Unless you've been hanging with Wilson on a deserted island, you know that any big sports event is followed by the inevitable Taiwan animation of that event.

This week we got our golf fix of the ridiculousness thanks to the verdict that anchored putters will be banned by 2016 and what Sergio Garcia said of Tiger Woods at a European Tour player's party.

Come for the anchored putter golfers being forced to walk the plank, stay for what Tiger does to Sergio at the end of the video.

h/t With Leather

Sometimes, it's better just to say nothing at all.

In trying to defend, or at least rationalize, Sergio Garcia's "fried chicken" shot at Tiger Woods, European Tour CEO George O'Grady took to the airwaves of Sky Sports. And in the course of his defense, O'Grady offered up this gem: "Most of Sergio's friends are colored athletes in the United States.''

Ouch. Yes, go ahead and look at your calendar ... this is indeed 2013. Golf has a reputation for being stuck in the past, and nowhere is it more apparent than at moments like this.

Granted, the word "colored" has different connotations in different regions of the globe, but it's pretty much in the job description of the European Tour's CEO to know exactly how to appeal to disparate nations...and to understand exactly how radioactive that word is in America.

O'Grady immediately issued a statement of apology: "I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports for which I unreservedly apologize."

Here, per the Daily Mail, is the text of O'Grady's defense of Garcia:

"We (O'Grady and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem) spoke to Sergio and, after what was really a very full and frank discussion on the whole issue, decided to accept his really heartfelt apology and we were convinced that he was trying to be funny, that it was a lighthearted remark. We know the connotation in the United States. We accept all races on the European Tour, we take it very strongly. Most of Sergio's friends are colored athletes in the United States and he is absolutely abject in his apology and we accepted it ... All races play on the European Tour and that's how we want to keep it. He is abject in his apology and we are moving on."

Word to the wise, folks: the "I have lots of [insert different racial group here] friends" has never, ever, ever worked to defend anyone against accusations of racism, any more than shoveling manure onto one's head helps with problems of bad breath.

Now, enough with the slapfighting in the press. Let's get back to the golf.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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For golfers, "Happy Gilmore" is one of the sacred films of our time here on Earth, a mix of ridiculousness, golf and long drives that few real sports fans pass up if they see it while scrolling the channels on a weeknight.

No matter how many factual golf errors occur during the movie (I once dissected the entire movie when I had much more time on my hands), it's a brilliant look into the world of golf, even if what's portrayed isn't golf at all.

One of the ways the director brought the actual game to life is to include some actual professionals in the movie, namely Lee Trevino. The six-time major winner had multiple head-shaking moments, including this famed Grizzly Adams line during the crescendo of the film.

Gilmore: "That's right, I'm gonna beat your ass on the course!"
McGavin: "Yeah, right. And Grizzly Adams had a beard."
Trevino: "Grizzly Adams DID have a beard."

The El Paso native was in Tyler, Texas speaking at a University of Texas event when he was asked about his role in that movie, saying he wouldn't have done the cameo if he had known about all the curse words involved.

From the CBS 19 report ...

And about his cameo appearance in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore, Trevino wishes he would have read the script first. "If they were going to use all those foul words in there, I never would have done it," he tells CBS 19.

I guess I can see what Trevino is saying here by not wanting to be associated with a movie that tosses around a bunch of words he doesn't approve of, but this is golf, a game that jokes about being its own four-letter word! Cursing and golf basically go hand-in-hand, like hole-in-ones and bar tabs, so adding a few slips of the lip only made the movie more believable.

Thank goodness Trevino never read that script, because who else would have been able to pull off that deadpan look to perfection?

h/t Press Tent

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Sergio Garcia the loser in the Tiger Woods feud after racist comment
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Garcia was asked if he would consider having Tiger over for a dinner during the U.S. Open considering their recent back and forth through the media following the Players Championship and said, "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken."

The racist implications of that statement were immediate, as was Sergio's apology, but that didn't stop Woods to taking to his rarely used Twitter account to respond to what Garcia said.

The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate...

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013

I’m confident that there is real regret that the remark was made. — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013

The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013

The jabbing between the two started during a weather delay during the third round of the Players Championship when Garcia accused Woods of pulling a golf club as Sergio was hitting his shot, distracting him and causing him to eventually make a bogey.

Woods responded by saying it was, "not real surprising that (Garcia's) complaining about something," to which Garcia came back and called Tiger "not the nicest guy on tour."

The battle of words continued into this week when Woods, point blank, answered "No" to a question asking if him and Garcia would ever think about making up.

I'm assuming now, after the comments by Sergio, that "No" by Tiger will come with an exclamation mark at the end.

Attending an awards dinner for the European Tour, Sergio Garcia was asked if he was planning on having Tiger Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open considering the way the two had gone at each other since the Players Championship, and his response went from a war of words to downright ignorant.

Garcia, channeling his inner Fuzzy Zoeller, said, "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken."

There are moments when things can be taken out of context, but when you're talking about racism, there just isn't a smile or a joking tone that can smooth things over. Garcia took what was a battle with the best golfer in the world, and of this generation, and turned it into something ugly.

You see, what people might not understand is this is something that Woods has had to deal with all his life on the golf course. There are documented moments when Tiger was told he couldn't play certain golf courses because of his skin color, and the 37 year old has done a great service to inner city youth with his Tiger Woods Foundation that gives opportunities to those that might not be able to afford it otherwise.

This isn't just a stupid comment from Garcia, it's bringing up things that should be avoided in 2013, especially from a man that always seems to think the world is up against him (Sorry Sergio, this one is totally and 100 percent on you).

According to the Guardian, Garcia has already come out and apologized through a statement issued by the European Tour.

"I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players' Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."

Again, no matter if it was "meant in a racist way," the undertones behind that are racist and there isn't any changing that. Zoeller did this back in 1997, saying after Tiger's first Masters win, "You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve," and 16 years later it's still a really, really dumb thing to say.

Sergio isn't a kid anymore. He's 33 years old and has spent the better part of the last decade looking at anything and everything to blame besides himself (remember the way he handled the spitting in the cup incident?). Now he does this to end a battle between himself and Tiger that is now in a place that isn't fun anymore.

Woods is a man that doesn't forget even the little things that people do to cross him. I'd say that this will be lingering in the head of a man that has had the better part of this rivalry if and when the two face each other on the golf course again, and if the handshakes at Sawgrass were cold, the next one is going to be downright Arctic.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
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• Sergio Garcia takes another swipe at Tiger Woods

Golf.com's Paul Mahoney got a chance to chat with Garcia at an event hosted by TaylorMade-Adidas and it doesn't appear that Sergio is going to be the one to reconcile with Woods.

Tiger said on Monday at his own press conference that he has no plans to make up with Garcia or burry the hatchet, simply answering "No" to that very question posed by one of the media members.

Sergio heard those words and sent shots back in Tiger's direction.

"He called me a whiner. He's probably right," Garcia said Monday at Wentworth, England. "But that's also probably the first thing he's told you guys that's true in 15 years. I know what he's like. You guys are finding out."

If it wasn't Garcia basically calling Tiger a liar for the better part of a decade and a half, it was him basically admitting that it isn't his job to reach out to Tiger, repeating that sentiment from TPC Sawgrass that Garcia was, shocker, the victim.

"First of all, I don't have his number. And secondly, I did nothing wrong and don't have anything to say to him. And he wouldn't pick up the phone anyway. But that's OK; I don't need him as a friend. I don't need him in my life to be happy and that's fine. It's as simple as that. Like I have always said, I try to be as truthful as possible," Garcia said. "That's why I think sometimes most of the people love me and some hate me. I understand that but I'm not going to change. That's what makes me who I am and that's what makes me happy. And that's what makes the people I care about happy because they know they can trust me. Tiger doesn't make a difference to my life. And I know that I don't make a difference to his life."

What, no rocket engineer reference this time?!

I'd like to say that there is a side in this little spat to pick but I just feel like it's two grown men using the media as hard as they can to get at the other person. Tiger did it with as few words as possible while Sergio seemed to spill everything out when asked about what really went down at Sawgrass.

The one thing that we can only hope is true, for the rivalry's sake, is the final words Garcia said in his time with Mahoney.

"Tiger can and will beat me a lot of times in tournaments but he's not going to step on top of me. I'm not afraid of him."

It will be a cold handshake and grouping the next time the two play together, but for Sergio, golf and the fans, I hope what he said there is what he really believes. Don't be scared of Tiger, who surely isn't scared of Garcia, because these two playing their best golf means a battle of talents that golf rarely sees. It has the potential to be absolutely fantastic.

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Last month, Adam Scott won The Masters with some of the most dramatic putting in golf history. And after Jan. 1, 2016, he won't be able to duplicate the feat.

The USGA and the R&A, golf's two governing bodies, have ruled that anchoring a club, as Scott and many others do in putting, will be illegal as of Jan. 1, 2016. Rule 14-1b now bans the anchoring of long putters and belly putters against the body.

The governing bodies have prepared documentation explaining, in their words, "why freely swinging the entire club is the essence of the traditional method of stroke, and why anchoring is a substantially different form of stroke that may alter and diminish the fundamental challenges of the game." The full report is available right here.

It's worth noting that the rule will not actually ban long putters, but rather the practice of anchoring them against the body. Also worth noting: four of the last six majors have been won by players using a belly putter. In addition to Scott, Keegan Bradley (2011 PGA Championship), Webb Simpson (2012 U.S. Open) and Ernie Els (2012 British Open) also anchored their putters, making for a handy little Anchor Slam. Those players and others now have nearly three years to figure out a new putting stroke.

