Swanson: Clippers’ Russell Westbrook serves up revenge against Lakers

• April 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Let Russ be Russ. That’s the credo. Long been.

As if there were an alternative.

As if pepper could not be peppery, as if salt could be sweet.

But it can be an acquired taste, the way Russell Westbrook plays basketball. It’s distinctive and rather rich. Hard to stomach for some folks, more palatable to others.

Better, clearly, in a stew with enough other strong complementary flavors. Best, perhaps, like revenge: Served cold.

The Clippers – who added Westbrook on a veteran’s minimum contract after the trade deadline – had more in the cupboard to pair with the hard-charging if imperfect veteran point guard. And they believe he’s delivered, even though they’re just 9-10 since he joined them following Wednesday’s 125-118 victory over Westbrook’s former employer.

They’ll tell you they’ve been well served by him being, well, him.

He pushes the pace and he’s pushed his teammates in practice. He’s sprinkled plenty of swagger and spice into an otherwise mild-mannered squad. Plenty more turnovers too, but that comes with the change in pace.

“I think he fits a bunch of needs,” acknowledged Lakers coach Darvin Ham, noting that Westbrook is helping the Clippers fill the void created by All-Star Paul George’s absence with a right knee sprain. “He provides a steady veteran, a guy that’s been through many wars, and who’s going to give it all he has.”

And that’s pretty much exactly what the Clippers ordered.

“He’s a guy who’s vocal, can help our guys in the locker room,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before tipoff. “But also just what we asked him to do, he’s done.”

That’s included watching – and cheering, engaging, advising – from the bench at the end of some games. Including Wednesday’s.

Surprise, surprise?

Actually, yeah, Lue said.

“You never know,” said the coach, who had been clamoring for a “traditional” point guard before the Clippers signed Westbrook. “I mean, when you’re dealing with a Hall of Fame player and a guy who’s played a certain style of basketball his whole career, sometimes it could be difficult. But he’s been great.”

All that made Westbrook a pivotal presence in his first game on the Clippers’ side in the local rivalry game, which happened to be the most meaningful in recent memory: With the victory, the Clippers’ 11th straight over the Lakers, they improved to 42-38 and moved into fifth place in the Western Conference standings, passing the idle Golden State Warriors (42-38) via the tiebreaker.

The Lakers stayed in the play-in field, in seventh place after the New Orleans Pelicans’ victory over Memphis.

During pregame introductions, Westbrook was greeted by a roar of emotion – positive and not – from the charged, split crowd of 19,068. He shook no hands before tipoff. And then he opened the game by swatting Austin Reaves’ jumper and throwing a lob to Ivica Zubac, the other former Laker on the Clippers.

Well rested after three days off, they dutifully dispatched the Lakers, who came in limping and on fumes after an overtime victory Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.

The Clippers rode Westbrook’s energy to a 19-point lead in the first half Wednesday. The Lakers whittled the advantage to as few as seven points with 4:13 left in the third quarter and made a late charge. But the game belonged to the host Clippers.

“Man, I felt like Russ was ready to go for 40,” said Clippers guard Bones Hyland, Westbrook’s understudy who took the baton in the second half, scoring all 14 points of his points after the break. “Russ had a great start, man, he came out there, aggressive. …

“We’ve been telling Russ for the past two days, ‘Russ, we’ll match your energy. We got your back. We’re gonna come out with this win.’”

A former Lawndale Leuzinger High and UCLA standout, Westbrook played the past season and a half for his hometown Lakers, a tenure that left a bad taste in the mouths of everyone involved.

After they finally traded him, to Utah at the deadline, ESPN reported that an unnamed someone with the team likened Westbrook’s departure to removing a vampire from the locker room.

He was bought out and then signed with the Clippers, whose players recruited him publicly despite the reported complaints and how poorly he fit with the Lakers during his tenure with them.

