You have to give Tiger Woods a lot of credit: The guy sure knows how to start a tournament with a bang. After finishing birdie-eagle during the final round of the Honda Classic to fire an eye-popping 62, Woods kept the good vibes going on Thursday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship with another eagle.

And like the one on the 18th hole at PGA National, this one was just as impressive, as he hit his 174-yard approach shot to within a couple inches for a tap-in eagle. The eagle marked an incredible stretch for Woods, who was 10-under over his last 19 holes.

And wait, we have even more eagle tidbits! It also happened to be his third straight eagle on a par-5 and his second eagle in his last three holes (dating back to the Honda). Not bad, Mr. Woods.

(h/t Bacon at CBS's Eye on Golf)

David Duval (Getty Images)Ah, David Duval. How we so badly want you to come back.

Duval has long been one of golf's greatest enigmas, a former No. 1 and major winner who just keeps hanging around but can't quite get the engine to turn over. Every time we hope he's going to get it back in gear, well, the engine sputters out.

On Thursday at the Puerto Rico Open, Duval leaped out to a share of the lead, posting a 3-under score through the first six holes. Alas, it didn't go so well after that. He ended up bogeying 12, 13 and 15 to fall from a share of the lead all the way down to a tie for 48th.

It hasn't been a good year for Duval. In his four events this season, he has exactly zero made cuts. That translates to zero earnings. He hasn't finished higher than 115th in any tournament. And if you go back to 2011, he's missed the cut in seven straight events. That ... that's not so good.

Duval didn't speak publicly after the round, and if you'd played the way he did on the back nine, you probably wouldn't either. The

TRUE linkswear's phxWelcome to Devil Ball's Proving Ground, where we put the latest golf equipment through its paces. Today we take a look at TRUE linkswear's new phx golf shoe.

Tester -- Jonathan Wall

Target Golf Audience -- All Players

The golf shoe game has certainly changed over the last couple of years. For the longest time it was all about traditional spikes, but recently, a number of golf companies tried to switch things up, releasing comfortable but stylish looking kicks that perform well on the course, and could be worn off it as well.

TRUE linkswear is definitely one of those companies making some serious noise in the shoe market. Worn by PGA Tour player Ryan Moore (who's also a co-founder of the company), TRUE has been pushing the limits with shoes that not only look good, but also make you feel as if you were playing barefoot when you put them on.

That's definitely a good thing, considering how important it is to not only be able to have solid footing, but be able to feel the ground below you (if you've never tried hitting balls barefoot before, it gives you a real sense of your weight transition during the swing; it also allows you to work on your balance), which is essential to a solid swing.

We had the opportunity to put TRUE's phx model through the ringer to see if the shoe was really worth the hype. What were our findings? Read on to find out.

Initial Thought

I'll be the first to admit I was skeptical when the whole street golf shoe craze started. For a golfer who grew up playing in traditional golf spikes, the thought of playing in a street shoe seemed silly. Quite honestly, if I'm going to wear a pair of street shoes, it's going to be when I'm off the course.

Plus, I wasn't sure what to think about the nubs on the bottom of the TRUE's; I thought there was no way they could hold up if I was dew-sweeping, or if it started to rain. But the great thing about trying out new products is that every one of them has an opportunity to prove me wrong.

Not only did the TRUE's look good (I seriously considered wearing them when I left the course a couple of times), but the Blue Ergo-Traction 2.0 outsole held steady under wet conditions, something that really blew me away when I tried them out.

A street shoe that not only looks good but performs as well? I figured there had to be a catch. Only there wasn't. The White leather upper on the shoes is also water resistant, so you don't have to worry if it starts to drizzle. That's something your usual pair of tennis shoes can't do.

TPC Blue Monster at Doral / Getty ImagesIt's tournament time! We continue the season at the famed TPC Blue Monster at Doral for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, the second stop on the PGA Tour's Florida Swing. Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: The TPC Blue Monster at Doral is one of the most well-known courses on the PGA Tour, but it certainly isn't considered one of the most difficult. With a -0.523 stroke average under par, Doral ranked as the 34th toughest course on tour in 2011, making it a track where birdies are definitely needed if you want to win. The original Dick Wilson-designed course measures 7,266 yards and offers generous fairways and undulating greens, as well as a number of holes where water comes into play, including the iconic par-4 18th hole -- nicknamed the Blue Monster -- where it runs along the left side of the hole, from tee to green; the 18th was ranked as the 33rd most difficult (+0.311) on tour last season.

The schedule: The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 1 to 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday,  and 12 to 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and 1 to 3 p.m. ET on Sunday; and on NBC from 2 to 6 p.m. ET on Saturday and 3 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.

