AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Masters is assured its smallest field in 21 years with no more than 87 players.

U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka notified Augusta National on Monday he would not be able to compete as he recovers from a left wrist injury. Earlier in the day, Cameron Smith of Australia was among four players added to the field from the top 50 in the world ranking published one week before the Masters.

Also getting in through the world ranking were Satoshi Kodaira of Japan, Dylan Frittelli of South Africa and Chez Reavie, the first American since 2012 to earn a Masters invitation through the final ranking cutoff.

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That brings the field to 86 who are expected to play. One spot is available to this week’s Houston Open winner if he is not already eligible.

The Masters had 86 players in 1997, the year Tiger Woods won his first Masters by 12 shots.

For Vic Dupuis, the third hole at his home course will never play the same.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Masters is assured its smallest field in 21 years with no more than 87 players.

U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka notified Augusta National on Monday he would not be able to compete as he recovers from a left wrist injury. Earlier in the day, Cameron Smith of Australia was among four players added to the field from the top 50 in the world ranking published one week before the Masters.

Also getting in through the world ranking were Satoshi Kodaira of Japan, Dylan Frittelli of South Africa and Chez Reavie, the first American since 2012 to earn a Masters invitation through the final ranking cutoff.

Article continues below …

That brings the field to 86 who are expected to play. One spot is available to this week’s Houston Open winner if he is not already eligible.

The Masters had 86 players in 1997, the year Tiger Woods won his first Masters by 12 shots.

Well, here's one you don't see every day. On Friday night, Legacy Fighting Alliance's Irvina Ayala and Drew Chatman squared off in the octagon. Chatman, making his pro MMA debut, won by KO after Ayala accidentally knocked himself out on Chatman's knee when the fight went to the mat. What happened next is the reason we're bothering to mention this at all:
https://twitter.com/AXSTVFights/status/977578707966545925
Elated with his first-ever pro victory, Chatman sprung to his feet, jumped on Ayala's back, and front flipped off his downed opponent in celebration. He did not stick the landing. Chatman was stripped of his win and handed a DQ loss. By weekend's close, he had also been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for 90 days and docked pay. It was a hell of a highlight, but for Chatman, it was pretty much just hell.
RELATED: Deontay Wilder’s knockout is the single most terrifying highlight of the sports weekend
“Let me be honest with ..

Nathaniel S. ButlerLeBron James has never missed a playoff game. LeBron James has never been injured for more than two weeks at a time. LeBron James has never sat out more than 15 percent of a season. LeBron James has 43,997 NBA minutes on 33-year-old legs and is still putting up 37/10/8 stat lines while unleashing face-melting dunkage and now we know why…or rather how:
FacebookPinterestNo, that's not an accounting error or an actually pretty bulletproof money laundering scheme: According to LeBron's best friend and manager Mav Carter, LeBron spends $1.5 million dollar on maintaining his body…EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. So sure, maybe you can deduct the moon boots, iron lung, and horse placenta salad bar, but that is still a metric ton of moola to spend on wellness annually, even for the undisputed Best Athlete on Earth.
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Of course, when you spend that much on anything, it can be tough to get your money's worth, but LeBron is pretty damn close to com..

To all those engaged, here's your sign to stop the wedding. Clearly loyalty and devotion are a thing of the past.
How else can you interpret this dark news out of South Florida? According to radio host Andy Slater, Laurence Leavy—known in your programs as “Marlins Man,” aka the guy sitting in prominent seats at every major sporting event in an orange jersey—was unable to come to terms with the Miami ball club for season tickets. Leavy sent the team a $200,000 check for a three-year, four-ticket commitment. Given the product the Marlins are going to be putting on the field the next…
Checks Marlins' roster and minor-league system
…decade, that seemed generous. Amazingly, the Marlins shot it down, although did counter with two other offers. But offers not good enough for Marlins Man.
“I've received more of a discount for other teams with a multi-year deal, including the Yankees, and I never have to pay years in advance,” Leavy told Slater.
Could the team be tired of Lea..

Michael Caulfield ArchiveAt this point, Shaq lives for three things—Instagram, piloting ridiculous motorized contraptions, and making fun of Charles Barkley. And while we hope Shaq's passion for the latter never wanes, his regular combination of social media and transportation has reached official intervention status:
Shaq, my foo, if you keep Instagramming while driving, you're going to freaking die.
On Sunday night, Shaq posted not one, but TWO video selfies while cruising the highways and bi-ways of South Florida. The first features Shaq bombing around in a Can-Am Slingshot—a three-wheel car/trike hybrid—clad in a pair of fully tinted ski goggles at night…
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…while the second featured The Big Introspective jamming to some chill R&B tones with nothing but green lights and headlights stretching out before him:
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As evidenced by the #vaydorlife hashtag, Shaq also made a vehicle switch at some point during his evening roll-abou..

According to Gallup, the public's confidence in American institutions has never been lower. Just open a newspaper and you'll understand why. Actually you can't because newspapers don't exist anymore, which perhaps proves our point: Uncle Sam's been taken to the cleaners as of late.
However, for those losing hope in the probity of the red, white and blue, turn up the Bruce Springsteen while feasting you eyes upon Detroit Lions receiver Golden Tate's inspirational act, one that puts the Gettysburg Address and the Crossing of the Delaware to shame.
https://twitter.com/sinow/status/978032051340431360
Yep, that's Tate hauling in a Hail Mary beer toss, stoically toasting his newfound friends and proceeding to chug that goodness down, all while wrapped in Old Glory herself.
Are we advocating for Tate to get his own statue for his triumph? Well, Rocky Balboa got one, and he's not even real. May we erect a memorial in his honor, one that shines as bright ..

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Ryder Cup will return to Hazeltine in 2028, the first time a U.S. course will host the showcase event a second time.

The PGA of America announced the decision Monday. In 2016 at the layout in Chaska outside Minneapolis, the U.S. beat Europe 17-11 for its first victory in eight years.

The 2016 event featured perfect fall weather, huge galleries and an American victory after three consecutive losses.

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This fall’s Ryder Cup is outside Paris, followed by Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020, Rome in 2022, Bethpage on Long Island in New York in 2024 and Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco in 2032.

Big news this weekend for sociopathically stubborn narcissists, people who misunderstand and thus fear science and Kyrie Irving, whether he was running an experiment or not: A man who’s been trying for years to prove that the earth is flat finally managed to launch a rocket! We will get to why those two sentence clauses go together in a moment, but first let’s pause to pat this guy on the back and get him a Flavor-Ice. We’re proud of you here on the plate-like enormous floating disc on which humans live, work and orbit, somehow.
Meet “Mad” Mike Hughes (nickname self-applied, although take a nice hot look at his picture, he’s just getting out in front of this), a self-declared Flat Earth Researcher, self-taught rocket scientist and, we’ll just go ahead and guess, home-schooled barber. He is also a 61-year-old limo driver, a job for which we assume he was trained.
FacebookPinterestOn Sunday, Hughes managed to get a self-designed steam-powered rocket all the way up to 1,875 feet into the ..