That the Lakers, who started the season 2-10, found themselves in position to even pressure the Clippers this late in the schedule has much to do with the roster improvements they made by trading away Westbrook and his expiring $47.1 million salary at the early February trade deadline. They were able to flip him for some key missing ingredients: a dash of defensive length (Jarred Vanderbilt) and a couple of measures of floor-spacing shooting threats (Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell).

And it’s come out pretty well: Entering Wednesday, the Lakers were 16-8 (and boasting the NBA’s best defensive rating) since Westbrook’s departure on Feb. 9 – despite having played most of those without LeBron James, who has missed time with a foot injury.

They’d entirely closed the gap on the Clippers, climbing out of 13th into a tie for sixth.

The Clippers, meanwhile, fought to tread water in the wild Western Conference, their struggles having had more to do with the team pre-Russ – depth at wing is great, but the Clippers are proving it’s possible to have too many cooks in a kitchen, stirring the same pot or manning the same station.

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They were in fifth place when they acquired Westbrook on Feb. 27. And with Wednesday’s result, they’re still in fifth.

“It’s not about individual stuff, but we knew what was said about him and when he came over here, it’s the complete opposite of who he is,” Zubac said. “He’s a great dude, a great leader, always happy, always positive, always helping everyone on the court, helping a lot.

“So we just wanted to prove everyone wrong. Prove all those rumors, all that stuff that was said about him, it just makes it better that it came in the biggest game of the season.”

Westbrook didn’t stick around postgame to chat with reporters about it, but his contribution to the biggest win of the season: 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including hitting two of his four 3-point attempts. He also logged four assists, three rebounds, three turnovers and a steal in 21 minutes, including none in the fourth quarter.

And as Lue has come to expect, Russ was Russ late too, locked in and serving up energy and expertise from the sideline.

​ Orange County Register 

Clippers handle Lakers easily, extending 11-game win streak vs. rivals

• April 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — There was nothing at stake when the Lakers and Clippers squared off Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Nothing, that is, but an improved playoff seeding, the likelihood of avoiding the NBA’s dreaded play-in tournament and a possible change in Hallway Series fortunes.

By night’s end, this L.A. hoops story was a familiar one, with the Clippers taking their 11th consecutive victory over the Lakers, a 125-118 decision that kept them ahead of their erstwhile rivals. Kahwi Leonard’s dunk midway through the fourth quarter provided an exclamation point for the Clippers.

It also gave the sixth-place Clippers a commanding 112-92 lead over the seventh-place Lakers, whose four-game winning streak would soon come to an end in what was a rather routine result.

For a time, it appeared the much-anticipated game between the teams would not live up to expectations, with the Clippers leading by as many as 24 points in the opening minutes of the third quarter and the Lakers looking sluggish after four straight road games and a late-night trip home from Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The teams had played and played and played some more over the years, but it had been decades since they had played a meaningful game. In fact, the Clippers have dominated in recent seasons, despite the megawatt stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers’ roster.

The mere presence of James and Davis in the Lakers’ starting lineup Wednesday underscored the significance of the game. It wasn’t really a must-win for either team, but a victory for either with only two regular-season games left sure couldn’t hurt their chances for higher seeding.

James scored 30 of his 33 points in the second half – finishing with eight rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers – as the Lakers attempted to rally from an early double-digit deficit. Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Apart from a brief flurry midway through the third, they couldn’t get the Lakers where they needed to be and the streak continued.

Norman Powell led the Clippers with 27 points, Leonard had 25, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points in his first game against his former team. The Clippers, still playing without injured All-Star Paul George, trailed only once, at 26-25 late in the first quarter.

The Clippers were well rested, having been idle since losing to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. The Lakers were road-weary, having taken an overtime victory Tuesday over the Utah Jazz, the final game on their four-game trek around the nation.

Wednesday’s game was a homecoming of sorts for the Lakers, a home game for the Clippers. The teams entered a roiling cauldron at the Crypt with matching 41-38 overall records, including at home (20-20) and on the road (21-18), adding intrigue to a matchup that rarely delivered the goods.

