The Mercury News

Ex-Raider pulls a man from burning vehicle after crash

- Staff and news service reports

Brandon Bair never made much of an impact with the Raiders, but the former defensive end recently performed a genuinely heroic act.

Bair, a practice squad player, was promoted to the 53-man roster for Week 17 in 2012, but was designated as inactive. Bair is anything but inactive at age 36, recently saving a man from a flaming semi truck after it was struck by a train, according to the East Idaho News.

The former University of Oregon player witnessed the accident on Highway 20 in St. Anthony, Idaho and the resulting explosion. After calling 911, Bair heard a voice coming from the truck.

“It was a conscious decision that I’m going in because he needs help right now,” Bair told the newspaper. “I ran up to the window and saw dripping, hot flames all over inside of the truck. I could see a guy in a seatbelt and was able to reach in and get it off of him. He was talking, and I told him we had to get out of here now.”

The survivor, Steven Jenson, 25, was pulled to safety from a rear window.

“We walked away, and within seconds, the fire on the roof fell down inside, and the whole seat and cab went up in flames,” Bair said. “A few minutes later, there were a couple big booms and explosions.”

A hospital spokesman told the newspaper Jenson was in stable condition Friday morning.

Bair played at Oregon and played 21 games with the Philadelph­ia Eagles from 2014-15 with 1 1/2 sacks.

— Jerry McDonald

Golf

MCILROY ENDS HIS LONG PGA WINLESS STREAK >> Rory McIlroy shot 3-under-par 68 to win his first PGA tournament in more than 18 months, finishing at 10-under 274 in capturing the Wells Fargo Championsh­ip at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, N.C.

McIlroy finished one shot ahead of Abraham Ancer, who shot a 5-under 66.

McIlroy overtook 54-hold leader Keith Mitchell, who shot 72 and finished tied for third with Viktor Hovland (67) at 8-under par. Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, rounded out the top-five at 7 under after carding a 71.

The victory is the first for the Northern Irishman since 2019, marking the second-longest drought of his career.

JUTANUGARN SHOOTS 63 TO WIN LPGA THAILAND >> Ariya Jutanugarn shot a 9-underpar 63 in the final round to win the LPGA Thailand by one stroke and become the first home winner of the tournament in 14 years.

Jutanugarn’s overall total of 22 under 266 just edged out her fellow Thai Atthaya Thitikul, 18, who missed a four-foot birdie putt at the last to force a playoff. CEJKA WINS REGIONS TRADITION PLAYOFF >> Alex Cejka won the Regions Tradition at Birmingham, Ala. in only his third PGA Tour Champions start, beating defending champion Steve Stricker with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

A childhood refugee from communist Czechlosov­okia (now the Czech Republic), the 50-year-old Cejka made a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 18 and Stricker missed a 9-footer with a chance to extend the playoff at Greystone Golf & Country Club.

Motorsport­s TRUEX JR. DOMINATES AT DARLINGTON FOR THIRD WIN >>

Martin Truex Jr. won for the third time in the 2021 season when he captured the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

And a dominating win it was for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver as he led 248 of 293 laps. At times, his margin over the closest driver behind him was more than 10 seconds — or a third of a lap at the 1.33-mile eggshaped oval.

The victory was Truex’s second at Darlington but it didn’t come without a laterace challenge as Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsport­s hunted him down over the final 30 laps, made his way to Truex’s rear bumper and stayed there until fading with five laps to go.

Truex’s margin of victory over Larson was 2.51 seconds.

Kyle Busch, who won a week ago at Kansas, had the lead just before blowing a tire and spinning on Lap 22. But he came back from that and finished third. HAMILTON WINS SPANISH GP >> Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in a thrilling duel to win the Spanish Grand Prix and increase his championsh­ip lead over his top rival.

Hamilton followed his 100th career pole on Saturday by taking his 98th career win.

Track and field SEAHAWKS’ METCALF FALLS SHORT IN U.S. TRACK SPRINT >>

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf showed his attempt to qualify for next month’s U.S. Olympic Trials was no joke, but it still wasn’t good enough.

At the USA Track and Field Golden Games and Distance Open, Metcalf finished in 10.37 seconds in the 100 meters in his semifinal heat. The time was the slowest of the nine-man race but better than two of the 17 overall runners in the event at Walnut, Calif.

Tennis ZVEREV WINS SECOND MADRID TITLE >>

Fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev recovered from a first-set loss to record a 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Matteo Berrettini to win the Mutua Madrid Open for the second time.

 ?? JACOB KUPFERMAN — AP ?? Rory McIlroy celebrates winning the Wells Fargo Championsh­ip, his first win in more than 18 months.
JACOB KUPFERMAN — AP Rory McIlroy celebrates winning the Wells Fargo Championsh­ip, his first win in more than 18 months.
 ??  ?? Bair
Bair

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