Both agencies sought to ensure that there are no asterisks surrounding those wins, however. "This Rule change addresses the future and not the past," said David Rickman, Executive Director of Rules and Equipment Standards at The R&A. "Everyone who has used an anchored stroke in the past, or who does so between now and January 1, 2016, will have played entirely within the Rules and their achievements will in no way be diminished."

For the detail-minded among you, the new rule is as follows:

14-1b Anchoring the Club

In making a stroke, the player must not anchor the club, either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point.”

Note 1: The club is anchored “directly” when the player intentionally holds the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of his body, except that the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm.

Note 2: An “anchor point” exists when the player intentionally holds a forearm in contact with any part of his body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

Related video from Yahoo! Sports:

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• Commentary: No data to support ban of anchored putters
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Tiger Woods doesn't mince words with the media much. His answers are usually short, to the point and without much fluff behind them.

During his AT&T National press conference, Woods was asked about the recent spat with Sergio Garcia at the end of his time with the media and put simply, was asked if he ever gave thought to just making up with Garcia and moving on.

"No," Tiger answered bluntly to the chuckles of the assembled media, and there you have exactly how Woods feels about Garcia, a man that called him, "not the nicest guy on tour" at the Players Championship earlier this month.

Can we please get a Sergio-Tiger pairing at Merion, USGA? Do it for us!

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The problem is, the wrong mix of clientele and alcohol can doom some of these buggies.

Check the above picture, posted to the golf Reddit thread this week. According to the poster, this was a golf tournament in Miami that served free alcohol for most of the day, and yes, that is a completely submerged golf cart in the lake.

Here are the details, courtesy of Redditor donki ...

It was at a charity golf tournament in Miami. I don't want to name the course/event. It was unlimited beer/martinis on the course. All I know is that I heard a cart was in the water on 16 and as soon as we pulled up to the green I saw it. There was no bank for the cart to roll down, it was a shear coral rock canal. Amazed that it stayed upright like it did. No bags were on it so I guess they took them off and shoved it in, fueled by liquor. No clue how they got it out it was also a gas powered cart.

I think we can all agree that if you are the type of person that shoves golf carts in lakes when you're drunk, you probably don't need to drink anymore, but there you have it, an entire golf cart underwater.

Where is Woody Austin when you need him?!

If 2013 doesn't go down as the year Mother Nature won the FedEx Cup, it might just be the year of the weird drops.

That continued at the Volvo World Match Play Championship, when Nicolas Colsaerts found himself in a situation that you probably won't ever see again no matter how much golf you watch over the next few decades.

Colsaerts was playing Graeme McDowell when his tee shot on par-4 10th hole flew well out of play in the hazard. A rules official came over and determined that the nearest point of relief was where most golfers go to take relief; in a nearby bathroom.

The ball was dropped inside the toilet, and Colsaerts then was able to take relief from that spot, which means he was able to re-drop his ball close by without penalty because it lay in an unplayable position. Colsaerts then hit his approach shot on the green and rolled in the putt for par.

It was enjoyable watching Colsaerts and the rules official having a chuckle about the whole situation, and even cooler that he still made par despite the penalty stroke, but his hopes of winning the match were, ahem, flushed by McDowell who won 2 & 1.

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To one generation, Venturi is best known for the major he won as well as the major he didn't. To later ones, he was the voice of golf for decades. In recent years, Venturi had suffered from numerous health problems, including prostate cancer in 2000, quintuple bypass surgery in 2006, and heart issues in 2011. He had spent the last few weeks in the hospital in Southern California, and developed infections in his back and intestine as well as pneumonia. His son Matt revealed the news of his father's death.

Venturi won the U.S. Open at Congressional in triple-digit heat; at that time, the final of the U.S. Open featured 36 holes of golf. Venturi was advised to quit, but did not, proceeding onward through dizziness and heatstroke. That year, he won Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year and the PGA Player of the Year honors.

[Related photos: Ken Venturi through the years]

That would be the only major that Venturi would win, though he came close to defeating Arnold Palmer at the Masters in 1958. Trailing Venturi by a stroke, Palmer's tee shot on 12 embedded behind the green. Palmer was denied a free drop, and played a provisional ball. He scored a par with the provisional and a double bogey with the original one. There was controversy about whether Palmer properly declared which one he would play, but Venturi would later indicate that did not believe Palmer cheated, but rather interpreted the rules differently than Venturi did. Palmer went on to win the tournament by a stroke over Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins. Venturi wound up in a tie for fourth, two strokes back.

Problems with carpal tunnel syndrome would force Venturi to retire shortly after his U.S. Open victory. He would ascend to the broadcast booth, where his voice became a signature of CBS's golf broadcasts. He would comment on golf for 35 years, the longest such broadcasting streak in any sport. He finally retired from the booth in 2002.

Venturi was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame earlier this month, but was unable to attend due to health reasons. Here is Jim Nantz's tribute to Venturi, including the story of that fabled U.S. Open:

"The greatest reward in life," Venturi once said, "is to be remembered. Thank you for remembering me."

More on Ken Venturi
• Watch: Johnny Miller remembers Ken Venturi
• Ken Venturi inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame
• Spent 35 years in CBS broadcast booth

I have absolutely no idea who at Golf Monthly convinced Miguel Angel Jimenez to give us a demonstration of how he does his pre-range stretching, but the person deserves a raise.

Jimenez, a man who made golf stretching famous at the 2011 British Open, gives you an idea of how he gets loose at the golf course and there is just too much to like about this video.

I mean, the guy starts the video off by stretching WHILE HOLDING A CIGAR which is just incredible on so many levels. I love that he calls what he does with his knees "the little dancing move" and who knows, maybe stretching like this is the way to go for all us golfers and Jimenez has just been on it for years, laughing at us fools who simply go to the range and start banging balls.

Thank you Golf Monthly, thank you Miguel and thank you Internet for making this all possible.

If there is one constant joke about Jason Dufner it's that his mild-mannered attitude leaves golf fans wondering if the guy ever gets excited for anything.

We've seen Dufnering take off at an incredible rate, and we've seen him make big putts to win golf tournaments, but most of the time it's just a 36-year-old man walking a green pasture with something tucked under his lip and few worries in the world.

On Thursday at the Byron Nelson, Dufner made the turn at 2-over after a birdie on his ninth hole and was faced with an approach shot on No. 1 from 129 yards.

The shot ended up perfect, dropping for an eagle just a week after he did the same thing at the Players Championship. His reaction at Sawgrass was subdued, but Dufner actually got into this one a little, doing what looked like a mix between the double fist pump from Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open and that old D-Generation X move from the WWE.

Dufner shot a round of even-par 70 on Thursday, leaving him 10 shots back of Keegan Bradley, but I'm sure Bradley would have loved to have this shot on one of the two holes he made bogey on during his incredible round of 10-under.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
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One of the best things about the "Feherty" show on Golf Channel is just how easy it is for David Feherty to get these professional golfers to open up about stuff you've never heard before.

Feherty has that unique ability to interview pros not just as famous athletes but as people, and the latest episode with Rocco Mediate did just that.

Mediate was asked about that incredible 2008 U.S. Open when he battled Tiger Woods down the stretch, into a playoff and nearly beat the 14-time major winner at Torrey Pines, a golf course Woods has dominated over the years.

The story turned to what happened after it was all over, and Mediate mentioned an envelope he left in Tiger's locker at the '09 Players Championship. The envelope included a photograph and a pin sheet from their battle at Torrey with a note asking for an autograph and a quote about what happened so he could frame it and put it on his wall.

Tiger simply autographed the picture, with no inscription, and left it for Mediate. What did Rocco do with it? He tossed it in the garbage, telling Feherty that he could simply buy something like that on the Internet if he wanted.

Mediate goes on to mention he's a Tiger fan, but did say, "Why wouldn’t he ... just mess with me, and sign my pin sheet, so I could put the damn thing on my wall and say, ‘I almost got the guy that day."

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Most people waste time at work. They check websites or take smoke breaks or spend a few extra minutes in the bathroom to pass the time until that clock hits 5.

At one of the biggest golf companies in the world, wasting time means something totally different. The man you see above is Logan Fondren, the custom club manager at Callaway Golf taking some time at the Callaway office to attempt a putt that looked just about impossible.

According to a friend at Callaway, Fondren only needed eight takes to hit this putt that went down the stairs, against the boards, back down another set of stairs and in the back of a glass of water for one of the best office golf shots in the history of the work.

I know it wasn't a full golf shot but I hope Logan went out of his way to buy the guys a round after draining that one.

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On Thursday at the Byron Nelson, Keegan Bradley was able to utter that sentiment after he posted an insane round of 10-under 60 that tied the tournament record held by Snead and Arron Oberholser (both those players did it on a different golf course so Bradley's 60 is a course record at TPC Four Seasons).

When you hear about Bradley's number you're immediately impressed, but the way he did it might be the best part of the whole day. Bradley started on the back nine and was 5-under through seven holes, but a couple of bogeys in a row seemed to throw the potential for a ridiculously low round out the window.

That turned out not to be the case when Bradley really heated up, playing his final eight holes 7-under including a closing eagle-birdie-birdie run to get him to 10-under.

Bradley's round matches Phil Mickelson's 60 from earlier this year at the Waste Management and was just a shot off joining a very elite group in that 59 club but it was all Bradley could do to even get to 60 considering that ridiculous finish (he hit it to three feet on his final hole to set up that closing birdie).

