Andrew RedingtonThere are countless tales involving Phil Mickelson and gambling. In fact, if one were so inclined, a collection of these stories would make for quite an entertaining book. . . Hang on, I'll be back in a few months. . . On second thought, compiling an encyclopedia on this topic would be a lot of work, so in the meantime, here's the latest anecdote involving the five-time major champ and betting. And boy, is it a humdinger of a story.
RELATED: Phil Mickelson gambled on the set of “Tin Cup”
It comes from Action Network's Jason Sobel, who shared his account of something that happened while he was covering the Wells Fargo Championship five years ago. You should read Sobel's entire story, but here's the gist:
— Mickelson invited a group of players, caddies and media to a party that Saturday night.
— Mickelson had boxing on TV and said multiple times that “wagering is encouraged.”
— Mickelson told people he would bet on “the underdog” in a particula..

OK, we need to talk about how bad the Houston Astros bullpen is. Houston might have the best group of starting pitchers in baseball. Justin Verlander struck out 14 New York Yankees batters across eight innings—the second straight game an Astros starter made Yankees hitters look silly at the plate. But for the second straight game, the Astros bullpen let the Yankees back into it. And in the case of Tuesday night's game, closer Ken Giles blew the lead for Verlander.
Giles took the loss pretty hard. Actually, really hard. Or his face did at least.
https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/991515248946503680
That wasn't just a little slap in the face. Giles delivered quite the blow to his jaw. And then went onto self-destruct in the dugout.
Here's another angle:
https://twitter.com/KennyDucey/status/991512091742867456
If you're the Astros, and you have three of your starting pitchers—Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton—in the top 7 in ERA in all of baseball, all you nee..

We first connected with Ryan Whitney, former NHL defenseman, when he told the story of crossing paths at Medalist GC with a trash-talking Tiger Woods on his popular Spittin' Chiclets' podcast . But Whitney had a lot more to say about golf—and hockey— when he joined us on this week's Golf Digest Podcast. Since his retirement from the NHL in 2014, he's devolved into a self-described golf nut, working his way down to a low single digit handicap after taking up the game seriously a mere decade ago. The full interview (the Whitney portion begins at the 28:30 mark) can be heard on the podcast, but below are some excerpts from our conversation with one of hockey's most colorful characters.
How serious of a golfer have you become?
I started really playing when I was 25. I played maybe once a year growing up but didn't like it. But then a bunch of guys I was playing with were playing. That was about 10 years ago, and like any golfer knows, the bug is real. The golf..

The NBA on TNT crew is a jovial group for the most part, laughing with — and at — each other nearly as much as providing actual basketball analysis. But things got serious on Tuesday night as the Warriors-Pelicans playoff game went to halftime. As a clip of Draymond Green and Rajon Rondo jawing played, Charles Barkley, referring to Golden State’s point forward/tough guy repeatedly said “I want to punch him in the face.” That escalated quickly!
https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/991524153080582145
As Kenny Smith tried to pry for a motive from Barkley, Shaq jumped in with a chuckle. “Kenny, Kenny, just leave him be when he’s like this.” Barkley didn’t back down from his statement and the crew laughed it up. OK, so even when discussing a potential physical assault on a player, these guys have a good time (The night before, Shaq threw a huge fish at Barkley, almost causing him to fall over).
RELATED: That time Charles Barkley threatened Shaq. . . with a chicken wing
Draymond Green, ..

Denise Truscello(Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage)Kendrick Perkins is a bad, bad man. Arguably the most intimidating basketball player since Charles Oakley, Perk is the type of presence that keeps John Wick up at night. I once saw a referee begin to assess a technical foul to the then-Thunder center, only for Perk to shoot him a “You should you wanna do this?” glance…and the ref didn't T him up. Sports Illustrated dubbed Perkins “The best teammate in the NBA” in an expansive oral history this fall, and there's an entire website dedicated to him, aptly titled, “Perkisabeast.com.” In short, you don't F with Perk.
Words that were not heeded by Drake.
Drake, the former actor in the teen drama “Degrassi,” is part of the Toronto Raptors ownership group thanks to his 0.001 share in the club. He regularly sits court side at games as an anti-Jack Nicholson, desperately trying to look cool but usually failing. He's a shameless bandwagon fan, once creepily asked a reporte..

Golf Digest Podcast: Lydia Ko is “back,” Zurich Classic walk-up music, and an interview with Spittin' Chiclets host Ryan Whitney

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Brian Harman is coming off his best season on the PGA Tour – winning the Wells Fargo Championship, taking the 54-hole lead in the U.S. Open and finishing runner-up for his best result in a major, and finally making it to the Tour Championship.

The letdown occurred immediately after the season when he didn’t make the Presidents Cup team. Harman had only one top-10 finish, and one other finish in the top 20, after the U.S. Open and wound up 12th in the standings.

He approaches the biggest part of this season at No. 10 in the Ryder Cup standings, a chance for redemption.

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”I would be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it a lot,” Harman said Tuesday ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship. ”The team stuff has always really kind of excited me. I love match play. It’s just a different kind of golf. I feel like I’ve done pretty well in match play, and it’s definitely on my radar. It’s something I’ve really circled this year, and I’m tryin..

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) The question Justin Thomas faced seven months ago was how to follow a season that featured five PGA Tour victories, his first major championship, the FedEx Cup and all the awards that go along with the best year in golf.

One solution was to avoid comparisons along the way, which was never going to be easy.

Quail Hollow presents one of those challenges.

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Thomas played nine holes Tuesday with Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and Dru Love. It was the first time he set foot on Quail Hollow since the PGA Championship, when he holed a 15-foot putt on the first hole of the final round to escape with bogey, watched a birdie putt hang on the edge of the cup at No. 10 for the longest time before dropping, chipped in for birdie on the 13th hole and hit the best shot of his life – a 7-iron on the par-3 17th – for a birdie that clinched his first major.

These are memories, and how he plays this week at the Wells Fargo Championship has no bearing on..

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The TrackMan Combine is back for 2018—here are the golfers around the world who have the highest score to date