The Clippers started with a laser focus; the Lakers did not. The Clippers jumped on the Lakers from the opening tip, building leads of 8-0 and 15-3 before Coach Darvin Ham had seen enough and called for a timeout 8:26 into the game. The Clippers started 6 for 9 from the field and the Lakers started 1 for 7.

Save for a brief run that gave the Lakers their only lead of the half, the Clippers dominated. Their shooting was sharper and so was their defense on James, in particular, and the Lakers in general, deflecting his passes and stripping him of the ball on several empty trips down the court.

James had only three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the half as the Lakers trailed 71-52 at halftime. Davis had six points on 3-for-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds. The rest of the Lakers’ offense went through D’Angelo Russell, who had 11 points, and Austin Reaves, who had 10.

It wasn’t a winning formula.

In the opening minutes, Westbrook seemed bound and determined to shred his former team, playing an active role in the Clippers’ fast start. He looked for his shots, of course, but he also was content to quarterback their offense with passes to open teammates. He didn’t force the action.

The only question by halftime was whether the Lakers could rally.

Or whether it was worth it.

The Lakers’ final two regular-season games are Friday night against the fourth-place Phoenix Suns and Sunday afternoon against the Jazz – both at home. The Clippers’ final two regular-season games are a home date Saturday afternoon with the Portland Trail Blazers and Sunday afternoon against the Suns in Phoenix.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Practical Move leads 9-horse field for Santa Anita Derby

• April 6, 2023

At approximately 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, nine 3-year-olds will load into the Santa Anita starting gate and take a shot at securing a spot in the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl of thoroughbred horse racing.

Practical Move, who has won two consecutive stakes races in impressive efforts while also earning enough qualifying points (60) for America’s most famous horse race, will retain the services of jockey Ramon Vazquez.

A son of Practical Joke, Practical Move has won three of six lifetime races and been visually impressive in his past two – the Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 17 and the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 4.

Practical Move is one of two sophomores in the race trained by Tim Yakteen. He inherited National Treasure when owners transferred some of their top 3-year-olds from Bob Baffert’s barn to Yakteen in order to have the opportunity to earn Derby qualifying points. Baffert was ineligible to run horses at Churchill Downs last year and this year after Medina Spirit was disqualified from his Derby victory in 2021.

He’s one of four in the race who appear, on paper, capable of winning Santa Anita’s 86th edition of the track’s premiere $750,000 Grade I race and going on to enjoy success further down the line in Louisville.

A quick look at the other three:

• National Treasure introduced himself to the racing world with a 1½-length victory in a Santa Anita maiden special weight on Sept. 3. The third-place finisher in that race? Practical Move. Since then, National Treasure has been the ultimate tease, finishing second once and third two times. Perhaps his most impressive outing was last fall’s Breeders’ Cup when he ran a strong third in the Juvenile behind Forte and Cave Rock.

• Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, looking for the first Kentucky Derby victory of his career, will saddle Geaux Rocket Ride and retains the services of Flavien Prat. The son of Candy Ride won his maiden debut by 5¾ lengths on Jan. 23 at Santa Anita and followed that with a second-place finish in the San Felipe behind Practical Move. Prat, of course, won the 2019 Kentucky Derby aboard longshot Country House when the winner, Maximum Security, was disqualified and placed last because of interference.

• Trainer John Shirreffs has won lots of big races, most notably with 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, but a victory Saturday most likely would be his biggest victory since any of his non-Zenyatta scores. It took the Curlin colt four times to find the winner’s circle, but he ran an impressive third in the San Felipe and could continue his winning ways with further improvement Saturday. Victor Espinoza gets the call.

The first post is Saturday is noon. A total of 200 Kentucky Derby qualifying points will be at stake: 100 will be awarded to the winner, with 40, 30, 20 and 10 points going to the remaining top five finishers.

​ Orange County Register 

20 Fullerton residents displaced after apartment fire

• April 6, 2023

Twenty people were displaced following a three-alarm fire that broke out at a second-story apartment in Fullerton on Wednesday, a fire official said.

