PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) Tiger Woods discovered how tough Innisbrook can be in a swirling wind, and he was up to the task.

Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 percent of the field – to break par Thursday in the Valspar Championship.

Canadian rookie Corey Conners, who got into the field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.

Article continues below …

That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.

Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour ev..

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) Fred Couples withdrew from the Toshiba Classic because of back pain Thursday, a day before the start of play in the PGA Tour Champions event.

The 58-year-old Couples won the tournament in 2010 and 2014 and lives in the area.

Long hampered by back problems, Couples hasn’t played a tournament since tying for sixth in January in Hawaii in the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship. The Hall of Famer has 13 victories on the 50-and-over tour after winning 15 times on the PGA Tour.

Article continues below …

Here's one for the history books. This week at the Geneva International Auto Show, the mad scientists at Dutch firm PAL-V unveiled their latest vehicle, a relatively ordinary occurrence for an automaker at an auto show…except for the fact this one actually flies.
Yes that's right. After watching everybody from The Jetsons to Marty McFly buzz around Futuropolis for decades, humanity has turned its longest-running sci-fi fantasy into a real-life commodity.
One part Prius, one part Apache, the PAL-V seats two, has a top-speed of 100 mph by ground and 112 mph by air, and boasts a maximum altitude of 11,000 feet. It can travel up to 350 miles on a single tank of gas and comes with gratis flight training lessons, so you don't end going all Sully on your first trip to the grocery store. As is the case with any ridiculously superfluous new technology designed almost exclusively for the uber-wealthy, however, the PAL-V also comes with a few caveats.
A. It takes about ten minute..

Cioran CastanedaGUADALAJARA, MEXICO – NOVEMBER 10: Lorena Ochoa of Mexico hits a shot on the eighth hole during the third round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Jalisco at Guadalajara Country Club on November 10, 2012 in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Photo by Cioran Castañeda/Getty Images)In honor of International Women’s Day, Mattel has released a new line of Barbie dolls. But these aren’t your typical Barbies. Each is modeled after a specific woman, in order to give young girls real role models to look up to and aspire to be. Seven of the 14 new “Shero” dolls are athletes, and one of them is a golfer.
Yes, Lorena Ochoa, a 27-time LPGA winner and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, is now a Barbie.
FacebookPinterest(Photo courtesy of Mattel.)
“I am very happy to be recognized by Barbie as an inspiration for lots of girls,” Ochoa said of the honor in a statement via email. “This recognition is another reason to keep on showing that perseverance and love are key to a..

Depending on your suds preferences, this story is either an unspeakable tragedy or a blessing in disguise. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a South Carolina truck driver hauling over 30 tons of Busch beer along I-10 in Florida, veered from his lane, crossed the north shoulder, and turned over, spilling the entire contents of his tractor trailer onto the tarmac. The Florida State Patrol were quickly on the scene to document the aftermath….and, you know, make sure there were no injuries or whatever.
FacebookPinterestFacebookPinterestThe driver was treated for minor scrapes and bruises and cited for carless driving and reckless beer endangerment (kidding, hopefully obviously), but thankfully the whole incident amounted to nothing more serious than that. In the end, only one question remains and it's a simple one: Are you team travesty or team beer snob? We won't judge you either way, but The Loop Slack channel has definitely made their allegiance clear:
FacebookPintere..

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) Tiger Woods discovered how tough Innisbrook can be in a swirling wind, and he was up to the task.

Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole, and most importantly was among 27 players – just under 20 percent of the field – to break par Thursday in the Valspar Championship.

Canadian rookie Corey Conners, who got into the field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.

Article continues below …

That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including former PGA champion Jimmy Walker broke 70.

Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 – just six tour ev..

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) Three days after Corey Conners thought he would have the week off, he set the pace at the Valspar Championship with a 4-under 67.

The Canadian rookie showed up Monday to go through qualifying for the tournament, shot a 71 to miss out and then was told he got in as an alternate. Conners took it from there with a clean round on a windy day at Innisbrook. His only blemish was a bogey from the bunker on his final hole at No. 9.

It gave Tiger Woods a preview of what to expect in the afternoon. Only four players broke 70 from the morning wave.

Article continues below …

Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Masters champion Sergio Garcia were at 70. Rory McIlroy, playing this tournament for the first time, had a 74.

Al Bello(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)Slugger Aaron Judge put on a show at last year's All-Star Game in Miami, which included sending four bombs over 500 feet. It was a performance that instilled life in the somewhat dormant competition, and was one of the most exciting nights in the event's history, right up there with Todd Frazier's display in front of his hometown Cincinnati fans and Josh Hamilton's feats at Yankee Stadium.
If you missed Judge's show, better find a recording. Because according to the bomber, he's not doing it again.
“I did it once, loved the experience, was able to win it, and I did the Derby,” Judge said at training camp. “One and done is good for me.”
Which we get. There was nowhere to go but down for Judge. And though some speculated his July-August slump was caused by his Derby participation, the Rookie of the Year dismissed those worries, saying the event wasn't any more taxing than normal batting practice.
Nevertheless, if ..

NBC(Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)All due respect to the Kings and Clippers, the New York Knicks are the most tortured franchise in the NBA. There's not enough room on the Internet to list the organization's litany of woes, and every time its fans think the club has hit a new low — like Isiah Thomas managing the roster like a drunken 20-year-old working an NBA Live dynasty or owner James Dolan getting Knick legend Charles Oakley arrested — the team somehow tops (lowers?) itself. Consider this the new, albeit ephemeral, nadir: Dolan and his blues band singing on “The Tonight Show.”
And no, it wasn't in the vein of “President Obama slow jams the news.” This was a legit performance. Or as legit as such a sham could possibly be:
I'm not sure how much Dolan had to bribe NBC executives for the appearance, but I'm pretty sure it was the entirety of the Knicks' remaining cap space. But take solace, New York fans. The Knicks would..

VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) Saudi Arabia will host a European Tour event for the first time next year.

The tournament will be played from Jan. 31-Feb. 3 and form part of the early-season Desert Swing that also takes in events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It will be staged at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, along the Red Sea coastline.

The formal announcement of the tournament, including details of its title and prize money, will be made in May.

Article continues below …