Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we've never stopped paying attention to a contending Tiger Woods like we did on Sunday. The news that Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others died in a helicopter accident suddenly made it tough to concentrate on the Farmers Insurance Open. Like many others, I've followed the remarkable careers of Kobe and Tiger from their days as teen phenoms to living legends. I even wrote my first-ever sports column for my college paper comparing Bryant to Michael Jordan. I know, I know, how original.
FacebookPinterestAndrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty ImagesKobe certainly had his flaws, but you can't argue the impact he had on the world. As Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard pointed out, 13(!) PGA Tour pros list him as their favorite athlete in their media guide bios. He was bigger than a sports star, bigger than a brand. His Mamba Mentality is a movement. And one that isn’t going away anytime soon. So let’s keep Kobe in our heads, at le..

With so much chatter about a proposed Premier Golf League that targets the top 48 players, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has sent a memo to his players

Golf's return to the Olympics is enticing to some, but Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson indicated other events will take priority in 2020.

With one photo of all four of his major trophies, Brooks Koepka effectively ended his beef with Bryson DeChambeau. Nothing more needed to be said, but the World No. 1 had to expect that he'd be asked about Bryson again at some point in 2020.
Koepka was asked about the Mad Scientist this week in an interview with For The Win's Charle Curtis, which can be read here. The Q&A is mostly focused on Kobe Bryant, who Koepka, despite never meeting, has always looked up to and modeled his golf career after. The four-time major champ's appearance in a Michelob Ultra Super Bowl ad was also among the topics discussed.
Finally, Curtis brought up the recent back-and-forth between Bryson and Brooks, asking Koepka if it was all in good fun. Here's how Koepka responded:
https://twitter.com/aNateScott/status/1222161571385958400
World No. 1 golfer. Also World No. 1 company man. This quote is music to Mich Ultra's ears. It's also reminiscent of one of the great, unintentionall..

It's time for the rowdiest party scene on the PGA Tour with the Waste Management Phoenix Open

Jim McIsaacLadies and gentleman, this is not a drill. This weekend—Super Bowl weekend, in case you forgot—New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold and New York Giants signal caller Daniel Jones will take their talents to South Beach for a no-holds-barred fight to the cornhole death. It's called the 2020 ACL SuperHole and it is a very, very real thing.
FacebookPinterestWe apologize for the resolution of that photo, but that's exactly how it appears on iplayacl.com, the worldwide home of the American Cornhole League. Seriously, this just keeps getting better.
But wait! We're not done! The boys have also begun the online trash talk ahead of their matchup and, well, it's, um, something. Shoot this right into our veins, doc.
https://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/status/1222167636613660672
OK, so maybe leave the verbal sparring to cornerbacks next time, but still, good to the see Samchise and Eli Jr. getting into the spirit of Super Bowl weekend despite the fact they get anywhe..

It's the question every basketball commentator asks when the defending team is up by three points with little time remaining: “do you foul?” The idea is that you cannot possibly lose, since you're putting the other team at the line and giving them only two free throws, thus taking away their chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. The only possible way for it to bite you is if they intentionally miss a free throw, get the offensive rebound AND score to either tie or win. I'm no math major, but the chances of all those things happening are not high, so by fouling up three your odds of winning increase exponentially.
The Minnesota Timberwolves found themselves in this exact situation on Monday night, leading the Sacramento Kings 119-116 with under 10 seconds remaining. After Minnesota's Andrew Wiggins missed a two-point shot, Kings guard De'Aaron Fox grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by Wiggins. With four second to go and a three-point lead, Wig..

Tiger Woods is back to being a Vegas favorite to win at Augusta National Golf Club, but he's got company.

Andrew D. BernsteinWhere to even begin? If you're a sports fan, you're hurting today. Period. Even if you haven't watched an NBA game in years. Even if you think Magic is the greatest Laker. Even if you root for the damn Celtics. That's just the effect Kobe Bryant had on sports. The dude was universal. He was a language everyone spoke. He was swagger and grit at the same time. He was unblinking determination and laid-back cool all at once. Everyone was on a first name basis with Kobe, and now, in the most heartbreaking, surreal fashion imaginable unimaginable, he's gone.
It sucks. Flat out. It hurts. Straight up. This is one that's going to sting for a long, long time. It's going to sting at All-Star Weekend and it's going to sting when the In Memoriam rolls at the Oscars. Oh yeah, did you remember that Kobe Bryant has an Oscar too? There was literally nothing he couldn't do. He was LA personified . . . just like longtime fan and friend Jack..

Elsa/GettyNow that we've discovered beyond even a shred of reasonable doubt that the Houston Astros are loathsome cheaters whose antics would make even the Patriots blush, there's a big movement to strip them of their 2017 World Series win and give it to their opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who the Astros defeated in seven games thanks to trash cans and body sensors and whatever other high- and low-tech methods they used to steal signs. ESPN asked the Dodgers if they actually wanted it, and they all said that despite being pissed off at the Astros, they wouldn't want the retroactive championship. To which I say, good! They don't deserve it!
You know who deserves it? The New York Yankees.
Like the Dodgers, the Yankees lost to the Astros in seven games that year. It happened one round earlier, in the ALCS, but that's not the Yankees' fault—that's how the leagues are set up. They have just as much claim from that standpoint as the Dodgers, so in orde..