The fire occurred around 11:10 a.m. at Meredith Manor, an apartment complex on the 1500 block of Pomona Avenue. All lanes on Orangefair Avenue were temporarily closed from Harbor Boulevard to Lemon Street until 2 p.m., according to the Fullerton Police Department.

Ten apartments were evacuated and two people were hospitalized due to smoke inhalation, police said.

Fullerton Fire Battalion Chief Jordan Morris told news service OC Hawk the department was working with the Red Cross to find temporary housing for the displaced residents. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

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​ Orange County Register 

San Dimas baseball comes up short against Servite in National Classic semifinals

• April 6, 2023

PLACENTIA — The San Dimas baseball team was trailing but still battling Wednesday in the bottom of the seventh inning against Servite in the semifinals of the National Classic at El Dorado High School.

Down by one run, the Saints had the bases loaded with two outs. Ryder Young was at the plate and had a chance to deliver a victory for Saints despite all of their earlier mistakes.

On the first pitch, Young grounded out to short and that ended the Saints’ chances, as they fell to Servite 4-3.

For Saints coach Mike Regan, the one-run loss hopefully will show his players what it takes to beat some of the best teams in the Southland, many of which will be part of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

“These are the types of teams you play in (CIF-SS Division 1), and Servite executed,” Regan said. “We’re in these tournaments because we need to be if we want to be able to compete in (Division 1). All of the teams in the (tournament) are really good teams.  And I’m proud of how our boys competed today.”

The game began as a pitching duel between the Saints’ Jude Favela and Servite’s Gustavo Guiterrez.

The Saints finally got to the Servite left-hander in the fourth inning.

San Dimas broke up the scoreless tie with an RBI double to the right-field gap. Junior Rocco Regan drove in Vaughn Coleman, who reached base with a two-out double, to give the Saints a 1-0 lead heading into the fifth inning.

By that point, Favela had retired batter after batter with help from the team’s defense, which hadn’t faltered. But the Friars finally found an offensive spark in the fifth inning and scoring four runs.

The Friars’ four-run outburst was a combination of “small ball” and timely hitting, plus misplays by San Dimas. Servite’s first three batters of the inning bunted for hits, which resulted in the Friars pushing across their first run.

A well-placed leadoff bunt by Servite’s Lake Wilson allowed him to reach base, and he went to second on an errant throw by San Dimas. Tomas Cernius also reached base with a bunt, partly because of miscommunication by San Dimas’ infield.

Servite’s Kyle Buchanan laid down the third bunt of the inning and drove in Wilson from third after Favela was unable to make a play at the plate.

“It was mainly miscommunication and me not getting off the mound as hard as I should have,” Favela said of the fielding miscues.

Two batters later, Favela loaded the bases by hitting a batter.

Servite’s Jonathan Rodriguez then smash the ball to left for a two-run single. Mile Scott drove in the fourth run with an RBI double, giving Servite a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Saints scored two runs to make it 4-3.

Back-to-back, two-out singles set up Rocco Regan to drive in one run with a single. Two poor throws by Servite helped the Saints score a run that made it 4-3.

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Rocco Regan finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

“(Rocco) came through in big moments,” Favela said of the junior infielder. “Props to that guy, he’s been going off recently.”

Favela (4-1) pitched a complete game and struck out three.

Gutierrez earned the win as he went 5⅓ innings. He gave up three runs on six hits.

Jaden MacKwoiak pitched the final four outs for Servite and got out of the bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Ana police unit not operating as illegal police gang, independent probe concludes

• April 6, 2023

An independent probe commissioned by Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin has concluded that an elite team of officers sharing skull tattoos and implicated in an off-duty assault allegation is not operating as an illegal police gang.

However, the report by the Playa del Rey-based OIR Group also noted serious lapses in the handling by Santa Ana officers of a sexual assault allegation involving members of the department’s Major Enforcement Team in August 2020.

