They say tennis is one of the loneliest sports, a man or woman out on an island beating ball after ball back at an opponent that is going through the same mental checklist on each shot in hopes of reigning supreme. In some cases, that solitarily can lead one to a bit of a breakdown.

Enter Viktor Troicki, a 27-year-old Serbian with one career ATP title and now one career-defining meltdown that took place during his second-round match at the Italian Open against Ernests Gulbis. Troicki had dropped the first set 6-1 and was facing a break point in the first game of the second set when chair umpire Cedric Mourier overruled a backhand by Troicki that lost him the game.

That, apparently, was enough for Troicki who started yelling, screaming and pointing at Mourier for the next four minutes.

How bad did it get? Troicki eventually grabbed a cameraman and pulled him over to the spot that he thought the ball landed, instructing the man to do a close-up of what he thought was the in-spot of his

Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods — Getty ImagesIt didn't take long for Tiger Woods to regain his dominance over the financial golf world once he started winning golf tournaments again.

Sports Illustrated, who publishes a list of the 50 highest paid athletes of the previous year, announced this week that Tiger jumped Phil Mickelson as the number five highest paid athlete in all of sports, with Phil coming in just behind him at No. 6.

Tiger, who had been No. 1 on the list since SI started publishing them in 2004, dropped down the list last year as Floyd Mayweather reigned supreme, but the PGA Tour star with four wins already in 2013 and seven over the last 13 months is the highest paid golfer in the game once again.

Tiger earned $7.8 million on the course last year and $33 million off it, landing his total at $40.8 million. Phil Mickelson trumped Tiger in endorsement money, earning $36 million, but couldn't keep up with him on the golf course, finishing with $39.5 million for the year.

Mayweather earned all of his $90 million inside the

Tiger Woods — Getty ImagesIt's the story that will not die, and a new wrinkle has emerged in what has become a big battle between what Tiger Woods said during the third round of the Players Championship and what really happened.

On Saturday at TPC Sawgrass, Tiger was paired with Sergio Garcia and on the second hole, a par-5, Garcia was going for the green in two while Woods was left in the trees trying to figure out his best chance of getting his ball back in play.

Garcia was about to hit his shot when Woods pulled a club out of his bag, a fairway wood, and the crowd erupted just as Sergio was swinging. During a weather delay, Garcia blamed the bad shot and eventual bogey on the hole on Tiger, saying he pulled the club knowing that Garcia had yet to hit.

"I wouldn't say (Tiger) didn't see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing, he pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood out of the rough and, obviously, everybody started screaming, so that didn't help

Tiger Woods hits his second shot on No. 2 on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass — Getty ImagesWe have a new wrinkle in the Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia drama from the third round at the Players Championship and it comes from neither of the players caught up in the war of words at TPC Sawgrass.

Garcia, who went out of his way to blame Tiger for a bad shot he hit early in his third round, might be justified for going after the eventual winner according to the marshals at Sawgrass.

Sergio said on Saturday that, "I wouldn't say (Tiger) didn't see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing, he pulled a 5-wood or 3-wood out of the rough and, obviously, everybody started screaming, so that didn't help very much."

[Related: Woods' win, Garcia's collapse at TPC should surprise nobody]

Tiger responded, "The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterward and it’s not real surprising that he’s complaining about something."

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You know one tradition on the PGA Tour that doesn't make a lot of sense? The fact that players are forced to wear pants no matter the weather outside. It could be a smoldering summer in Tulsa or a strangling humidity in Florida and the guys are out there, walking 18 holes without so much as an ankle exposed, and Ashworth is sick of it.

The latest ad, which you can see above, takes on the PGA Tour in a petition like forum, and face it, these guys are just good at golf but a few of them are pretty incredible actors.

Watch it, enjoy it, and if you feel the need, go sign the petition for more leg.

Tiger Woods — Getty ImagesThe Players Championship might have just ended, but with Tiger Woods snagging his fourth PGA Tour victory of 2013 it seems not calling him the favorite at next month's U.S. Open is downright clueless.

Las Vegas agrees, and with the new odds comes an even heavier betting burden for Woods at 7/2 (he was a 9/2 favorite less than a month ago). Rory McIlroy is still behind him at 12/1, with Lee Westwood snagging the third spot at 20/1 despite that whiff during his third round at the Players.

The rest of the odds are below, with some fairly juicy numbers expected for a fun Open at Merion.

Back in 2008, Sergio Garcia found himself in a playoff with Paul Goydos at the Players Championship on a windy day at TPC Sawgrass. Garcia had shot a gutsy 1-under 71 on Sunday while Goydos could only muster a round of 74 as the two headed to the famous par-3 17th to begin the sudden-death playoff.

Goydos was first to hit, and as the ball left his club the wind picked up, ballooning his ball into the water on the most famous golf hole in the world. It seemed like it was over for Goydos, but Garcia still had to hit a good shot in tough conditions to secure the biggest win of his career.

Here is what Sergio did in '08 when the pressure was on:

Garcia knew he only needed a par to win that playoff against Goydos, and he took the proper precaution. He took the safe side of that tucked pin on the 17th, allowing the slope to improve his golf shot as it ended up just a couple of feet from the cup.

So why take dead aim this Sunday at the Players, tied with Tiger Woods who still had to play the

Back in 2008, the 17th hole saved Sergio Garcia. Up against Paul Goydos in a playoff for the Players Championship trophy, Garcia hit one of the most clutch golf shots of his life after Goydos found the water, setting up what ended up being a stress free victory on one of the most stressful golf holes on the PGA Tour.

On Sunday at the Players Championship it was that same 17th hole that doomed the 33-year-old. Tied for the lead with Tiger Woods at 13-under, Sergio's tee shot looked like it was the perfect line for the tucked pin, but ended up about a club short in the water.

It was a bad miss at the time, but a bogey there would have still left Garcia a small chance at a playoff with Woods. That ended when Sergio's next ball found the water as well, ending his chances at a second Players' title and leaving him with a quadruple-bogey 7. Sergio added insult to a serious injury on the 18th when he hit his tee shot in the water and made a double-bogey there, finishing six shots back of