After the round Bradley said, "Kind of felt like a Saturday morning round with my buddies," which made me think that I hope his friends ask for a lot of shots if they're playing with a guy that gets in those types of zones.

His round has him three shots clear of Charl Schwartzel and with a very good shot at repeating at the site of his first ever PGA Tour win back in 2011.

Also, it's probably fair to say that this round really did come out of the blue. Bradley had missed his last two cuts at the Zurich Classic and Players Championship and shot a third round 82 at the Masters after making the cut.

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 ropes, with LeBron James coming in at No. 2 ($56.5 million), Drew Brees at No. 3 ($47.8 million), and Kobe Bryant at No. 4 ($46.8 million).

No other golfer made the top-50 Americans, but Rory McIlroy landed at No. 7 on the International list, earning $33.4 million for the year (that would have put him on No. 8 on the American list just behind Derrick Rose).

What does all this tell us? That being a successful golfer is still a pretty great job considering the money, the fact that you get to play the best golf courses in the world for free and that waiting in airport lines is a thing of the past.

Photo gallery: Richest U.S. athletes

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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 very much."

Woods defended himself after the round by saying, "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."

On Monday, Sports Illustrated talked to the head marshal at the Players Championship, John North, who refuted the claim by Tiger that any marshal was asked about Sergio's golf shot before he hit it.

“Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him,” North said. “I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We’re there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character.”

That might have come from the boss, but it wasn't the end of what marshals on the grounds had to say.

Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union talked to two other marshals that were assigned to the Tiger-Sergio group and they said Woods did get info on Sergio's golf shot, just that the order of things seemed mixed up.

“It is not true and definitely unfair to Tiger,” said Brian Nedrich, who was a marshal at the second hole. “That’s because I was the one Tiger heard say that Sergio had hit.”

The Times-Union article goes on to say that Nedrich, and marshal Lance Paczkowski, told Tiger that Sergio had hit so there was definitely communication between the marshals and Tiger at the time of the shot.

Nedrich, who said he could barely see Garcia, got a glimpse of him swinging, then saw the ball in the air. When fans behind Woods began to stir, Paczkowski, his view of Garcia blocked by bushes, tried to quiet them and said, “the other player [Garcia] hasn’t hit yet.”

“That’s when I yelled back at Lance, ‘No ... he’s already hit,’ ” Nedrich said. “Tiger had already taken his club, but we did tell him that Sergio had hit.”

The battle between what was said and what wasn't said is sure to continue at this point considering marshals are backing Tiger but it's definitely interesting to hear this many people come forward on what seemed to be such an innocent act at the time.

If nothing else, we can simply hope that at some point this year we get Tiger vs. Sergio, 2.0, and it is just a fraction as exciting at the first 2013 battle the two had.

Slideshow: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson among richest U.S. athletes

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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."

Sports Illustrated's Michael Bamberger talked to the marshals involved and, well, Tiger's story doesn't exactly check out.

Gary Anderson, one of the marshals in the group, told SI, "He didn’t ask us nothing, and we didn’t say nothing. We’re told not to talk to the players.”

That might be fairly condemning, but listen to what Anderson's boss said of Tiger after the round.

From the Sports Illustrated report ...

Anderson’s boss, John North, was the chief marshal for the first three holes. He stood over Woods’s ball to protect it from the throng and was five feet away when Woods played his shot. North has worked the tournament as a volunteer marshal for 30 years, he’s a graduate of the Naval Academy, he served in Vietnam, he’s a FedEx pilot and he donates his round on the Stadium course for being a volunteer to the Wounded Warriors project.

“Nothing was said to us and we certainly said nothing to him,” North said. “I was disappointed to hear him make those remarks. We’re there to help the players and enhance the experience of the fans. He was saying what was good for him. It lacked character.”

It does make more sense when you watch the video of what happened. Tiger pulled his fairway wood out of his bag and actually tried to quiet the crowd a little as Garcia was going after his second shot on the par-5. NBC did a great job at the time of showing a split-screen of Tiger pulling the club just as Garcia was about to hit his shot, so it's pretty clear that Garcia wasn't completely making the story up.

[Related: Images from Tiger Woods win, Sergio Garcia's collapse at TPC]

As for Tiger saying he asked the marshal? That sure seems like it didn't happen at this point when you read those quotes, and the gamesmanship legend of Woods on the golf course grows larger and larger.

If nothing else, Garcia's quote about Tiger not being, "my favorite guy to play with" sure seems to be a bit more legit at this point.

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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.

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.

US OPEN
MERION GOLF CLUB - ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA
JUNE 13-16, 2013

ODDS TO WIN:
TIGER WOODS 7/2
RORY McILROY 12/1
LEE WESTWOOD 20/1
PHIL MICKELSON 25/1
ADAM SCOTT 25/1
BRANDT SNEDEKER 25/1
JUSTIN ROSE 25/1
LUKE DONALD 30/1
CHARL SCHWARTZEL 30/1
DUSTIN JOHNSON 30/1
MATT KUCHAR 30/1
GRAEME McDOWELL 30/1
SERGIO GARCIA 30/1
JASON DAY 40/1
KEEGAN BRADLEY 40/1
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN 50/1
JASON DUFNER 40/1
HUNTER MAHAN 40/1
STEVE STRICKER 40/1
BUBBA WATSON 60/1
JIM FURYK 40/1
RICKIE FOWLER 50/1
WEBB SIMPSON 40/1
NICK WATNEY 60/1
IAN POULTER 60/1
THORBJORN OLESEN 60/1
BILL HAAS 60/1
BO VAN PELT 60/1
MARTIN KAYMER 100/1
PETER HANSON 80/1
HENRIK STENSON 80/1
PADRAIG HARRINGTON 80/1
ANGEL CABRERA 80/1
TIM CLARK 80/1
ERNIE ELS 80/1
FREDDIE JACOBSON 100/1
GEOFF OGILVY 100/1
NICOLAS COLSAERTS 100/1
K.J. CHOI 100/1
ZACH JOHNSON 100/1
MARTIN LAIRD 100/1
CHARLES HOWELL III 100/1
RYAN MOORE 125/1
FRANCESCO MOLINARI 150/1
MATTEO MANASSERO 125/1
GONZALO FERNANDEZ-CASTANO 150/1
STEWART CINK 125/1
GARY WOODLAND 125/1
AARON BADDELEY 125/1
BEN CRANE 125/1
RETIEF GOOSEN 150/1
BRANDEN GRACE 150/1
RICHARD STERNE 150/1
DAVID TOMS 150/1
JOHN SENDEN 150/1
CARL PETTERSSON 125/1
GEORGE COETZEE 150/1
ROBERT GARRIGUS 125/1
SCOTT PIERCY 150/1
JIMMY WALKER 150/1
Y.E. YANG 150/1
VIJAY SINGH 150/1
JOHN HUH 150/1
MARCEL SIEM 200/1
GREG CHALMERS 150/1
BRENDON DE JONGE 150/1
MARC LEISHMAN 150/1
MICHAEL THOMPSON 150/1
RUSSELL HENLEY 150/1
TREVOR IMMELMAN 150/1
LUCAS GLOVER 150/1
CHRIS WOOD 200/1
KEVIN CHAPPELL 200/1
LUKE GUTHRIE 200/1
SEUNG-YUL NOH 200/1
BRIAN GAY 200/1
RYAN PALMER 150/1
ROBERT KARLSSON 200/1
KEVIN NA 200/1
DAVID LYNN 200/1
RAFAEL CABRERA BELLO 200/1
KEVIN STREELMAN 125/1
PAUL LAWRIE 200/1
MARCUS FRASER 250/1
CHRIS KIRK 200/1
KYLE STANLEY 150/1
PAUL CASEY 200/1
THOMAS BJORN 250/1
JAMIE DONALDSON 250/1
ALEXANDER NOREN 250/1
BEN CURTIS 250/1
RYO ISHIKAWA 250/1
DARREN CLARKE 300/1
JOHN PETERSON 300/1
CASEY WITTENBERG 250/1
HIROYUKI FUJITA 500/1
MICHAEL CAMPBELL 500/1
MICHAEL WEAVER 1000/1
STEVEN FOX 1000/1
FIELD (all others) 10/1

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 tough 18th hole? Sergio explains what happened on Sunday right here.

"Yeah, I just under‑hit it a little bit. I felt with a little bit of adrenaline and stuff I didn't want to shoot over the green with a wedge. Just needed to hit it a little bit harder, maybe a little too confident. I felt so uncomfortable throughout the whole‑‑ throughout most of the weekend, and then all of a sudden I started hitting good shots and I felt like I was back feeling good. If I would have hit it a bit farther left it would have been fine."

Sergio didn't exactly say what it seemed he wanted to say, but maybe Garcia just wanted to end the tournament right there? Take dead aim, pull the golf shot off and you have yourself a good look at birdie and a chance to get to 14-under with one hole to play.

Maybe Sergio pushed it a bit, and maybe he didn't catch it all, but it seemed that in 2013 he was trying to knock down a flagstick that leaves you little room for error unlike in '08, when he knew where to miss it and still land a solid result.

The 17th giveth and the 17th taketh away.

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Late Sunday afternoon, back nine of The Players Championship, and Tiger Woods was rolling. Up two strokes on the field with five holes to play, Woods had the game and the demeanor of a man in total control.

And then came the 14th hole, and just like that, another Tiger Woods drop controversy. Unlike a similar event a few weeks back at Augusta, however, this one was squashed within moments ... even though the evidence suggests it shouldn't have been.