In all, the report appeared to clear the eight-member team of violating state law against police gangs, which prohibits “rogue” groups that violate the law while on duty. OIR investigators stressed that the group has not been involved in any officer shootings since its formation in 2020 and used force in only 3% of its nearly 2,000 arrests.

“Too often, crime suppression teams have taken their mandate to address dangerous behavior as a license to engage in harassment and excessive force toward targeted groups — often without proper supervision and accountability,” the OIR report said. “We do not have reason to believe this is true in Santa Ana.”

The report, however, warned the team against taking an “us against them” attitude.

While it was completed last month, the report was not released until Wednesday, April 5.

Vallentin, in a video posted on the department’s website, addressed the report, saying, “All of this is a testament to the team’s preparedness, restraint, self-discipline and tactics.”

Off-duty incident probed

Valentin ordered the investigation last May amid allegations, some from Santa Ana officers, that the team created by the chief was excessively violent but was protected by the police brass. Investigations of alleged misconduct by team members were whitewashed, critics said.

They pointed to the alleged late-night assault at a Mexican restaurant in August 2020. Two teenage girls alleged they were assaulted and harassed by men at a table said to be occupied by off-duty members of the MET unit. One girl said someone briefly touched her buttocks as she walked by the table.

Relatives of the two girls called police, but responding officers labeled the victims as uncooperative, and concluded a crime had not been committed.

The incident was investigated by the department after receiving an anonymous complaint seven months later. That internal investigation found that the physical description given by the girl did not match or resemble any of the officers.

Missteps found

The OIR report, however, found several missteps in the initial response by police officers.

For one thing, an off-duty supervisor for the unit was among those at the table when the assault allegation was made, but did virtually nothing.

“A serious allegation of sexual battery had been made against officers under his command. Yet the supervisor did not report the allegation to his agency,” said the report. “Ideally, the supervisor would have called and asked for a police response immediately upon hearing the allegation. Instead, he decided to leave the scene with his colleagues.”

The supervisor, who is not identified in the report, did not report the allegation to his chain of command after returning to work, the report said.

“Had that occurred, the retrieval of surveillance video from the restaurant and the pursuit of other investigative leads would obviously have been more effective,” the report said. “SAPD should have considered the supervisor’s lack of timely notification to have been a performance failure that merited its own accountability.”

Additionally, the report criticized the officers at the scene for not retrieving footage from the restaurant’s security cameras and for writing only a cursory report.

The OIR document recommended that the department demand that all allegations of police misconduct be sent up the chain of command and be thoroughly investigated. However, Valentin said those policies already exist.

Tattoos not illegal

As far as allegations that the unit operated as an illegal police gang, the OIR report concluded that state law only covers “on-duty” actions. The report says that though the skull tattoos are potentially off-putting, they are not illegal. Those tattoos featured an ace of spades on the forehead, used in the military to signify a first kill and contained in tattoos worn by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies accused of gang membership.

Santa Ana MET officers told investigators the tattoos could not be seen beneath their uniforms and didn’t show an obsession with death or killing. The skulls simply “look cool,” they told OIR investigators.

Other red flags?

The report also mentions challenge coins passed among team members, emblazoned with the Latin words for “let them hate, so long as they fear.” MET officers said the phrase was aimed at hardened criminals antagonized and suppressed by the unit.

The report called the idea behind the phrase on the coins “slightly disquieting.”

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OIR investigators said the tattoos and coins could be red flags that create “an aura inconsistent with the philosophy of community policing or positive engagements with the public.”

“The line between a passionate sense of engagement and overzealousness can blur quickly, and it is not always easy to shift gears between those who are ‘deserving’ of aggressive crime suppression and those who become improperly subject to its excesses,” the report said.

Valentin responded by admonishing officers that tattoos featuring imagery of death in connection with policing could have a negative impact on community trust and could prove dangerous to the officer. He gave the same warning about the challenge coins.

