Stan BadzPONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A little Florida sun and some afternoon beverages at the Players Championship makes for some great chatter when following just about any group. Throw in a Tiger-Phil (and Rickie) pairing and the banter was as lively as ever.. Wednesday’s practice round had its share of moments as well, a really dark one in particular. By the way, have you heard about Phil’s shirt? Here’s the best things overheard in the gallery so far at the Players.
RELATED: 7 other golf styles we're surprised didn't take off (Actually, make that not surprised at all)
Single, ready to mingle
“Phil!! Phil, the old girls love you Phil! Give us a smile Phil!” – A middle-aged woman on Wednesday hoping for Mickelson’s… autograph? Not sure, but super discriminatory to all the young girls that love Phil too.
One of the few
“Yoo, Phil! Dig the long sleeves!” – A teenage fan that was being way too kind on Thursday.
Ride or die
“That shirt’s just so Phil, I keep defending it because ..

2020 Olympics: Though the club's stance was reversed in 2017, women were not allowed as full-time members until this week.

May marks the 75th anniversary of Willie McRae's debut as a caddie at Pinehurst. He has worked for tour pros, 4 U.S. presidents & thousands of everyday golfers

Richard HeathcoteGolf style is fleeting. Those plus fours from the 1930s had already run their course a decade later, and the oversized shirts Fred Couples sported in the early '90s now look like intricately-designed pillow cases.
But those were at least the prevailing trends of the era. Some looks, meanwhile, had much shorter life spans — for reasons that now seem obvious. Might Phil Mickelson's long-sleeve shirt at the Players Championship succumb to the same fate?
Time will tell, but judging by the early reaction, he's got an uphill battle if he wants to avoid joining these all-time head-scratchers.
The Martin Kaymer buff__
FacebookPinterestThe Woody Austin Star-Spangled Banner shirt__
FacebookPinterestThe Hal Sutton cowboy hat
FacebookPinterestThe Jarmo Sandelin bizarro futuristic sunglasses
FacebookPinterestThe Jarmo Sandelin (a rare double winner!) bizarro Andy Warhol white hat thingy
FacebookPinterestThe Jesper Parnevik upturned hat brim
FacebookPinterestThe Bill ..

Scott HalleranFew athletes have received more criticism for their on-field play than Blake Bortles has in the last few years. Through it all, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback has kept his head down and steadily improved, leading his team to an AFC Championship and earning a three-year, $54-million contract many believe he does not deserve. This story is further proof he's a man you should want to go to war with.
According to TMZ, Bortles and Jaguars offensive lineman Chris Reed were at a party at the Jacksonville Beach home of teammate Brandon Linder when they noticed a strange man inside the house. Bortles and Reed realized he was an uninvited guest and immediately called the police. It wasn't until after that when cops checked surveillance video and found out the 18-year-old kid attempted to steal Bortles' truck, which was unlocked with his keys and wallet inside according to the police report. Luckily for Bortles, his truck was boxed in and the kid couldn't g..

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Jordan Spieth couldn’t do anything wrong the first 58 holes he played at The Players Championship.

Since then, hardly anything has gone right.

The latest episode was Thursday, when Spieth started off on a wild ride in the easiest scoring conditions. He three-putted from 6 feet for bogey on No. 10. He hit into the water and made bogey on the par-5 11th. He drove onto the 12th green to 10 feet for eagle. And then his tee shot kicked off the side of a bunker and went into the water on the par-3 13th for a double bogey. He hit one more into the water on No. 16 for another bogey.

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It never got much better. Spieth had a 75 and was in jeopardy of missing the cut for the fourth straight year at the TPC Sawgrass.

”At Augusta, I can feel like I really didn’t play that great and I’m somewhere near the leaderboard,” Spieth said. ”Out here, I felt like I didn’t play that bad and I’m like in last. So it’s two ends of the spectrum for me hi..

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Phil Mickelson was all dressed up for his first PGA Tour pairing with Tiger Woods in five years, wearing a long-sleeved, button-down shirt in 85-degree heat.

He might be hesitant to put it on again.

Mickelson shot a 7-over 79 in the opening round at the Players Championship on Thursday, his worst score at TPC Sawgrass since 2000. Woods (72) wasn’t a whole lot better on a day when 68 guys were under par.

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The mega pairing turned out to be a mega dud.

Mickelson and Woods, along with Rickie Fowler (74), drew huge crowds as the featured group at the Stadium Course. Their golf didn’t match the hype.

The threesome delivered so few highlights that Mickelson’s shirt was the talk of the town for much of the afternoon.

”I actually really like it,” said Mickelson, who is brand ambassador and equity holder in the menswear brand Mizzen and Main. ”I think nobody does kind of slightly overweight, middle-aged guy better than me, and this s..

Richard HeathcoteAfter following Phil Mickelson on Thursday at the Players Championship, I left more impressed than ever with his patience with the fans, because the man was heckled into oblivion over his much-maligned long-sleeve shirt. Each jab was met with a typical Mickelson nod, smile and thumbs up. Luckily for Phil, he isn't on social media, because his thumb would have frozen stiff from thumbs-upping all the haters doubling as “Project Runway” judges on Twitter.
Much like when he wore it at the Masters, Mickelson's Mizzen+Main button-down dress shirt generated a ton of buzz, so much so that it was basically all he was asked about after a brutal first-round 79 at TPC Sawgrass. Like he did all day with the fans, Mickelson was able to make light of it:
“This stuff is stretchy. You don't even know it's on,” said Mickelson. “It's very comfortable. So I actually really like it. I think nobody does kind of slightly overweight middle aged guy better than me, and..

AGRIGENTO, Italy (AP) England’s Ryan Evans and Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark shared the lead with 6-under 65s after the opening round of the European Tour’s Sicilian Open on Thursday.

England’s Marcus Armitage, Andy Sullivan and Daniel Brooks, Adilson Da Silva of Brazil and Spain’s Scott Fernandez were two strokes behind.

Evans, who had an eagle and four birdies at Verdura Golf Club, wasn’t able to complete a full practice round after his flight was delayed from London.

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Bjerregaard missed five of his first seven cuts this season but finished sixth at the China Open last month.

”I haven’t played well this year but I found something in China, and the things I’ve been working on for quite a while now seem to be coming around a little bit,” he said.

Mikhail MetzelAccording to reports out of the great and honorable Kremlin on Thursday, Vladimir Putin—president of Russia and sublime hockey maestro—scored five goals in an exhibition hockey game, the most by any sitting president in a single celebrity hockey game this year, according to government officials who have no reason to stretch the truth to its logical breaking point whatsoever.
Playing in Russia's annual “Legends of Hockey” exhibition game (think the NBA All-Star game, minus democracy), the 65-year-old Putin torched his opposition for half of 10 goals as state television beamed every glorious triumph of the Russian spirit straight to the Russian people, who cheered on their beloved talisman completely of their own free will. The 33.33%-of-15-goals tally represents a steady downturn in productivity from the supreme leader, who scored seven goals last year and eight the year before, but thankfully Putin remained in good spirits after the game, even taking time out of his ..