Van Horne and I was like, ’Oh my god,’ ‘‘ Dent said. ‘‘Coming from Tennessee State I had never seen a guy so big. ‘‘Once we got out on the field I put my hand down and my memory came back. You question whether you belong somewhere, but once you get back into your realm of your comfort zone, it’s amazing. Everybody is a little shaky, a little nervous, and whatever it may be. But when you strap that chinstrap up that’s when your memory comes back and that’s when you start performing.’’ Dent takes particular pride in being the first Hall of Famer from Tennessee State, a historically black colleges in the Ohio Valley Confer- ence. ‘‘To be the first Hall of Famer at a school that’s been existing for 100 years, I don’t take that lightly,’’ he said. Dent said he’s leaning toward let- ting his college coach, Joe Gilliam Sr., do his introduction in Canton, explaining Gilliam is ‘‘a guy who sent probably over 140, 150 guys to the pros over his 25-year career in coaching.’’ However, his daughter, Mary, who attends Valparaiso University, wants to do it. ‘‘It’s probably going to be him, but yet I’ve got to figure out something with my daughter,’’ he sheepishly admitted. Making the hall in a class with Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk and Shannon Sharpe brought Dent partic- ular satisfaction. He played with Sanders briefly in San Francisco and with Faulk in Indianapolis, and used to work out with Sharpe in Georgia when Sharpe’s career was just start- ing. Dent can’t explain why he didn’t gain enough support to make the Hall of Fame until now. ‘‘When you prove yourself, you assume one fits,’’ he said. ‘‘I didn’t really know what the hang-up was. I knew that I felt I was one of the guys who made a change in pass rushing, in taking the ball from the quarter- back.’’ In the end, though, Dent said there were tears all around with family members when he got the phone call. ‘‘I’m very happy to be in the house,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s what a cou- ple of my buddies — Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson — said. They called me and they said, ’You’re in the house buddy, you’re in the house.’ ‘‘ Sharks 3 Columbus 2 (AP) — As might be expected from a team four games into a 13-day, seven- game road trip, the San Jose Sharks were late starters. Thanks to goalie Antti Niemi, they made up for lost time. Patrick Marleau scored from a sharp angle with 4:51 left to lift San Jose to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. ‘‘This wasn’t the plan by any means,’’ Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. ‘‘The first period we weren’t alert, we didn’t have our legs underneath us and we weren’t very competitive. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB Lakers 36 16 .692 — Phoenix 24 25 .490 10.5 WARRIORS 22 28 .440 13 Clippers 20 32 .385 16 KINGS 12 36 .250 22 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 44 8 .846 — Dallas 36 15 .706 7.5 New Orleans32 22 .593 13 Memphis 28 26 .519 17 Houston 25 29 .463 20 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 33 18 .647 — Denver 30 22 .577 3.5 Utah 31 23 .574 3.5 Portland 28 24 .538 5.5 Minnesota 13 39 .250 20.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 38 13 .745 — New York 26 25 .510 12 Philadelphia24 28 .462 14.5 New Jersey 16 37 .302 23 Toronto 14 39 .264 25 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 38 14 .731 — Miami Atlanta 33 19 .635 5 Orlando 34 20 .630 5 Charlotte 22 30 .423 16 Washington 14 37 .275 23.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 35 16 .686 — Indiana 22 28 .440 12.5 Milwaukee 20 31 .392 15 Detroit 20 33 .377 16 Cleveland 8 45 .151 28 ————————————————— Wednesday’s results Dallas at Sacramento, late Denver at Golden State, late Chicago 91, Utah 86 Detroit 103, Cleveland 94 Indiana 104, Charlotte 103 L.A. Clippers 116, New York 108 New Jersey 103, New Orleans 101, OT Orlando 99, Philadelphia 95 San Antonio 111, Toronto 100 Washington 100, Milwaukee 85 Today’s games Golden State at Phoenix, 6 p.m.,CSNB L.A. Lakers at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT Dallas at Denver, 7:30 p.m., TNT To come back was a nice thing. Our goaltender had a huge part in that.’’ Niemi made 42 saves, including 28 in the final two periods. He was at his best late in the first, as Columbus threatened to turn it into a rout, and in the final 5 min- utes while preserving the lead. The Sharks have earned at least one point in 10 straight games (9-0-1). Joe Pavelski dug the puck off the back wall and passed to Marleau, who flipped the puck at goalie Steve Mason from a couple of feet away from the goal line on the left wing. Pavels- ki helped distract Mason as the puck slipped into the net. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA Dallas 30 18 6 66 154 153 SHARKS 30 19 6 66 155 146 Phoenix 28 19 9 65 159 158 Ducks 29 21 4 62 146 150 Kings 29 22 2 60 150 129 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 32 16 6 70 177 160 Nashville 29 19 7 65 145 130 Chicago 28 22 4 60 172 151 Columbus 26 23 5 57 147 166 St. Louis 24 20 8 56 140 154 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 35 10 9 79 183 127 Calgary 28 21 7 63 162 163 Minnesota 28 20 5 61 138 140 Colorado 25 23 6 56 166 178 Edmonton 16 30 8 40 134 184 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 35 13 5 75 180 137 Pittsburgh 34 17 4 72 165 126 N.Y. Rangers29 23 4 62 155 138 New Jersey 20 30 4 44 116 156 N.Y. Islanders17 29 7 41 131 174 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 31 16 7 69 169 125 Montreal 30 20 5 65 145 139 Buffalo 25 22 5 55 152 153 Toronto 23 26 5 51 143 169 Ottawa 17 30 8 42 121 183 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 33 17 5 71 168 169 Washington 29 16 10 68 150 136 Carolina 26 21 7 59 161 167 Atlanta 24 22 10 58 162 183 Florida 23 24 6 52 141 143 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Wednesday’s results San Jose 3, Columbus 2 Boston 8, Montreal 6 Calgary 5, Ottawa 2 Chicago 4, Edmonton 1 Minnesota 3, Colorado 2 Nashville 4, Detroit 1 Phoenix 3, Dallas 2, OT Anaheim at Vancouver, late Today’s games Carolina at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., NHLN New Jersey at Toronto, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Florida, 4:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. LOCAL Red Bluff Parks and Recreation Basketball Feb. 7 results McGlynn Law (54) Regnart 2 0-0 4, Bliss 2 1-3 5, Weber 4 4-4 13, Jackson 6 1-1 15, Clauson 2 1-2 5, McGlynn 4 3-7 11, Skaggs 0 0-0 0, Shilts 0 0-2 0. Brewers Arena (63) Wagner 1 0-0 2, Welch 0 0-0 0, Hed- din 9 0-0 20, Zazuetta 6 0-0 15, Williams 6 2-3 18, Brewer 0 0-0 0, Pit- ter 3 1-3 5, Clement 0 0-0 0, Baptista 0 1-2 1. McGlynn Law 19 35 — 54 Brewers Arena 32 31 — 63 3-Point Goals —McGlynn Law 4 (Jackson 2, Bliss 1, Weber 1), Brewers Arena 9 (Williams 4, Zazuetta 3, Hed- din 2.). Mt. Lassen (58) Chafin 3 0-0 8, Cornelins 0 0-0 0, Watson 2 0-0 4, Stone 4 0-0 12, Curtis 3 0-0 6, Muir 0 0-0 0, White 2 0-0 4, Sampson 6 1-1 16, Hampton 4 0-0 8. Dominicks (53) Weibling 3 0-0 7, Dominick 2 0-0 4, Botts 3 1-4 7, Gormley 0 0-0 0, Ram 0 0-0 0, Brownfield 6 4-8 16, Vine 0 0-0 0, McDonald 6 4-6 19. Mt. Lassen 29 29 — 58 Dominicks 20 33 — 53 3-Point Goals —Mt. Lassen 9 (Stone 4, Sampson 3, Chafin 2), Dominicks 4 (McDonald 3, Weibling 1). ‘‘It got in on the short side,’’ Columbus coach Scott Arniel said. ‘‘(Mason) was playing a heck of a hockey game and it just squeezed in.’’ Marleau had an assist to go with his goal, and Pavel- ski had two assists as the Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit. The Blue Jackets had applied most of the pressure in the third before Marleau’s goal, outshooting the Sharks 16-9 in the period and 44-32 overall. Kent Huskins and Kyle Wellwood also scored for the Sharks, who have won five straight. NCAA Wednesday’s Top 25 results No. 3 Texas 68, Oklahoma 52 No. 5 Duke 79, No.20 North Carolina 73 No. 7 BYU 90, Air Force 52 No.8 Notre Dame 89 No.16 Louisville 79, OT Rutgers 77, No. 9 Villanova 76 No.11 Georgetown 64, No.12 Syracuse 56 No. 13 Wisconsin 62, Iowa 59, OT No. 17 Florida 79, South Carolina 60 No. 21 Utah St. at Idaho, late No. 22 Texas A&M 73, Colorado 70, OT No. 24 Temple 77, Fordham 66 Today’s Top 25 games No.10 UConn vs.St.John's, 4 p.m., ESPN No.23 Vanderbilt vs.Alabama, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Today’s other televised games Florida St.at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ESPN2 Illinois at Minnesota, 6 p.m., ESPN San Diego at San Fran., 7:30 p.m., CSNC Gonzaga at L.Marymount, 8 p.m., ESPN2 Oregon St.at Southern Cal, 8 p.m., CSNB