But the chief fell short of prohibiting the tattoos and coins.

​ Orange County Register 

Cypress baseball shuts out El Dorado, will play Servite in National Classic final

• April 6, 2023

PLACENTIA – Cypress’ baseball team scored the game’s only run because of its reputation and Luke Matlock pitched a shutout Wednesday in the Centurions’ 1-0 win over El Dorado in a National Classic semifinal game at El Dorado High.

Cypress (15-4 overall), ranked No. 7 in the Orange County Top 25, will play No. 9 Servite (12-8) in the championship game Thursday at 7 p.m. at Amerige Park in Fullerton.

Matlock, a senior right-hander, scattered four hits over seven innings. He struck out four and walked two.

The Centurions got their run in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs Gabe Cobian and Matt Morrell reached base on back-to-back errors by El Dorado.

That’s when the Cypress reputation came into play. Nick Montgomery hit a ground ball toward where El Dorado shortstop AJ Frausto usually would be, but the spot was open and the ball bounced into the outfield for a hit.

“We’re known for stealing third base,” Cypress coach John Weber said, “so their shortstop had to hold our guy at second base. That grounder’s an out if you’re playing anybody else, but because you’re playing us and we do those little things, it turns out to be a hit.”

Cobian rounded third and easily scored on the base hit to make it 1-0.

El Dorado’s best chance to score happened in the bottom of the third inning. Brady Abner led off with a double into left-center field. Frausto hit a line drive single to left and Cobian came up throwing. His one-hopper to catcher Max Senesac arrived in plenty of time for Senesac to tag our Abner.

The Golden Hawks’ pitching trio of starter Garvey Rumary, Trent Larsen and Grant Thomas held Cypress to three hits and one unearned run.

Rumary, a senior lefty who was All-Crestview League last season, was on a strict pitching limit in his season debut. He gave up one hit in his three innings.

“Their pitchers did a very good job,” Weber said. “I’m thankful Rumary was on a pitch count.”

Matlock’s fastball and breaking pitches were as good in the seventh inning as they were in the first.

“The fastball was getting to the spots I wanted it and it still had a little life and a little sink (in the later innings),” Matlock said. “And I felt really good with the curveball and felt I could get people out with it.”

Cypress, ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Top 10, won the National Classic last season with a 3-1 victory over Bishop Amat.

Matlock enjoys the high level of play in the tournament.

“It’s fun,” Matlock said. “It’s good competition and it gets you ready for CIF (playoffs).”

El Dorado (12-8) will play San Dimas (13-3) in the third-place game Thursday at noon at Amerige Park.

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Also in the National Classic:

Servite 4, San Dimas 3: Jonny Rodriguez’s two-run single highlighted a four-run fifth inning for the Friars (12-8) in the other championship semifinal Wednesday at El Dorado High.

Servite sophomore outfielder Miles Scott drove in a run with a single to make it 4-1. Scott finished with two hits.

Sophomore left-hander Gustavo Gutierrez pitched into the sixth inning and got the win for the Friars.

​ Orange County Register 

Scottie Scheffler looks primed for rare Masters double

• April 6, 2023

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer

AUGUSTA, Ga. — There are plenty of perks that come from being the reigning Masters champion.

You have a year to don that cherished green jacket wherever you want. You can nab a tee time at Augusta National without any hassles. You get to select the menu for the champions dinner.

And getting to do it all over again?

Well, that’s a truly exclusive club.

Every year, the previous winner is sure to be reminded that only three players have ever won two straight Masters.

What a group it is.

Jack Nicklaus. Nick Faldo. Tiger Woods.

It was no different Tuesday for Scottie Scheffler, the latest player with a chance to join that illustrious trio.

The second question – and several others that followed – focused on what it would mean to go back to back.

“Any time you can get mentioned in the same breath as a Tiger and a Jack and a Nick Faldo is really special,” Scheffler said.

But, he was quick to add, “It’s not a motivating factor for me.”

