With half of America draped in a white blanket, the Tournament of Champions is a distraction, a welcomed one at at.

We knew heading into this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions that Rickie Fowler was going to help Puma launch its new Aloha apparel collection while playing in Hawaii. What we didn’t necessarily know is the wild reaction he would get while playing the first round Thursday at the Plantation course at Kapalua in the new threads.
Suffice it to say, Fowler’s laidback look (untucked shirt!!) garnered as much attention as any of the play on the course.
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https://twitter.com/PaigeSpiranac/status/949052052805623808
https://twitter.com/Michael_Catling/status/949059809424261120
https://twitter.com/matt_white79/status/949253440189825025
https://twitter.com/TheButtman69/status/949073631430156288
The wild social media reactions were generally positive, there was also a little bemusement among some.
https://twitter.com/GCIMagazineGuy/status/949089035129155584
https://twitter.com/KylePorterCBS/status/949107243252887555
https://twitter.com/PeterFonseca/status/9490867071897231..

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Marc Leishman is having a much better time at Kapalua this year, on and off the golf course.

Leishman, coming off his best year with two PGA Tour victories that helped him become the highest-ranked player from Australia, made eight birdies in a strong wind Thursday on the Plantation Course for a 6-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas.

Only six players broke 70 in the opening round, a product of trade winds strong enough to cause players to back off putts.

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There were a few other wild moments. Leishman thought he hit his tee shot out-of-bounds on the 14th hole, where the wind sent it sailing beyond the waist-high native grass. Just his luck, he wound up in someone’s backyard, and it wasn’t out-of-bounds. What he figured would be a double bogey off the tee became a par.

”Best break I’ve had all year,” Leishman said after the first round of 2018.

Rickie Fowler sent his approach to the 13th into the na..

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Ryan Armour arrived on Maui with enough time to soak up the perks of paradise before it was time to get to work.

He got in the car with his wife and two sons and took the road to Hana on the other side of the island from Kapalua. They followed the winding passage through a tropical rainforest and across nearly 60 bridges, some built a century ago, most with only one lane. The trip took nearly 12 hours door-to-door.

”It’s white knuckle,” Armour said. ”It’s scary.”

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He could have just as easily been describing the road he took to Kapalua for the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions.

That one began nearly 25 years ago when Armour was on the brink of winning the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur. He was 2 up with two holes to play when his opponent birdied the last two holes and then won on the first extra hole with a par.

No shame there. His opponent was Tiger Woods, who won a record third straight title.

What followed for Armour ..

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Tiger Woods is playing twice in California over the next six weeks as he begins another comeback on the PGA Tour from back surgery.

Woods announced Thursday he will play the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 25 at Torrey Pines, the San Diego course where he has won eight times. That includes the 2008 U.S. Open, his 14th and most recent major.

He also says he will play the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles that starts Feb. 15. Riviera is where Woods played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old amateur. He last played in 2006, though it now is back in play because the Tiger Woods Foundation runs the tournament.

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”I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,” Woods said. ”To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.”

The schedule is similar to the one last year when Woods was returnin..

Scrolling through Twitter occupies an unhealthy amount of my time. Because of this, it's become harder and harder to weed through some of the site's absolute drivel to find anything that's worth the time to watch, read, accidentally retweet, etc. On a day where it's blizzarding everywhere, it's best to just stay off Twitter entirely, unless you want to know that it is, in fact, snowing outside.
That's why when I came across this random video from the @BIGEASTMBB, I was particularly intrigued. Sure, I'm a big fan of the conference (the old version will always be better), but why on earth did this video have over 21,000 views on it? As you begin to watch, it becomes more puzzling. These guys are clearly talented, love their jobs and are doing the old “look we are so crazy because we braved the snow” routine. But what's the catch? Well, my friends, just patiently wait until the end, I promise it's worth all 54 seconds:
https://twitter.com/BIGEA..

To all maligned public golfers, those poor bastards who suffer six-hour rounds in the pursuit of a measly 18-hole trek: meet your hero.
That would be Steve Jeffs, a 31-year-old gym teacher from the United Kingdom. In an effort to preach the virtues of physical fitness, Jeffs set out to break the world record for the fastest hole of golf played, a mark held by Phil Naylor, who zoomed around a hole in 2005 in one minutes and 52 seconds. Jeffs teed his attempt up at England's Tiverton Golf Club's 500-yard first hole, and what ensued is a thing of beauty:
And you thought Kevin Na's sprint around East Lake was impressive.
So the next time you're stuck on a tee box waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Haverkamp to emerge from the woods, know that hope resides in the distance. It's just a matter of running to catch it.
WATCH: LOOP VIDEOS

Cooper NeillAUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 14: Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder enjoys the game from the sidelines as the Texas Longhorns host the Mississippi Rebels on September 14, 2013 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)Kevin Durant earned his share of scorn for departing the Oklahoma City Thunder two summers ago, but the 6'11 scoring machine is genuinely one of the good guys of the NBA. His charity helps build courts in at-risk neighborhoods, he's a spokesperson for a group advocating for after-school music programs and, after devastating tornados hit Oklahoma, Durant donated $1 million to the state's relief fund. (Plus, you'd leave OKC too if Russell Westbrook was your teammate.)
Durant continued his philanthropic efforts on Thursday, donating $3 million to the University of Texas, his alma matter.
“My time as a Longhorn helped build the foundation for who I am today as a player and a person, and the..

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KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Tiger Woods is playing twice in California over the next six week as he begins another comeback on the PGA Tour from back surgery.

Woods announced Thursday he will play the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 25 at Torrey Pines, the San Diego course where he has won eight times. That includes the 2008 U.S. Open, his 14th and most recent major.

He also says he will play the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles that starts Feb. 15. Riviera is where Woods played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old amateur. He last played in 2006, though it now is back in play because the Tiger Woods Foundation runs the tournament.

Article continues below …

”I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,” Woods said. ”To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.”

The schedule is similar to the one last year when Woods was returning..