FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • THUrsday, aprIL 8, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
GOLF
Woods’ car wreck
caused by speeding
PREP VOLLEYBALL
LOS ANGELES — Tiger
Woods was driving more
than 80 mph — nearly
twice the posted speed
limit — on a downhill
stretch of road when he
lost control of an SUV and
crashed in a wreck that
seriously injured the golf
superstar, authorities said
Wednesday.
Sheriff Alex Villan-
ueva blamed the Feb. 23
crash outside Los Angeles
solely on excessive speed
and Woods’ loss of con-
trol behind the wheel.
The athlete will not face
any citations for his third
high-profile collision in
11 years.
“The primary causal
factor for this traffic col-
lision was driving at a
speed unsafe for the road
conditions and the inabil-
ity to negotiate the curve
of the roadway,” the sher-
iff told a news conference.
Woods was driving
84 to 87 mph in an area
with a speed limit of 45
mph, Villanueva said. No
one else was hurt, and
no other vehicles were
involved.
The stretch of road is
known for wrecks and
drivers who frequently hit
high speeds.
There was no evidence
that the golfer tried to
brake, and investigators
believe Woods may have
inadvertently stepped on
the accelerator instead
of the brake pedal in a
panic, said sheriff’s Capt.
James Powers, who over-
sees the sheriff’s station
closest to the crash site.
Woods was wearing a
seat belt at the time, and
the vehicle’s airbags de-
ployed.
Detectives did not seek
search warrants for Woods’
blood samples, which
could have been screened
for drugs or alcohol, or his
cellphone. Authorities said
there was no evidence
of impairment or of dis-
tracted driving.
On Twitter, Woods
thanked first responders,
as well as the people who
called 911.
“I will continue to focus
on my recovery and fam-
ily, and thank everyone for
the overwhelming sup-
port and encouragement
I’ve received throughout
this very difficult time,”
Woods wrote.
Lava Bears find next gear
— Associated Press
BASKETBALL
Shaq pays off
stranger’s ring
NBA legend Shaquille
O’Neal made a man’s
day with a random act
of kindness at an Atlanta
jewelry store Tuesday.
In a video shared on
Instagram, O’Neal de-
cided to pay off the en-
gagement ring debt a
man owed to the store.
O’Neal was at the store to
purchase hoop earrings
when he heard the man
ask the store employee
how much he owed on
the ring. Then, O’Neal
stepped in on the pur-
chase.
On Tuesday night
O’Neal said on TNT this
was something he fre-
quently did for people. He
recalled a time recently
where he paid for the fur-
niture of a mother with
an autistic child while out
shopping with his mother.
“I’m into making peo-
ple happy,” O’Neal on the
broadcast, “so, whenever
I leave the house I just try
to do a good deed.
“I’m just trying to make
people smile, that’s all.”
— The Oregonian
Blazers — Portland
continues to struggle
with Western Conference
contenders. Details, A7
Bend holds off Summit in
5 sets to win the season
series against its rival
BY BRIAN RATHBONE • The Bulletin
B
end High coach
Kristin Cooper could
not help but feel a
sense of relief as she watched
Harper Justema’s game-tying
kill attempt sail high and out of
bounds in the fifth set.
The hit out of bounds brought
an end to a grueling match
after the Lava Bears survived a
comeback by Summit to win 3-2
(25-16, 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 15-
13) Tuesday night at Bend High
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Bend’s Marley Hardgrave fires the ball over the net as Summit’s Shannon MacCallum (8) and Harper Justema attempt to block
during Tuesday night’s volleyball match at Bend High School.
School.
The victory also gave Bend the
series win over its crosstown rival,
claiming two of three matches this
season.
“By the end, I think I had a couple
of extra gray hairs but those are the
matches that you love to coach in,”
Cooper said. “It is always a great game
when we play against Summit.”
A big sigh of relief was released on
the court as well when the match fi-
nally ended.
“I can’t describe how good this win
feels,” said senior outside hitter Izzy
Armstrong, who finished with 15 kills.
“I can’t describe how good this win feels. Summit and Bend have always
been a big rivalry. It is a really special way to end, especially having so
many friends on the other team.”
— Izzy Armstrong, Bend senior outside hitter
“Summit and Bend have always been
a big rivalry. It is a really special way to
end, especially having so many friends
on the other team.”