The scenario: Woods hit his tee shot on 14 into the water running along the left side of the hole. He took his customary one-stroke penalty and dropped a ball at what he (and, upon questioning, playing partner Casey Wittenberg) said was the point where the ball crossed over into the water ... about 250 yards down the fairway. Thing is, a replay from the blimp overhead, which was at a sharp angle to the fairway, didn't appear nearly as conclusive, and in fact suggested the ball could have crossed the water's edge almost immediately.

[Related: Tiger Woods owns Sergio Garcia again, wins The Players Championship]

The method for determining where a ball entering a hazard should be dropped is covered in the USGA's Rule 26, while the penalty for playing an improperly dropped ball is in Rule 20. Woods had three options (sound familiar?): play from his original shot location (the tee box), play from behind the water hazard (which, as the video shows, is just in front of the tee box), or play at the point where the ball crossed over the margin of the hazard. Did he do any of those three? Well, that's the question, isn't it?

Here's some video perspective on the hole and the controversy:

(Interesting sidelight: the guy who made that video? Filmmaker John Ziegler, who's dedicated himself to clearing Joe Paterno's name in the Penn State scandal.)

Of note is the way that NBC's commentators first describe the shot's arc as sailing out over water almost immediately. They then backpedal rapidly when Woods takes his drop. All except curmudgeonly, never-met-a-golfer-he-didn't-dislike Johnny Miller, of course.

"That Tiger drop was really, really borderline," Miller said. "I can't live with myself without saying that."

The PGA Tour, sensing an Augusta-style controversy brewing, issued a statement while Woods was still on the course. It read, in full:

"Without definitive evidence, the point where Woods' ball last crossed the lateral water hazard is determined through best judgement by Woods and his fellow competitor. If that point later proves to be a wrong point (through television or other means), the player is not penalized by Rule 26-1 given the fact that a competitor would risk incurring a penalty every time he makes an honest judgment as to the point where his ball last crosses a water-hazard margin and that judgment subsequently proves incorrect (Decision 26-1/17)."

That's a handy bit of tail-covering there, allowing Woods to play on because of the judgment of himself and his playing partner. Had Woods played from an improper spot and Wittenberg called him on it, Woods would have suffered a two-stroke penalty and could potentially have signed an incorrect scorecard, forfeiting the win. But the Tour's preemptive strike ensured that would not be a possibility. And Woods would go on to double-bogey the hole anyway, a score he could just as easily have earned by playing off the tee again.

[Watch: Tiger Woods' milestone win at The Players Championship]

After the match, Wittenberg was immediately asked three straight questions about the drop, and emphasized that he made the call the right way. "I saw it perfectly off the tee," he said. "I told him exactly where I thought it crossed, and we all agreed, so he's definitely great on that ... There is no doubt, guys. The ball crossed where he dropped."

Woods, on the other hand, enjoyed 17 gentle questions about the "theater" of Sawgrass, the "satisfying" win, and even the freaking World Cup of Golf in Australia before someone actually asked him about the drop:

Q. Considering what happened at Augusta, there was extensive commentary after you took your drop on 14. Can you walk us through the drop? Was there any debate about where you should drop it? Was there any wondering whether you were dropping it in the right spot?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I talked to Casey and the caddie, and we agreed that's where it crossed. Because I hit a pop‑up big high hook, so it started way right, and then it went way left. So it had a lot of room to it.
We decided it crossed there, and I played it.

When asked whether Woods considered consulting a rules official, he replied, "If they're not there they can't see it, so there's really no point. The only guys who really know are Casey and his caddie, so that's who we rely on."

On the course, Woods has never had a reputation as a cheater; his gamesmanship can at times skirt the line, but so do many other players, including other greats. But between Augusta and, now, Sawgrass, Woods can expect to be under scrutiny with every swing of the club. He's in the early stages of what could be one of the best years of his career. It would behoove him to bring along a rules official of his own for every single round from here on out ... just to be sure.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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But we knew it would eventually happen when Tiger had a solid lead over a talented field. He hit his tee shot in the water, failed to get his next shot on the green and missed his bogey putt. He fell back to the field and had to find another gear late on Sunday at an event he hasn't loved in the past.

But he caught a break two holes later as his second shot barely cleared the water on the par-5 16th and he was able to get up and down for a birdie.

[Garcia on Woods: 'He's not the nicest guy on tour']

Then came Sergio Garcia. The guy who openly professed he wasn't a huge fan of Tiger earlier in the week when the two were paired together looked like the best bet to catch Woods and possibly force a star-studded playoff. The 33-year-old's second shot on the 16th showed just how focused he was.

Garcia made a birdie there to match Woods at 13-under before approaching the par-3 17th, the most famous hole in the world and one that was good for Garcia back in 2008 when he won in a playoff over Paul Goydos.

Sergio hit a wedge that was right at the flag, but came up a full club short in the drink. His second shot didn't do much better, finding the water as well and resulting in an ugly quadruple-bogey 7. Sergio followed that up with a wet double-bogey on the 18th to boot, and it was Tiger's tournament even after a late push by little known David Lingmerth.

We talk all the time about Tiger and when he will be the guy he used to be, but the conversation is obviously dead after this win, his fourth of 2013. This is the fastest Tiger has ever got to four wins in a season, and despite some loose swings as he was closing, it was Tiger who was, again, able to calm the storm and reign supreme at an event that hasn't been his favorite in the past decade.

The PGA Tour is Tiger's world once again, and if it wasn't for a bulky flagstick on the 15th hole at Augusta National, we might just be talking about his finest season ever as a professional.

Video of Sergio Garcia's late meltdown at TPC

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After the horn blew for darkness on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass, Tiger was asked about the incident that happened on the second hole during the third round where Garcia hit a bad shot and immediately looked in Tiger's direction, saying after that he felt like Woods had pulled a club as Garcia was starting to address his ball which got the crowd to cheer in Sergio's backswing.

[Related: Images from Tiger Woods win, Sergio Garcia's collapse at TPC]

"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 afterwards and (it's) not real surprising that he's complaining about something," Woods said.

Asked after if the two talked about the incident, Tiger said, "We didn't do a lot of talking."

Sergio didn't let Tiger get the last words in on this, telling the media on Saturday evening, "I'm not going to lie, he's not my favorite guy to play with. He's not the nicest guy on tour."

Garcia had a chance to catch Woods on Sunday at the Players, making birdie on the par-5 16th to tie for the lead, but an errant tee shot on the famed 17th and an equally as bad second attempt left Sergio with a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 that dashed his chances at a second Players Championship trophy.

It was a fun week up until that point for Sergio, but it just seems whenever Tiger is atop the leaderboard, something happens to Garcia down the stretch, and we saw that on Sunday at Sawgrass.

Video of Sergio Garcia's late meltdown at TPC

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On Saturday at the Players Championship, Garcia was paired with Tiger Woods for the 20th time in his career and it doesn't take a mathematician to realize that Tiger has had Sergio's card for most of his career.

But is Tiger ever really responsible for a bad shot that Garcia hits? According to Sergio, yes. In an interview conducted during a weather delay on Saturday, Sergio went right at the No. 1 golfer in the world when asked about a bad second shot he hit on the second hole, a par-5, that resulted in a bogey.

"I wouldn't say he didn't see that I was ready, but you do have a feel when the other guy (Tiger) 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."

This isn't the first time that someone has brought up how hard it is to play in the same group as Tiger, but from my memory it's the first time that someone actually went at Woods about it.

[Related: Lee Westwood whiffs on shot from rough (w/video)]

Garcia, God love him, is a man that has spent a lot of his career looking around for something to blame. He has had a hard time accepting the faults as his, and this looks like another chapter in a long list of things that "aren't Sergio's fault."

The thing is, there could be some legitimacy to Sergio's call here. NBC did a great job of showing a replay of what happened in real time, and sure enough, Garcia was about to hit when Woods pulled out his fairway wood in an attempt to go for the green from the left trees.

Right when Garcia made his full swing on the par-5 he looked left in an exhausted fashion, pinpointing the area that Tiger stood as the fans clapped at Woods' decision to go for the green in two.

Tiger fans will jump on Sergio, Tiger haters will get Garcia's back, but for now that final round at TPC Sawgrass just got a whole lot juicier.

For golf updates and news, follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon.

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On Saturday at the Players Championship the pin position on the par-3 13th hole is not one to mess with. A tough par-3 as it is, the pin is tucked and players are just hoping to get out of there with a par.

Chris Stroud hit a solid 6-iron on the 186 yard hole at TPC Sawgrass just like you'd want, a little right of the pin in the heart of the green, but the shot just kept getting better as it started to take the slope.

The ball rolled, rolled, and rolled a little more, taking the break and hitting the pin dead center for the eleventh hole-in-one in the history of the 13th hole at the Players Championship.

It's the second ace we have seen this week after Michael Thompson was able to make a one on the 8th, but this one looked like it had a bit more imagination.

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You ever have those moments on the golf course where you hit a shot and think, "Man, even a PGA Tour professional would be happy with that one"? Well Lee Westwood had a moment on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass where he might be thinking the complete opposite.

Stuck up against a tree on the first hole at the Players Championship, Westwood went after his ball and completely missed, leading to a double-bogey and a pretty embarrassing start to his bid for the fifth major.

[Related: Weather stops play early at Sawgrass]

As you can see in the above video, Westwood hit the tree on the downswing, but it still counts as a pass at the ball and it was a tough, tough start for the No. 12 ranked golfer in the world.

h/t Eye on Golf

For golf news and updates, follow Devil Ball Golf on Twitter at @yahoodevilball.