Scheffler knows it’s tough enough to put together two straight shots that go where you want, so the odds of syncing up four stellar rounds at Augusta National – then four more a year later – are steep indeed.

That said, the 26-year-old Texan is the betting favorite – along with Rory McIlroy, according to FanDuel Sportsbook – as he sets his sights on another green jacket.

With good reason.

Scheffler is ranked No. 1 in the world. He’s already got a pair of victories this year. He’s finished inside the top 12 of his last nine events.

Not since Jordan Spieth in 2016 has a player arrived at the Masters with such heightened expectations of a repeat.

Doing his best to make it feel like any other week – or at least a week before he won the Masters – Scheffler came out early Sunday and got a round in with his sister, Callie, on his bag.

“I tried to get a little bit of the memories and stuff from last year out of the way as early as I could,” he said.

But those memories – and reminders – linger at every turn.

“It’s a bit different, when you see the list of guys when they get in the tournament and how they qualify,” Scheffler said, “and you see ‘Lifetime Exemption’ by your name I think is really cool. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to be coming back to this place for many years.”

Woods, who went back to back in 2001-02, was asked what it takes to accomplish such a rare feat.

Familiarity with the course, and all its idiosyncrasies, was at the top of his list.

“What has allowed some of us to defend the title is understanding how to play it,” Woods said. “Scottie knows how to play this golf course.”

It helps to have a guy like Ted Scott on the bag. He was the caddie for Bubba Watson during his two Masters victories, and he was at Scheffler’s side a year ago.

“I think the teamwork of player and caddie is so important here because there’s so many variables that go on,” Woods said. “The lies, the wind, the gusts, and knowledge of the golf course. There’s so many things that can happen, and talking through each and every shot. We just don’t go out there and say, ‘Yeah, you know, I have 152 yards, just go ahead and hit it.’”

A year ago, Scheffler took command with a second-round 67 that sent him to the weekend with a five-shot lead.

He wavered a bit on a windy Saturday, but bounced back for a 71 that kept his lead at three strokes. The final round was largely a victory lap as Scheffler wasn’t seriously threatened after the first couple of holes.

He won by three shots – a victory that actually was more comfortable than that because he took a double-bogey at the 18th.

Since then, Scheffler said his life hasn’t changed all that much.

He’s still got the same car, a 2012 Yukon X with about 190,000 miles on it. He still lives in the same house with his wife, Meredith.

“I bought a cold tub. That was a pretty big indulgence,” Scheffler said. “Still not running at home, but we bought it.”

He also likes to buy a high-end bottle of tequila after each win, but that’s about as extravagant as it gets.

“I’m sure eventually – maybe – I’ll get a new car,” Scheffler said. “I don’t know. I’m not huge on that kind of stuff.”

Come Sunday evening, he’d love to be in position to add to his tequila collection.

But if Scheffler needs a reminder that previous wins and world rankings don’t mean all that much. Look no further than Spieth’s bid for a repeat in 2016. It looked like a lock when the world’s hottest player built a five-shot lead with nine holes to play.

Then, inexplicably, Spieth turned in a collapse for the ages. After two straight bogeys, he dunked two balls in the water at the 12th and took a quadruple-bogey that handed the lead – and the green jacket that should’ve been his – to Danny Willett. Spieth finished three shots back.

Instead of a repeat, it’s seven years on, and he’s still at one green jacket.

Which brings us back to Scheffler, who calls the No. 1 ranking nothing more than “a math algorithm.”

He did concede that “No. 1 is better than being No. 2 in the algorithm,” and he certainly knows it puts the focus squarely on his bid for consecutive titles.

No sooner had he grabbed a chair for his pre-Masters news conference than the moderator, Augusta National member Ron Townsend, reminded him of the significance.

“You know, last year at this time, you were sitting in that same chair, wearing a green jacket for the first time. Do you remember that?” Townsend asked.

“I do recall,” Scheffler said, breaking into a big smile.

​ Orange County Register