Through two sets it looked as
though Bend would cruise to an easy
win as Armstrong and junior middle
blocker Marley Hardgrave were strong
at the net, combining for 32 kills and
nine blocks.
The Lava Bears won the first set
comfortably, 25-16, then after trailing
for most of the second set they found
an extra gear and closed the set on a
7-1 run to win 25-20.
“One of my quotes is that we need
GOLF | THE MASTERS
to ‘shift to the next gear,’ ” Cooper
said. “We came out strong, that was
a goal.”
But the Lava Bears could not find
that next gear for the next two sets.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the
net, there was little panic from Sum-
mit despite falling behind two sets.
“It has been our tendency to start
out a little slow and then kick it into
gear, so I was fine with it because this
is what we usually do,” said Summit
coach Jill Waskom. “So let’s just keep
doing what we usually do.”
See Volleyball / A6
FOOTBALL
In firm conditions, Masters in
November a distant memory
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. — No one
needed to see the colorful
blooms at Augusta National
to realize this will be a much
different Masters than the last
one. It was the color of the
greens.
They were yellow. On
Wednesday.
The excitement of the first
major of the golf season was
mixed with no small mea-
sure of trepidation about the
test Augusta National might
present this week without in-
tervention and a little precip-
itation.
Fred Couples, who played
his first Masters in 1983 and
is competing for the 36th
time, played a practice round
Wednesday with Rory McIl-
roy.
“Rory said it five times:
‘Have you ever seen the
greens like this on Wednes-
day?’ And five times in a row
I said, ‘No,’” Couple said. “He
was laughing. So I think if it
stays like this, come even Fri-
day, Saturday, Sunday, I mean,
honestly, a 70 or 71 will be a
heck of a score.”
A score like that would have
meant getting lapped in No-
vember, when the Masters had
to take an autumn date after it
was postponed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Dustin Johnson played
conservatively along the back
nine because he had a big
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP file
Oregon’s Brady Breeze, left, runs for a TD after a blocked punt during
the 2020 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California.
Curtis Compton/ Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Bryson DeChambeau, left, talks with Phil Mickelson on the 10th
tee during a practice round for the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, on
Wednesday.
lead, and he still finished with
a record score of 20-under
268 to win by five shots in
the lowest-scoring Masters in
history.
“I’ve seen some young guys
this week have a slightly deer-
in-the-headlights look be-
cause they’ve walked out on
a couple of those greens and
they’ve seen the color of them
and they’ve felt the firmness,”
Paul Casey said. “You can see
they’re kind of going, ‘Whoa.
This is a whole different an-
imal.’”
Still to be determined is
what the weather has in store
for the rest of the week. The
sun has added that scary
shine to the putting surfaces
starting with the Augusta Na-
tional Women’s Amateur on
Saturday — the winning score
was at 1-over par. Scattered
storms are in the forecast the
rest of the way.
For the the 13 players who
played the Masters for the first
time in November, it’s like
starting over.
“November is a Masters
that we’ll probably never see
again,” Webb Simpson said.
“You know, flying hybrids,
5-woods, 3-woods to the hole
and the ball stopping. It’s good
to forget about that because
that’s not our normal Masters.
It’s in a way relearning the nu-
ances.”
Phil Mickelson and Bryson
DeChambeau dropped balls
left of the 10th green Wednes-
day morning to play chip
shots to potential hole loca-
tions.
See Masters / A6
Ducks players who opted out
of 2020 season have no
regrets as they prepare for NFL
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Pro days are
about evaluating potential in
the NFL. But Oregon’s also was
a bit about the potential of last
season.
With four of nine partici-
pants having opted out of last
season after the Pac-12’s initial
August decision to suspend
all sports until January 2021,
including Penei Sewell, Jevon
Holland, Thomas Graham Jr.
and Brady Breeze, there was a
feeling of what could have been
for the Ducks in 2020.
“I really do believe that the
situation out West was a lot
different than the rest of the
country,” Oregon coach Mario
Cristobal said.
“It wasn’t like we were told it
was going to take a little while.
We were postponed twice and
really canceled. There was no
guarantee of actually playing
a season and that’s when the
opt-outs took place. I don’t
think anyone should judge
that. Those guys were tremen-
dous competitors. Some of
the guys that were seniors that
did opt out, they had made
the decision to return, had
gone through spring ball, had
gone through the offseason.
They had every intention and
carried out their intentions
through actions to play this
year, it just didn’t happen.”
See Ducks / A7