Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and baseball fans in general are well aware of Jon Lester's struggles with throwing to first base. You can also add golf fans to that list, because the word used to describe those struggles is one no golfer ever wants to hear .. the y-, y-, y-, YIPS (GASP). If you're not up to speed, here are a few of his worst offenses:
Yikes. Those are scarier looking than that amphibious creature from “The Shape of Water”. To be fair though, Lester has picked off a few guys even with some ugly throws, mostly because they are baiting him to with massive leads:
This excellent Sports Illustrated piece written by Stephanie Apstein last May will lead you to believe that Lester beat the yips, but they never go away, evidenced by the fact Lester told reporters on Sunday that he is working on intentionally bouncing passes to first base. Or, as he calls it, the “Jordan-to-Pippen” bounce pass, which is a nice touch, and will get Cubs fans thinking of the good old days of..

Christopher Polk(Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures')Forget the Oscars. The most important Hollywood show this weekend was the Golden Raspberry Awards, aka “The Razzies,” which, ahem, honors the worst work of cinema. Annually held the day before the Academy Awards, this year's Razzies went hard after the “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “The Emoji Movie.” Which, hold on…they're still making Transformer movies? What the hell guys. No wonder I can't get my screenplay “By the Book” — a movie about a cop that DOES play by the rules — made.
Anyway, one of the night's “winners” was “Baywatch.” The revival of the '90s sitcom about lifeguards slowly jogging down beaches was critically panned, rocking an 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Given the film's star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was none too thrilled about said reviews during its release — “Fans LOVE the movie. Critics HATE it. What a glaring disconnect. People just want ..

Bill Haas returns to golf this week knowing the Valspar Championship will be unlike any of the previous 347 times he has played on the PGA Tour.

The deep bruise on his left leg and the soreness in his right ankle have subsided. Still tender are memories of a friend, Mark Gibello, who was killed Feb. 13 on a winding road outside Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles when his Ferrari clipped another car and slammed into a pole.

Haas was the passenger.

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”There’s not many templates to go by on something like this,” Haas said in his first interview since the accident. ”I was in a state of shock, disbelief. It was a tragic event, traumatic. I’m still unsure how to handle it. I keep going back to focusing on the Gibello family.”

He described the Gibellos as mutual friends he planned to stay with during the Genesis Open.

Haas and Gibello played golf the previous weekend at Los Angeles Country Club, where Gibello was a member and played a role in the club hosting ..

Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesPhil Mickelson's “FIGJAM” nickname is a complicated etymology. It derives from his early days on tour, when his spirited demeanor and unshakeable conviction rubbed peers the wrong way. That generation is gone, their disgust and envy replaced with a younger group that looks at Mickelson as a statesmen with respect and reverence.
Not that Mickelson's self-assurance has gone by the wayside. A dose of hubris is needed to be a successful professional athlete, especially so in the case of someone like Mickelson who's battling competitors half his age. But lest you think time has mellowed Lefty out, this back-and-forth from his press conference should clear any confusion.
Sunday's victory was Mickelson's 43rd PGA Tour career victory. An impressive total, good enough for ninth on the tour's all-time wins list. Amazingly, a reporter—funny bunch of squirrels, those reporters—asked Mickelson if he could get to 50 wins. A nice round figure s..

MEXICO CITY (AP) Phil Mickelson knew this was coming, even when he had so little to show for it.

Mickelson had gone 101 tournaments around the world since he last won at Muirfield in the 2013 British Open, which moved him to No. 2 in the world and gave him the third leg of the career Grand Slam. In more than two decades on the PGA Tour, he had gone only two seasons without winning.

And then it was up to four straight years and counting.

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There was more frustration than self-doubt. And with Mickelson, even at age 47, there was never a loss of confidence.

”I knew that wasn’t going to be my last one, no,” he said Sunday. ”And this isn’t either.”

The most recent one came in the high altitude of the Mexico Championship, and it was another pulsating performance, as often is the case with Mickelson.

Five birdies in the opening 10 holes gave him the lead. Right when he was on the verge of taking control, he went for the green on the par-5 11th hole only for th..

Nearing 48 years old, Phil Mickelson continues to prove he's golf's greatest showman at the WGC-Mexico Championship

MEXICO CITY (AP) Phil Mickelson ended the longest drought of his career with a playoff victory Sunday over Justin Thomas in the Mexico Championship, capping off a final round of lustrous cheers in thin air that included Thomas holing a wedge for eagle on the final hole of regulation.

Mickelson, who closed with a 5-under 66, won for the first time since the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a stretch of 101 tournaments worldwide.

”I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Mickelson said. ”I knew it was going to be soon – I’ve been playing too well for it not to be. But you just never know until it happens.”

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Thomas was coming off a playoff victory at the Honda Classic last week, and he delivered the biggest moment at Chapultepec Golf Club. Tied for the lead, his shot to the 18th from 119 yards landed in front of the pin and spun back into the hole for an eagle and a 64. Mickelson, who turns 48 in June, responded with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 1..

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Steve Stricker finally hit the 18th fairway on Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course – and has his first PGA Tour Champions victory to show for it.

Stricker came through Sunday in the Cologuard Classic a year after hitting left into the water on 18 to blow a chance for a victory in his senior debut, and a day after another 3-wood drive rolled into the water in a closing double bogey.

The 12-time PGA Tour winner birdied the par-5 15th and closed with three pars for a 4-under 69, hitting another 3-wood on the par-4 18th. He finished two strokes ahead of fellow Madison, Wisconsin, player Jerry Kelly (65), Gene Sauers (70) and Scott Dunlap (71).

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The 51-year-old Stricker finished at 14-under 205 after opening with rounds of 6 and 70.

Stricker won in his eighth start on the 50-and -over tour. He has six top three-finishes, tying for second two weeks ago in Florida in the Chubb Classic. He was second in Tucson behind Tom Lehman last year, l..

MEXICO CITY (AP) Phil Mickelson ended the longest drought of his career with a playoff victory Sunday over Justin Thomas in the Mexico Championship, capping off a final round of lustrous cheers in thin air that included Thomas holing a wedge for eagle on the final hole of regulation.

Mickelson, who closed with a 5-under 66, won for the first time since the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, a stretch of 101 tournaments worldwide.

”I can’t put into words how much this means to me,” Mickelson said. ”I knew it was going to be soon – I’ve been playing too well for it not to be. But you just never know until it happens.”

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Thomas was coming off a playoff victory at the Honda Classic last week, and he delivered the biggest moment at Chapultepec Golf Club. Tied for the lead, his shot to the 18th from 119 yards landed in front of the pin and spun back into the hole for an eagle and a 64.

It almost was too good to be true. Thomas, who said Thursday he had never felt ..

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) George Coetzee closed with a 4-under 67 for a two-shot victory over Sam Horsfield of England in the Tshwane Open on Sunday.

It was the South African’s first victory in two years.

Coetzee had a two-shot lead going into the final round at Pretoria Country Club, and Horsfield stayed in range for most of the front nine. They were tied through 10 holes until a pivotal two-shot swing on the 11th hole, when Coetzee made birdie and Horsfield dropped a shot.

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Coetzee birdied the next two holes and stretched his lead to four shots. He finished on 18-under 266.

The final round was suspended briefly because of storms. Horsfield birdied his last three shots for a 67 to secure second place.

Mikko Korhonen of Finland closed with a 68 to finish alone in third.