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If you haven't looked at the Players Championship leaderboard after two rounds, you need to take a second and check it out. Sergio Garcia, Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood and Adam Scott, to name a few, with other big names and hopeful youngsters sprinkled in at TPC Sawgrass.

If you didn't get a chance to check out the second round, we've got you covered with the above recap courtesy of the PGA Tour.

No wind? Big names? Low scores? This weekend is shaping up to be one of the better ones in Sawgrass history.

The first thought that comes to our minds when you think of these two going head-to-head is Medinah, but the two have been paired together plenty of times over the course of their respective careers and Stephanie Wei put together a fantastic list of how the two have done when in the same group.

Check out all their pairings together after the jump, and get excited for Sergio and Tiger, 2013, coming to you in the third round of the Players Championship, with Garcia up a shot over Woods.

Round Year Tournament Tee/Time Player/Finished round Player/Finished round

Rnd 1 2012 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship 1 / 12:40 Tiger Woods 72(E) 25th Sergio Garcia 75(3) 54th
Rnd 2 2012 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship 10 / 11:40 Tiger Woods 67(-5) 15th Sergio Garcia 74(2) 68th
Rnd 1 2012 Open Championship 1 / 9:42 Tiger Woods 67(-3) 6th Sergio Garcia 72(2) 80th
Rnd 2 2012 Open Championship 1 / 2:43 Tiger Woods 67(-3) 3rd Sergio Garcia 72(2) 84th
Rnd 1 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational 1 / 1:10 Tiger Woods 68(-2) 8th Sergio Garcia 68(-2) 8th
Rnd 2 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational 10 / 9:25 Tiger Woods 70(E) 13th Sergio Garcia 72(2) 25th
Rnd 1 2006 Buick Invitational 10 / 8:48 Tiger Woods 71(-1) 57th Sergio Garcia 69(-3) 33rd
Rnd 2 2006 Buick Invitational 1 / 9:42 Tiger Woods 68(-4) 22nd Sergio Garcia 68(-4) 5th
Rnd 4 2006 Buick Invitational 1 / 10:20 Tiger Woods 72(E) 1st Sergio Garcia 75(3) 8th
Rnd 4 2006 British Open Championship 1 / 2:30 Tiger Woods 67(-5) 1st Sergio Garcia 73(1) 5th
Rnd 1 2003 British Open Championship 1 / 9:09 Tiger Woods 73(2) 19th Sergio Garcia 73(2) 19th
Rnd 2 2003 British Open Championship 1 / 2:05 Tiger Woods 72(1) 11th Sergio Garcia 71(E) 4th
Rnd 3 2003 World Golf Championships-Amex Championship 1 / 10:25 Tiger Woods 69(-1) 1st Sergio Garcia 70(E) 5th
Rnd 4 2002 U.S. Open Champsion 2 / 0:0 Tiger Woods 72(2) 1st Sergio Garcia 74(4) 4th
Rnd 3 2001 Memorial Tournament 1 / 1:10 Tiger Woods 68(-4) 2nd Sergio Garcia 70(-2) 3rd
Rnd 4 2001 Bay Hill 1 / 9:48 Tiger Woods69(-3) 1st Sergio Garcia 74(2) 4th
Rnd 2 1999 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational 1 / 1:30 Tiger Woods 71(1) 6th Sergio Garcia 70(E) 6th
Rnd 1 1999 The Masters 2 / 0:1 Tiger Woods 72(E) 20th Sergio Garcia 72(E) 20th
Rnd 2 1999 The Masters 2 / 0:1 Tiger Woods 72(E) 18th Sergio Garcia 75(3) 35th

There are plenty of tough holes at TPC Sawgrass, but the lengthy par-4 14th might be one of the toughest. Jerry Kelly got to the No. 14 on Friday with a fine round going by Players Championship standards, but with little wind it seemed pars meant you were taking a step back.

No big deal for Kelly, who had 216 yards into the 481 yard par-4 and hit a long iron right at the pin. The ball landed soft, rolled delicately towards the cup and disappeared for a rare eagle. The eagle helped Kelly post a second round 68 and has him 5-under for the championship, well within shouting distance of the leaders.

Click play for the shot, stay for the chest bump that Kelly and Aaron Baddeley pulled off after the ball went in for the two.

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There are courses where Tiger Woods can shoot sub-70s rounds blindfolded with left-handed clubs. Augusta National fits into that category, as does Pebble Beach. TPC Sawgrass, site of this week's Players Championship, most assuredly does not.

Woods regards Sawgrass with about the same level of love he apparently has for the golf media or divorce lawyers. Yes, the 17th is the site of the famous "better than most" 60-foot putt in 2001. But that year marked the only time in 15 attempts that Woods has won at Sawgrass. He's only finished in the top 10 once since then, in 2009.

In fact, he hasn't posted consecutive sub-70 at Sawgrass since 2004 ... until Friday, that is, when he carded his second straight 67. And that's a signal that something might just be afoot with Woods this year. He hadn't broken 70 in an opening round until Thursday. He'd never scored as low as 67 until Friday.

Woods now sits a single stroke behind clubhouse leader Sergio Garcia, who is in at -11 and looking like a completely new player. Woods, for his part, played some vintage Tiger golf, with an eagle and five birdies in his round. The eagle, at No. 2, was the unquestioned highlight:

Should Woods manage to seize the lead back from Garcia — yes, we did actually just type that — and win on Sunday, it would mark yet another high-water point in his attempt to reclaim his former glory. The Players is the equivalent of a fifth major, as the PGA Tour will remind you, but more than that, it would represent a victory for Woods at a historically hostile course. His three wins this year have come at some of those fabled friendly courses: Bay Hill, Doral and Torrey Pines.

But Woods will have to earn this win. It's not just the course itself threatening him; the leaderboard features heavy hitters like Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson, in addition to Garcia. A victory at Sawgrass won't come easy for Woods, but it's doable, which is more than one can usually say for him at this track.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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The same could be said about Tiger Woods on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass. A round of golf that looked like it would be flawless come the 18th hole, Woods had 200 yards on the final par-4 and hit an 8-iron flag high, watching it roll off the back of the green and leaving him a pitch into the grain that he ended up stubbing. He chipped the next ball next to the hole, tapped in for a disappointing bogey and walked off a bit less excited than he was standing in the fairway without a square on his card.

But Tiger took care of what he needed to on Thursday at the Players Championship. The wind was down for the morning wave that saw Roberto Castro post a course record-tying 63, and there were plenty more big names that took full advantage of the mild conditions. Rory McIlroy shot a round of 66, as did Zach Johnson, and it appeared Sawgrass was for the taking in the opening round.

[Related Video: Woods in mix after opening 67]

Castro's round was just ridiculous by Sawgrass standards. The 9-under 63 put the 27-year-old in a group that includes just Greg Norman and Fred Couples as the only players to post that number on this golf course, and he did it with incredible iron play that included a near tap-in birdie on the par-3 17th.

The 63 might have been one better if Castro could have converted a 13-footer for birdie on his final hole, but his round was about as solid as it comes at Sawgrass with just one missed fairway and three missed greens in regulation.

McIlroy's round was as impressive as anything we've seen from the two-time major winner this season. Coming off a T-10 at the Wells Fargo Championship a week ago, Rory was on fire to start his opening round, making five birdies over his first eight holes and adding a sixth on his 11th hole of the day. It looked like McIlroy might be the guy to go out and post the low number of the day at that point, but his round cooled as Rory made seven straight pars to end his round including one of the par-5 9th hole.

It might be easy to focus on McIlroy, but playing partner Steve Stricker helped push the 24-year-old by matching him birdie for birdie over his first 11 holes (Stricker posted a round of 5-under 67).

[Related Video: Michael Thompson's hole-in-one]

It was up to Tiger to go out and match the morning groups, which he did with his round of 5-under 67.

Tiger said after his round that he "felt like I had to go out and shoot something in the 60s today," something he's struggled to do over the years at this golf course.

Woods winning non-major championships these days doesn't seem to impress a lot of people like it should. We saw him failing again at a major, like he did last month at Augusta National, and we wonder if he will ever get to that point where he can add to his major legacy. But him playing well at TPC Sawgrass should be example enough of a new Tiger that can still dominate like he did in the past.

We've already seen Tiger hoist three trophies in 2013 and while he isn't leading, and he did drop a shot on the final hole, he's in as good a position after 18 holes at this tournament as he has ever been.

Now Tiger gets a morning tee time at a course that usually sees the winds pick up in the afternoon. If Woods goes out on Friday and takes care of business like you'd expect, I'm sure the gap between him and Castro will continue to shrink.

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TPC Sawgrass is best known for the 17th hole (we've already gone over how famous that par-3 is earlier this week), but the hardest hole on the golf course might be the one that follows the island green.

The 18th at the Players Championship is where rounds come to die, a treacherous tee shot that calls for accuracy, length and above all else, guts.

On Thursday at a wind-free Sawgrass, the scores were as red as one can remember, and that helped make the final par-4 a bit easier. Jason Dufner took full advantage of that, hitting his tee shot a bit too close to the water for comfort, but it gave him a great angle into the tucked pin on the final green and he took dead aim.

The result? Just the third eagle in the history of the Players on the 18th, and a round of 1-under 71. Look how excited Dufner got after it went in!

Adam Scott is in the field this week at the Players Championship and was asked about the newest addition to his closet on Wednesday.