The field: Like the WGC-Accenture Match Play, the second WGC event of the year has a loaded field that includes every player currently in the the Official World Golf Ranking top 10 -- Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Dustin Johnson, to name a few -- as well as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bill Haas and Mark Wilson. The next time you see a field loaded with this much star power will be at Augusta.

Tiger Woods at Fort Bragg in 2004 / Getty Images

If you thought the Tiger Woods-Navy SEAL stories were all but over following an icy exchange with golf writer Alex Miceli at the Honda Classic ... guess again.

Just days after GolfDigest.com released the first excerpt from Hany Haney's new book, the golf magazine released a lengthier excerpt on Tuesday that revealed even more about Woods' link to the Navy SEALs.

As Shane Bacon from CBS's Eye On Golf blog first pointed out, the infatuation with the Navy SEALs apparently hit an almost unhealthy level prior to the 2006 U.S. Open, when Woods decided to go on a three-day parachute training session just 18 days before the major championship.

The decision prompted Hank Haney to send a lengthy email, questioning Woods' decision to put his body through the ringer before playing in what most consider to be the most grueling test in golf.

Here's what Haney said:

With the U.S. Open 18 days away, do you think it was a good idea to go on a Navy SEALs mission? You need to get that whole SEALs thing out of your system and stick to playing Navy SEAL on the video games. I can tell by the way you are talking and acting that you still want to become a Navy SEAL. Man, are you crazy? You have history to make in golf and people to influence and help. Focus on your destiny, and that isn't flushing bad guys out of buildings in Iraq. Just play the video games some more. That Navy SEAL stuff is serious business. They use real bullets.

That's right: Woods was not only spending time training with the SEALs, he was also spending countless hours playing video games based on Navy SEAL missions. But it didn't stop there. Woods had also told Haney that the Navy's most elite group was going to make an age limit exception -- the limit was 28 years old -- if he wanted to join.

Ryo Ishikawa / Getty ImagesCurrently ranked 53rd in the most recent edition of the Official World Golf Ranking, 20-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa still had an outside shot to quality for the Masters on his own.

But after Tuesday's announcement, he can rest can rest easy knowing that no matter what he does between now and the first major of the year, he's already booked his ticket to the Masters, after Augusta National chairman Billy Payne confirmed Ishikawa would be given a special invitation to play in the event. This is the second time he's received a spot in the field via special invite.

"Historically, the Masters has invited international players not otherwise qualified to expand the Tournament's global reach," Payne said in a press release. "Ryo Ishikawa is an accomplished player on the Japan Golf Tour, and we believe his presence will help increase interest not only in his home country, but also throughout Asia."

While it's Augusta National's call to hand out special invitations, you can't help but look at the decision as a marketing ploy. Tournament officials have been trying their best to build a presence in Asia, going so far as to partner with the R&A to grant another automatic invite to the winner of the Asian Amateur Championship. Most would argue there's nothing wrong with trying to branch out, but the decision to offer up a second invite to Ishikawa just doesn't make sense.

Rory McIlroy didn't expect to go to work on Monday following his win at the Honda Classic. After holding off a field that included a hard-charging Tiger Woods at PGA National, all he wanted to do was relax and take in an exhibition tennis match between his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova at Madison Square Garden.

[ Related: Tiger Woods announces he'll play at Bay Hill in preparation for Masters ]

But he couldn't even take 24 hours off without being thrust back into the spotlight. OK, it wasn't that bad, but the new No. 1 ranked player in golf did have to prove his mettle on the tennis court, when Wozniacki called McIlroy out of the stands to play a point against Sharapova.

Major golf champion versus a Grand Slam tennis champ? This couldn't end well, right? Actually, McIlroy (who started off by pretending the tennis racket was a golf club), held his own, winning the point with some decent form ... for a pro golfer.

Not bad, Mr. McIlroy, but we'd appreciate it if you kept your day job as the top golfer on the planet. Most would agree you have a decent future in the sport.

More PGA Tour news from Yahoo! Sports:

Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer / Getty ImagesTiger Woods' schedule through the first week in April is set, after the 14-time major winner announced via his website that he'll play Bay Hill as a final tuneup before the Masters.

The decision to add one more event to his schedule shouldn't come as a surprise. Woods has won Arnold Palmer's event six times in his career ('00, '01, '02, '03, '08 and '09), and played the event every year, except 2010, since his first full season on tour in 1997. If ever there was a place to grab a final tuneup prior to the first major of the year, Bay Hill would certainly be the venue.

Unlike in years past, Woods' schedule leading up to the Masters is surprisingly full (he apparently wasn't lying when he said he needed more "reps" this season). Bay Hill will mark a stretch of four tournaments in six weeks before he arrives at Augusta.

That's a lot of golf, folks. While additional reps are never a bad thing, it'll be interesting to see if they have any effect (positive or negative) on Woods' game when he tees it up at the Masters.