Ernie Els says he received an invitation to Augusta National for the first week in April. It just wasn’t an invitation to play in the Masters.

Els had to clarify a tweet from Sunday that said: ”Thank you for a Great Xmas present! (at)TheMasters Can’t wait!” That led several media sites to post stories that the four-time major champion had received a special exemption into the Masters.

Instead, Els had received a letter welcoming him as an honorary invitee. His five-year exemption into the Masters from his 2012 British Open victory ended last year.

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Els tweeted Monday : ”Work continues to qualify to compete!”

Augusta National typically invites former major champions to the club during the Masters. They used to be able to play practice rounds and the Par 3 Tournament until that practice ended last year.

With three words, Jordan Spieth delivered a British Open moment as memorable as the 50-foot eagle putt that prompted his famous line.

”Go get that.”

He was telling Michael Greller to get his ball from the cup as Spieth stood to the side of the 15th green, still soaking up the significance of such a long eagle putt that restored his lead with three holes to play.

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And there’s a story behind it.

The reaction, while entirely spontaneous, might not have happened except for Spieth being in the makeshift gym all week at Royal Birkdale.

”I had been watching replays of the Open in the gym,” Spieth said. ”There was a TV in there, and they were playing old Opens. For whatever reason, it intrigued me earlier in the week that the guys, when they made putts, they never went and picked their ball out of the hole. The caddie went and got it on long putts. And I guess that stuck in my head: `You don’t have to pick the ball out of the hole. Michael can go get it.”’..

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Brooks Koepka is tweaking his schedule next year to play Pebble Beach, which only makes sense.

The U.S. Open champion has become an expert on beaches.

That conversation he shared with caddie Ricky Elliott on the 15th fairway of the final round at Erin Hills had nothing to do with club selection to a back pin. They take a fall vacation to the beaches of Asia and were discussing where to go.

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”We had talked about Vietnam,” Koepka said. ”Then he handed me the club and we hit it, and he says, `Good shot,’ and then we continued the conversation,” he said.

They ended going to Vietnam and Thailand’s Phi Phi Island, adding to a long list of beaches where he has run his toes through the sand, from Bali to Phuket, from Bermuda to the Bahamas. On the bucket list is Costa Rica.

What makes a good vacation spot?

”Clear water, a nice beach, not too many people, beautiful views,” Koepka said.

The next stop is Kapalua on Maui for the Sentry Tournament of Champi..

Christmas, if your mother is to be believed, is all about giving—about the ember-like glow of fulfillment that wells in your soul when you bestow the “perfect gift” upon a loved one. Whether you prescribe to that mall-jewelry-store version of the holidays is up to you, of course, but this season Pabst Blue Ribbon gave the whole of Quebec reason to believe with the first-in-the-history-of-humankind 99-can beer case. Look upon it's majesty and weep, former and current college students of America:
Unfortunately for us Southerners—remember, to Canada even Maine qualifies as the Deep South—these über limited-edition cases are available only at Quebec-area Couche-Tard convenience stores and are probably, if general holiday alcohol consumption levels are as intense up there as they are down here, WAY sold out already. That said, if you would like to live vicariously through the more fortunate (another time-honored December tradition), then Instagram can definitely help with that:
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Hockey-passionate Minnesota, which provided coach Herb Brooks and roughly half the players to the 1980 “Do You Believe in Miracles?’’ Olympic gold medal team, has never won a Stanley Cup despite a combined 43 seasons with two NHL teams (the North Stars and the Wild). Neither has St. Louis after 50 seasons in the NHL, nor Buffalo, after 47 seasons. Nor Washington DC, San Jose or Winnipeg/Atlanta.
Seattle, on the other hand, has.
FacebookPinterestYes. It’s true. Seattle, which has never even had an NHL team, actually won the Stanley Cup in 1917 when the Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association beat the Montreal Canadiens in four games.
The first U.S. city to win the Cup, Seattle played in the final again in 1919, but that series was canceled after five games due to a Spanish Flu epidemic that infected most of the Canadiens players and led to the death of one. The Metropolitans lost to the Ottawa Senators in the 1920 finals and the hockey team, which reportedly averaged barel..

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