How often does he pull out the green jacket? Every single day.

"When I walk in the closet I put the green jacket on every morning, I do. I've enjoyed that I've missed it the last couple days. It's the first couple days I haven't had it with me, so that's been a lot of fun, just wearing it around the house."

Is there a single golf fan out there that wouldn't do the exact same thing? Biddings go on for thousands of dollars just to purchase someone else's green jacket, so if you had one yourself, that you earned, wouldn't you rock it as often as possible? Golfers are so insane that at times they sleep with their putters, so a green jacket? I'd probably try to get it affixed to my skin if it was possible.

Good for Adam, good for golf and I'm sure the ladies would say, good for that green jacket.

The deer antler spray saga will not die.

Vijay Singh has filed suit against the PGA Tour, charging that the Tour failed in its duties to properly investigate deer antler spray and allowed Singh to be subject to "public humiliation and ridicule." Singh had admitted to using deer antler spray earlier this year, and at the time it was on the Tour's list of banned substances. The World Anti-Doping Association has since provided the Tour with information that led the Tour to remove it from the list of banned substances.

That was not enough for Singh. "Rather than performing its duties to golfers first, and then determining whether there had been any violation of the Anti-Doping Program, the PGA Tour rushed to judgment and accused one of the world's hardest working and most dedicated golfers of violating the rules of the game," the suit states.

"Singh seeks damages for the PGA Tour's reckless administration and implementation of its Anti-Doping Program," Singh's attorney, Peter Ginsberg, said in a statement. "After exposing Singh, one of the PGA Tour's most respected and hardest working golfers, to public humiliation and ridicule for months, and forcing Singh to perform the type of scientific analyses and review that the PGA Tour was responsible for performing, the PGA Tour finally admitted that the grounds on which it sought to impose discipline were specious and unsupportable."

The usage of deer antler spray in sports first came to light in a 2011 Yahoo! Sports investigation, and later became a flashpoint for controversy during this year's Super Bowl. According to the suit, Singh compared the ingredients in deer antler spray to the list of the Tour's banned substances and found no correlation. However, a later test of his urine found the banned substance IGF-1. Singh apparently did not consult with the Tour prior to using the spray, and unwittingly confessed to its use in a January "Sports Illustrated" article.

In February, the Tour was prepared to ban Singh for 90 days, but he appealed and continued to play, with the caveat that he would forfeit his winnings if he lost his appeal. In April, WADA removed deer antler spray from its list of banned substances, and the Tour later dropped its action against Singh.

The Tour has declined comment on the suit, but Tim Finchem addressed the matter on Tuesday, before the suit was filed. "If I was him, I'm not so sure I'd talk about it," Finchem said. "I'd kind of like for it to be gone. He didn't do what he probably should have done, what we ask players to do, but it was all a function that came out as a function of his admission. I don't know what he would add to that."

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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Tiger Woods will be paired with Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker, but that might not even be the most marquee threesome that plans to take on TPC Sawgrass come Thursday morning.

[Also: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn hit the red carpet in NYC]

Phil Mickelson is paired with Justin Rose and Webb Simpson, while Rory McIlroy will go out with Adam Scott and Steve Stricker.

The pairings just keep getting better with the likes of Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley and Bubba Watson going out together and Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk highlighting a very American threesome.

The rest of the groupings and tee times are after the jump, so check out which group looks the most appealing for golf's fifth major.

Round 1 No. 1 tee/Round 2 No. 10 tee (all times Eastern)

7:15 a.m./12:15 p.m.: Troy Matteson, Josh Teater, Jason Kokrak

7:26/12:36: Jeff Maggert, William McGirt, Brian Harman

7:36/12:46: Jason Day, Chad Campbell, Casey Wittenberg

7:47/12:57: Mark Wilson, Bryce Molder, David Toms

8:08/1:18: D.A. Points, Kevin Streelman, Tim Clark

8:18/1:28: Derek Ernst, Louis Oosthuizen, Angel Cabrera

8:29/1:39: Brian Gay, Russell Henley, Henrik Stenson

8:39/1:49: John Merrick, Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy

8:50/2:00: Charlie Beljan, Sean O’Hair, Bo Van Pelt

Round 1 No. 10 tee/Round 2 No. 1 tee

7:15 a.m./12:25 p.m.: Ken Duke, Luke Guthrie, Branden Grace

7:26/12:36: Francesco Molinari, Cameron Tringale, Peter Hanson

7:36/12:46: Jason Bohn, Jimmy Walker, Roberto Castro

7:47/12:57: Ben Crane, Aaron Baddeley, Jerry Kelly

8:08/1:18: Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk

8:18/1:28: Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson

8:29/1:39: Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els

8:50/2:00: Tommy Gainey, John Huh, Robert Allenby

9:00/2:10: Boo Weekley, Andres Romero, David Lingmerth

9:11/2:21: Matt Jones, Brian Davis, Nicholas Thompson

Round 1 No. 1 tee/Round 2 No. 10 tee

12:25 p.m./7:15 a.m.: David Mathis, Joe Daley

12:36/7:26: Kevin Chappell, Daniel Summerhays

12:46/7:36: Charlie Wi, Matt Every, Colt Knost

12:57/7:47: Jonathan Byrd, Y.E. Yang, Stewart Cink

1:07/7:57: Ted Potter Jr., Rory Sabbatini, Padraig Harrington

1:18/8:08: Ian Poulter, Nick Watney, Lee Westwood

1:28/8:18: Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose

1:39/8:29: Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, K.J. Choi

1:49/8:39: Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker

2:00/8:50: J.J. Henry, Robert Garrigus, Vijay Singh

2:10/9:00: Sang-Moon Bae, Brian Stuard, Graham DeLaet

2:21/9:11: Bob Estes, Tom Gillis, Harris English

2:31/9:21: Jeff Overton, Bud Cauley, Brendon De Jonge

Round 1 No. 10 tee/Round 2 No. 1 tee

12:25 p.m./7:15 a.m.: Charles Howell III, James Driscoll, Greg Chalmers

12:36/7:26: Thorbjorn Olesen, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Martin Flores

12:46/7:36: Charley Hoffman, Ryan Palmer, Seung-yul Noh

12:57/7:47: Jonas Blixt, Marc Leishman, Johnson Wagner

1:07/7:57: Ben Curtis, Retief Goosen, Davis Love III

1:18/8:08: Bill Haas, Martin Kaymer, Freddie Jacobson

1:28/8:18: Ryan Moore, Carl Pettersson, Jason Dufner

1:39/8:29: Michael Thompson, Chris Kirk, Charl Schwartzel

1:49/8:39: Martin Laird, Scott Brown, Scott Piercy

2:00/8:50: Tim Herron, Pat Perez, James Hahn

2:10/9:00: Greg Owen, David Hearn, Will Claxton

2:21/9:11: Chris Stroud, David Lynn, Kevin Stadler

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Welcome to Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Shane Bacon and national columnist Jay Busbee take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. Suggest a future topic by hitting us on Twitter at @shanebacon and @jaybusbee. Today we talk No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass.

Bacon: This week is the Players Championship, the "fifth major" as we've come to know it. Golf fans tend to remember certain holes throughout the year at certain golf courses, but few are as known as the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. It's a par-3 that's a bit strange that people dream of playing, so I ask you, is it the most recognizable and iconic golf hole in the entire world?

[Also: Collegian golfer aces two consecutive par-3s]

Busbee: Without a doubt. It's a hole where even non-golfers can understand the paramount risk-reward, all-or-nothing relationship. That's why it's on all those goofy business motivational posters with lines like "GLORY: Because it's no fun when your balls go into the water." (That may be a paraphrase.) But here's the question: is it a GOOD hole?

Bacon: I think it's a "fun" hole, but I tend to agree with guys like Tiger Woods who wish it was on the front nine of a championship course like Sawgrass and not the 17th. I think the fact that it's a short iron makes it playable in any condition, but pressure can get to these players and a bad swing means you are most likely making a five or higher. Would it be a better fit on the front or is the 71st hole the place for the island green?

Busbee: Aesthetically, yes, the Island Green belongs earlier in the rotation. The problem is, the Players is all about grabbing your attention from the majors, and the 17th, looming as it does throughout the round, holds your (and the players') attention. Same deal for the playoff: it's a bit silly that a major (lower-case "m") tournament has, in effect, a pitch-n'-putt hole as its playoff determinant, but it makes for good drama. Here's my thought, though: why not open the Island Green one day a year to hackers all over the world. Fifty bucks, three balls, swing away. They'd make their operating budget in a day!

[Also: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn hit the red carpet in NYC]

Bacon: It's actually a brilliant idea if you think about it, especially if Sawgrass needed to do some maintenance on the rest of the golf course. Give hackers a chance, even make them hit off mats, because that is essentially why people pay triple digits to play Sawgrass in the first place. On that note, give me five holes you'd pay $100 to play.

Busbee: Let's see...Island Green, 13th at Augusta, 7th at Pebble, 18th at St. Andrews, and 18th at Kapalua. Assuming, of course that the 19th at Legends doesn't count. And you?

Bacon: Is it lame to include Amen Corner for three of my holes? Yes? No? Fine, then I'll say, 13 at Augusta as well, 16 at Cypress Point, the Road Hole, the Postage Stamp and the 11th at Lajitas Golf Course in Texas just because it would be cool to say you played the only international hole in the world (the green is on the other side of the Rio Grande).

Who can we convince to let us do this? Do you have Trump's number available?

Busbee: Not since I made that roadkill joke.

