Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty ImagesTransformational eras have been rare in golf, and magical ones rarer still. Perhaps none was more consequential than the early 1960s, when the charisma of Arnold Palmer conjoined with television to send the game's popularity soaring.
Though purely speculative, it can be argued that more recent history might have proved more momentous had events occurred differently after the 2008 U.S. Open. Tiger Woods had just earned his 14th professional major championship with a playoff victory over Rocco Mediate—despite competing on an ACL so severely compromised that he underwent reconstructive knee surgery days later. The victory capped a Hogan-like stretch of six wins and 11 top-three finishes in 14 majors.
Tiger was 32 years old.
A golfer's career sweet spot. And he seemed unstoppable. Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 pro majors, perhaps the most iconic in sports, appeared easily within reach. After all, Nicklaus won seven major titles after 32. Phil Mickel..

Ross Kinnaird/R&A/Getty ImagesI've been looking for Tiger Woods' “enablers” since that latest brush with roadside gravel and pathos. I was about ready to declare them unfindable when all of a sudden I turned a corner, and there they were.
It's I. It's we.
By the way, it's you in particular. We're all enablers. Sixty-three million Americans enabled Donald Trump, and now he is alone and can't be told anything. A few more million Americans (but 10 fewer states) enabled Hillary Clinton, who along with her party forgot the words of John F. Kennedy (“the torch has been passed to a new generation … “) and instead passed it back to an old generation because that's where the money, not to mention the ambition, was.
In my time, I was a great enabler of O.J. Simpson, and not only because, in the sportswriting dodge, we forgive a lot in a guy who'll answer our calls. I liked him from the day in a Cincinnati hotel room when a bunch of us were measuring..

Bryan BedderIt's been said that Michael Phelps was born with the perfect swimmer's body. A large wingspan and a long torso provide him extra reach, and giant feet act like flippers as he churns through the water. But spend a few minutes next to him on the driving range and it quickly becomes apparent that he's also built for speed with a golf club.
Phelps can absolutely annihilate a golf ball — now it's just about figuring everything else out for the quickly improving 12-handicap. But after retiring from swimming following the 2016 Olympics, Phelps, a golf nut who recently turned 32, has plenty of time to work on his game and extra motivation thanks to a bet with a friend that he can get that handicap down to a 5 in a year. It seems like a daunting task, but would you put anything by a man who made our collective jaw drop countless times on his way to winning an Olympic-record 23 gold medals? Didn't think so.
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Minas Panagiotakis(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)Dustin Johnson opened 2017 by taking a flamethrower to the competition, placing inside the top 6 in seven of eight events (including wins in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Austin). Since his freak back injury on Masters eve, it's been a different tale for the World No. 1, with zero top 10s in his last five appearances.
Speaking with the media at this week's RBC Canadian Open, Johnson admitted he's not fully healthy from the staircase incident.
“I’m still feeling the effects of it,” Johnson said on Wednesday. “No pain or anything like that. But it’s still a little tight. I’m having to get worked on a good bit just to try to loosen up those muscles and those tendons where it got injured.”
While Johnson finished runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship in his return from injury, he's struggled as of late, missing the weekend at the Memorial and U.S. Open. And though he showed signs of life at Royal Birkdale, he..