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For decades there have been few instances that the name Fred Couples wasn't closely followed by the word "cool," but on Monday night he was the one that got to utter that term.

Couples, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, gave a great speech, but it was the end when the weight of what just happened caught up to him. The 53-year-old was about to walk off the stage when he broke down, saying to the world, ""Thanks for taking a kid from Seattle and putting him in the Hall of Fame. This is the coolest night of my life."

The coolest guy in the game on the coolest night of his life ... I'd say it was a pretty good day for the game when those two collide.

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Kassandra Komma didn't just pull off that feat, she did it on the same nine, making hole-in-ones on consecutive par-3s in a college event in Michigan.

Komma, a senior at Oakland University, knocked in her first ace on the par-3 third hole, playing a hefty 177 yards, and followed it up with a hole-in-one on the 7th hole, playing just 108 yards.

"The second (hole-in-one), I did not know what to do," Komma told the Detroit Free Press. "I started tearing up because there was no way I could get another one. I guess you can say I had a good round of golf … to say the least."

The double aces helped Komma post a round of 3-under 69, her lowest ever as a member of the Oakland team, and the 22-year-old is now winning a week already chalked full of ace stories.

h/t Golf Channel

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Woods and Vonn have announced their relationship publicly, and Vonn was seen following Woods at the Masters in March, but this was the first time the two went out in public to be seen, photographed and announced as the new sports power couple.

Tiger can enjoy his night along with Tom Brady, Amare Stoudamire and Jessica Alba, but it will be business as usual the rest of the week as Woods is set to play in the Players Championship come Thursday in Florida.

Another picture after the jump ...

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Saxby Chambliss, a Republican Senator from the state of Georgia, was out golfing with President Barack Obama on Monday at Andrews Air Force Base when word rang out that the 69-year-old made a hole-in-one.

The ace came on the par-3 11th hole, meaning the soon to retire Senator will be buying drinks for Obama, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker and Colorado Senator Mark Udall.

Chambliss, who Golf Digest ranked No. 2 among senators with a handicap of 7.4 back in 2011, was playing with Obama because of what Jay Carney, the presidential press secretary, said was "in keeping with (the president's) engagement with lawmakers of both parties — in particular Republican senators — to see if he can find some common ground on the challenges that confront us.”

After the round Chambliss said, "We had a delightful day of golf with folks who enjoy playing the game. We talked some business, but it was mainly a day for everyone to get away from the office for a little while," a quote that trumps most people that make a hole-in-one saying after, "OH MY I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT!!!"

h/t FTW

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That doesn't seem to be the case this time around. Woods, who went public with his relationship with Lindsey Vonn back in March, will be at the Met Gala in New York City on Monday night, according to US Weekly.

Woods and Vonn will be walking the red carpet for the first time, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Since the two went public with their relationship, they've definitely avoided being shy about each other. Vonn was in the gallery at the Masters in April watching Woods try to win his 15th major championship (Tiger finished T-4 that week at Augusta National), and now this public appearance for all the world to see.

This has to be a good sign for Tiger in his personal life. Sure, we haven't seen Woods play since the Masters, but if he's comfortable enough doing something like walking the red carpet with his girlfriend, it means he's probably pretty comfortable being in this certain relationship.

The only strange thing about it is it comes during a tournament week for Woods. Tiger will be teeing off on Thursday at the Players Championship, an event he's only won once in his career, but I guess sometimes love is a little more important than work.

There are plenty of golf courses that Tiger Woods has dominated in his career. Bay Hill, Firestone, Augusta National, Torrey Pines; all these have plenty of Tiger memories.

TPC Sawgrass? Not so much for a man with 77 PGA Tour wins in his career. Tiger has struggled at one of the toughest golf courses the tour faces each season, winning just once back in 2001, but that win gave us one of the coolest calls in the history of golf.

Tiger was on the back of the famed 17th green in his third round, facing an incredibly tough 60-footer for birdie. It was one of those putts that you hope you can just lag up close and make par, but Woods threw it out left, let the slope take it and as the putt started racing towards the cup even the announcers weren't sure what to do.

The putt continued to be "better than most" before catching the right side of the cup and dropping in for a birdie. Woods would go on to win by a single shot of Vijay Singh, with that putt definitely making a case for one of the best Tiger has ever struck.

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Don't feel bad if you've never heard of the 22-year-old, ranked 1207 in the world before his playoff win on Sunday, because you aren't the only one.

After the win, Luke Donald, ranked No. 5 in the world, tweeted the following message letting everyone know he was a little in the dark as well.

Never heard of Derek Ernst until this week, shows how deep the fields are on the PGA Tour, welcome to the winners circle #GoodForHim

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) May 5, 2013

If you think Donald was saying anything negative about the guy, he pointed out in a response to a follower that he was simply admitting that the fields these days are so deep that a guy nobody has ever heard of can beat the likes of Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood.

Move over Golf Boys, we have a new group in town. Well, a new threesome of guys that spent plenty of time on an "Ice, Ice, Baby" parody that is either the best or worst thing I've ever watched.

Teaching pro Marty McCurry and his groupies did this, and I must say, while the video and graphics isn't exactly "Life of Pi," the lyrics are darn clever and the whole thing is entertaining if nothing else.

h/t Press Tent

This year I was coerced by a hockey writing friend of mine to do a weekly one-and-done golf pool that allows you to pick one golfer, never to use them again in 2013. Since I'm doing it for fun (and DEFINITELY not for money, no way, no how), I figured I'd post my weekly picks here, with who I've already used under it and my record for the year, and against the others in the pool. We're calling this Darts in the Dark.

Wells Fargo pick: Bill Haas

It has been a weird year for picking golfers. Tiger Woods seemed like a lock at the Masters only to flame out over the weekend. Phil Mickelson has been incredibly hot (at the Waste Management) and ridiculously cold (everywhere else) and Rory McIlroy hasn't woke up from his golf hibernation.

It's a year that has seen a guy named Billy Horschel become arguably the best player in the game to date and players like Hunter Mahan struggling to break 80. It's gotten so bad around these parts with picks that a buddy of mine who, if gambling was legal, puts a lot of money on sporting events changed my name in his cell phone to "Don't Take Golf Picks Bacon."

But, alas, I keep on plugging away. Bill Haas has five top-10s this season and has missed only one cut, and despite a missed cut here a year ago has finished fourth twice including 2011.

Season Stats

Wins - 0
Top-10s - 4
Top-20s - 3
Missed Cuts - 2

Current Pool Standing - 53 out of 72 players

Already used - Steve Stricker (2nd at Hyundai), Mark Wilson (MC at Sony), Robert Garrigus (T-16 at Humana), Nick Watney (T-4 at Farmers Insurance), Kevin Na (T-36 at Waste Management), Dustin Johnson (MC at Pebble Beach), Retief Goosen (MDF at Riviera), Luke Donald (T-33 at Accenture), Fredrik Jacobson (T-25 at Honda Classic), Charl Schwartzel (T-16 at WGC-Cadillac), Webb Simpson (T-17 at Tampa Bay), Sergio Garcia (WD at Bay Hill), Keegan Bradley (T-10 at Shell Houston), Billy Horschel (T-3 at Valero Texas), Phil Mickelson (T-54 at Masters), Jeff Overton (T-42 at Zurich Classic)

Yeah, that's old news, pun intended, with the arrival of Ye Wo-cheng. The, ahem, 12-year-old amateur will become the youngest player to ever tee it up in a European Tour event this week at the China Open, being just one of four players that got through qualifying for the event at Binhai Lake Golf Club.

So who is this new pre-teen sensation?

His resume is pretty spectacular. Wo-Cheng broke Tiger Woods' record at the US World Junior Championship in San Diego by shooting 12-under par to win the event, something he's done twice, and he made waves in China by winning the Guangdong Junior Championship by 18 shots.

Say what you want about the youth movement in professional golf, but if Wo-Cheng is anything like Tianlang, his success will be immediate. Nonetheless, I love hearing these stories about the youngsters actually qualifying for the events instead of getting an exemption into them.

Rumors flew around of who it might have been, even landing on the ex-husband of Tiger's current lady, Lindsey Vonn. So who really called in? A professional golfer.

David Eger, a 61-year-old Champions Tour player who has won four times in his career on the over-50 tour, was the man that rang a tournament official he knew working for the Masters to tell of the illegal drop he thought Woods took.

From the great Sports Illustrated report by Michael Bamberger ...

"I could see there was a divot -- not a divot, a divot hole -- when he played the shot the second time that was not there the first time," Eger said. "I played it again and again. I could see that the fairway was spotless the first time he played the shot and there was that divot hole, maybe three or four feet in front of where he played after the drop."

The funny thing about Eger is he isn't just a great golfer, but a former tournament director. He worked for the PGA Tour and the USGA and according to SI is "one of the most experienced tournament officials in U.S. golf and an expert on the rules."

I guess it was a bad day for Tiger Woods that Eger was tuning in to watch golf.

So now the question is, how did Eger know who to call to report the supposed violation? No big deal, he just scrolled through his cell phone and rang Mickey Bradley, a rules official he knew was working the Masters.

Bradley immediately called Ridley and Russell, the veteran PGA Tour administrator who is on the three-man Masters competition committee that is chaired by Ridley, a former U.S. Amateur champion and USGA president. Bradley also forwarded Eger's text to Russell and Ridley. In his text, Eger wrote that Woods "didn't appear to play by Rule 26-1-a." He wrote that he "appeared to be 3-4 feet back" from his divot mark.

Bradley forwarded Eger's text message at 6:59 p.m. Tiger was still on the course.

It's a pretty incredible story about how the whole thing went down, and definitely worth the read. People complain that viewers have too much control of what is happening on the golf course for professional golfers (And I tend to be in that camp) but it's cool that a guy that knew something went wrong tried to act as fast as possible to not only keep up the integrity of the game but to help the guy that violated the rules (in this case, Tiger Woods) before he went out of his way to sign an incorrect scorecard.

The complaint by most was that Tiger did go on to sign an incorrect scorecard, but as the report states, the Masters officials knew of what happened before Woods had finished his round. It was on them to go through the scenario themselves and figure out what to do, so really, it was within the rules for Tiger.

Still, what a crazy first major championship for Woods who went in the big favorite and remains the favorite at next month's U.S. Open. Hopefully Woods avoids hitting any baskets with his approach shots at Merion.

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ESPN brought analyst Chris Broussard on during a special "Outside the Lines" to talk about his views, and he was emphatically against the idea of homosexuality.

Here part of what he said, courtesy of Balls Don't Lie:

[Also: ESPN analyst clarifies views on Jason Collins]

"I'm a Christian. I don't agree with homosexuality. I think it's a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is. [ESPN's] L.Z. [Granderson] knows that. He and I have played on basketball teams together for several years. We've gone out, had lunch together, we've had good conversations, good laughs together. He knows where I stand and I know where he stands. I don't criticize him, he doesn't criticize me, and call me a bigot, call me ignorant, call me intolerant.

Now, as my buddy Kelly Dwyer pointed out in his post about Broussard's comments, there are plenty of things the Bible says that people don't abide by (working on Sundays? Golfers strive to make that happen), but that didn't stop Bubba Watson from going to Twitter on Tuesday to show his support for Broussard.

Thanks @chris_broussard for sharing your faith & the bible!! #GodIsGood

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) April 30, 2013

I know that this country we live in is based on freedom of speech, so Bubba is allowed to agree with whatever he wants, but that means I can say something as well.

Golf is basically the good 'ol boy's club. We live in a world where, up until 2012, the only golf course that consistently hosted a PGA Tour major championship didn't have a women member. This is a world where guys have gone on Republican rants so hard that they were forced off Twitter, and a place where all-male clubs are still a big, big thing.

So why must we keep pushing the gas on these things? We live in a world that is transitioning into a more open-minded place each day, with politicians coming forward each day in support of gay marriage, yet one of our recent major champions decided to speak up against an issue that, frankly, isn't affecting his day by day life. Is homosexuality a sin according to the Bible? Sure, but as Dwyer pointed out in his NBA post on Monday, "(The Bible has been) used as a basis to defend slavery, segregation, the oppression of women’s rights, and laws forbidden the consumption of shrimp scampi."

[Also: ThePostGame: The road to Jason Collins' revelation]

I'm not here to change your ideas or opinions, but to simply ask, why hate when there is no reason to hate? Why put down someone for being who they are? If you're gay, great. If you're straight, excellent, but this isn't Capture the Flag. We can stand in this great country together, as a team, patting each other on the back for whatever it is you are. To me, that's how you become a good person. Not by what you believe or what you read or even what building you pour in on Sunday, but just by going out of your way to be nice to each and every person you run into.

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Welcome to Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Shane Bacon and national columnist Jay Busbee take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. Suggest a future topic by hitting us on Twitter at@shanebacon and @jaybusbee. Today we talk about the best final hole celebrations of all time.

Bacon: On Sunday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Billy Horschel faced a putt he had hit plenty of times in his life. Laying in bed daydreaming, on the practice green as a kid and maybe even in junior tournaments imagining this wasn't just for a small trophy but for a huge PGA Tour win. Horschel drained it, and his celebration was as incredible as his 72 holes to snag his first PGA Tour title. With Horschel's celebration coming on the heels of what Adam Scott did on the 18th hole at Augusta National just a few weeks back, I ask you, what golf celebration stands out to you as the best ever?

Busbee: Oh, where to begin? I have a soft spot for Arnold Palmer slinging his visor at the end of the US Open in 1960:

The absolute exultation there is palpable half a century later. What, to you, makes a great celebration? I think you've got to break out of the usual staid golf mold, but you've got to do it in a way that doesn't embarrass yourself. It's a tightrope, one that (I'd assume) is tough to walk in the heat of celebration. Your thoughts?

Bacon: I think the Palmer one is incredible, and the Jack Nicklaus putter raise in 1986 at Augusta would probably top everything if it happened on the 18th green, but I almost feel like Tiger Woods on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines is the best one I've ever seen. Both arms fist pumping, his face to the sky, giving it his all on basically one leg. Do we have a battle between old school and new school here?

Busbee: What, no Phil Mickelson two-inch vertical at the Masters? How dare you, sir! Yeah, I agree, Tiger's at Torrey is right there. That's once-in-a-lifetime exultation, even for Woods. But how about Payne Stewart at the US Open in 1999?

Where does that one fit in? Obviously, it's got the weight of tragedy behind it. Seeing that now is tough to watch knowing what was to come. Like a tournament, a celebration is inextricable from the storyline surrounding the tournament.

Bacon: I think we have a pretty good list going. Payne was incredible, Tiger was solid, Arnie, Phil and Adam Scott were memorable, and let us not forget Mark O'Meara with both hands raised as his putt dropped on 18 at Augusta for his first major championship.

Are we forgetting anything? Hal Sutton at the Players? David Love III under the rainbow? Nicklaus tossing his putter in the air at the '80 British? Nick Faldo at the 1989 Masters? Everything that has ever happened at the Ryder Cup? All so much fun to go back and think about.

Busbee: When you or I ever get a hole-in-one, we'll have a celebration that will blow away any of these. Screaming to the heavens, slinging my putter like Thor's hammer, dancing the Macarena/Gangnam Style/whatever, I'm gonna do it all.

Bacon: I actually think my celebration would be calmer. I'd be so surprised the Bacon Curse was history (nobody in my immediate family has ever made an ace despite spending wayyy too much time on the golf course) that I feel like I'd react like a dad finding out he was having triplets.

Busbee: I hope it happens soon for you, sir. The ace, not the triplets.

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One thing you should expect to see? Wicker baskets adorning the tops of the flagsticks all across Merion's famed links.

Devil Ball put a call into the USGA on Monday morning asking if the traditional wicker baskets would be in play and it was confirmed they would.

[Related: Billy Horschel has priceless reaction after first PGA Tour win]

Why wicker baskets instead of traditional flags? Let the Merion Golf Club website explain it ...

"The wicker baskets' origin is a mystery to this day. There was a great deal written in 1912, and for three years thereafter, locally and nationally about this new course in Philadelphia. However, there was no mention of the soon-to-be famous wicker baskets. It could be assumed they were not there. By the summer of 1915, William Flynn, Merion's Superintendent, received patent approval for his wicker basket design. Merion had baskets that fall and from then-to-today. It could be assumed, due to lack of written proof, that Flynn convinced Wilson to use the baskets, and Merion received its "basket notoriety" the next year during the 1916 U.S. Amateur."

So, yeah, no concrete proof of why they are used, but it's a cool tradition that I'm glad the USGA is sticking with for the '13 U.S. Open.

The only time that the wicker baskets weren't used when the USGA descended on Merion was in 1950, when Ben Hogan won his second U.S. Open. According to the book "Miracle at Merion," the USGA went with flags because, as Richard Tufts wrote, "Simply because they are different I think there will be some criticism if the baskets are used."

[Watch: Louis Oosthuizen's 500-yard drive]

Anybody that wins a USGA event at Merion receives a wicker basket, and the course calls the flagsticks "standards" because of the lack of flags.

Now for the fun game, which player will be the first to hit a basket with a golf shot and complain? Your guess is as good as mine.

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When talking about the hottest golfers on the planet right now names like Tiger Woods, Brandt Snedeker and Adam Scott are tossed around, but we shouldn't look past Billy Horschel.

The 26-year-old pro hasn't missed a cut on the PGA Tour since the Byron Nelson last May, and has been on some run the last month. After a final round 85 at Bay Hill dropped him 50 spots on the leaderboard, Horschel found his game, carding three straight top-nine finishes heading into New Orleans.

Horschel needed a special final round to give himself a chance at breaking up a crowded leaderboard and did just that on Sunday when he carded a round of 64 that included a stretch of seven birdies over eight holes, but it was his putt on the 18th green that put him in the winner's circle for the first time in his career.

The putt was a lengthy one, but Horschel calmly knocked it right in the side of the cup for his ninth birdie of the day and a one shot victory.

It will be tough for someone to beat the reaction of Adam Scott when he drained that birdie putt on the 72nd hole at the Masters, but the way Horschel celebrated was just about as good as it gets. The putt dropped, he had his first win, and he fist pumped his way into his first ever Augusta National invite.

Great putt, even better reaction, and Horschel might have just passed Mr. Woods as the best playing golfer on the planet right now.

Most people that stand on the tee of a 583-yard par 5 are praying to just get near the green in two shots. On Friday at the Ballantine's Championship in Korea, Louis Oosthuizen decided he'd nearly get there in one.

His drive on the first hole of his second round went right, found the curb-friendly cart path and rolled, and rolled and rolled some more.

The video above takes more than two minutes and it's all just Oosthuizen's tee shot, and as the announcers said, goes about 500 yards by the time it stops.

The crazy part? The former British Open winner didn't even birdie the hole. Now that's not taking full advantage of a lucky break.

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