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Sports loves its underdogs. It explains New York's affinity for the '69 Mets, the reason " Hoosiers " is worshipped, and why Mike Eruzione has never bought a drink in his life. However, because "David vs. Goliath" tales are romanticized, sometimes the narrative is forced. Case in point: Even if a team is favored to win, odds are you'll hear a "No one believed in us!" rally cry from the victors. Circle Darren Clarke as guilty of this charge. Clarke, captain of the European club for the 2016 Ryder Cup, was answering questions from his Twitter followers, some which centered on potential roster construction. The talk led to Clarke tweeting the following: Which, at face value, seems like a modest, respectful statement. As the Ryder Cup occasionally dips into jingoistic rhetoric, it's refreshing to see Clarke take a humble route. One problem: The Europeans, in no way, shape or form, are entering Hazeltine as "underdogs." Okay, the Amer

According to a study I just made up, the week after Christmas is the most depressing time of the year. All the buildup of goodwill, love and cheer of the holidays are gone. There's nothing on the radar to look forward to, leaving one to stare into the abyss of January and February, the Jupiter Ascending months of the calendar year. (Don't give me any lip about New Year's Eve. That's a night for amateurs who have to convince themselves they're having a good time.) Luckily, on this dreary, soulless, late December Monday, there is hope. For, in less than 100 days, amateurs will check into the Crow's Nest , the greatest lodging in golf. Patrons of Augusta National will house pimento cheese sandwiches watching pros skip their practice shots across the pond at No. 16. In less than 100 days, Jordan Spieth will dish out Texas barbecue at the Champions Dinner , while Rory McIlroy practices on the putting green below, hoping to complete the career Grand Slam. Caddies wi

It's hard to top the year Jordan Spieth had. But in terms of the yearly national sports awards, Spieth's 2015 is coming up just shy of top recognition. The Associated Press named NBA MVP Stephen Curry the 2015 Male Athlete of the Year, an honor that has been given out since 1931. Serena Williams took home the women's award. Williams edged out Spieth for Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year award , too, leaving Spieth to rest on his two major wins, a FedEx Cup title and a boatload of cash. That's a year topped by very few 22-year-old golfers in history. Jordan Spieth celebrates at Chambers Bay, site of his U.S. Open triumph in June. Interestingly, neither Jack Nicklaus nor Arnold Palmer ever won the AP male athlete of the year. Tiger Woods is a four-time recipient of the award (winning in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2006), and Lee Trevino took it home in 1971. Besides that, golfers haven't gotten too much love from the Associated Press voters. At least the AP a

Stories of interest you might have missed… “A Star was Born in 2015,” the headline to Martin Dempster’s story in the Scotsman reads . The subject is Jordan Spieth, of course. “It wasn’t just the fact Spieth won two majors that stood out as he enjoyed his annus mirabilis. The young Texan went about his business as though he’d been at the top of the game for some time, not the new kid on the block. He’s classy, on and off the course. His family values helped him lay the foundations for his career and there’s no chance whatsoever they’ll ever be forgotten. Like McIlroy, Spieth seems the type that will never get too big for his boots.” It’s called the Loop, a new Tom Doak design that has 18 greens and 36 teeing areas and can be played in either direction. “Such a radical design concept will cause the eyes of the world â€" literally â€" to be focused on Michigan for the next several years,” Tom Lang writes in the Detroit Free Press . “Will it work, ho

Short on time in the gym? Golf Digest fitness advisor Ben Shear created an exercise that trains the lower and upper body in one compound movement. "It trains the hips, knees, glutes, back and shoulders in one shot," he says. The only thing you need is a dumbbell and something to sit on for the squat portion of the exercise. A plyo box or bench will work. "The box can be as tall as you need it to be to do the squat portion of the movement," Shear says. Do three sets of 10 reps of this exercise, and you're done for the day. Illustrations by Brown Bird Design (1) Start by doing a single-leg deadlift holding a dumbbell on the same side as the trail leg. (2) While bent over, pull the dumbbell up until it's chest high and then return it to the hanging position. (3) Swing the trail leg forward for balance and then (4) do a single-leg squat until your butt touches the box/bench. (5) Stand up on one leg and (6) push the dumbbell straight up to the sky.

"Orthodox" is not a word commonly associated with Bubba Watson. His golf swing, gestations, demeanor, even transportation , defy conventional methods. It's no surprise, then, that he decided to enter this year's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am not for money or Ryder Cup points. Instead, he's headed to Monterey Peninsula for one reason: To play with Mark Wahlberg. “Mark and Bubba are buddies,” said Steve John , tournament director of the pro-am, earlier this week. “Mark drew Bubba back. That’s pretty cool.” John confirmed that Watson and Wahlberg are scheduled to play together. Watson hasn't appeared at the event since 2007, and with good reason: In two previous outings, he's missed the cut and finished 44th. However, playing with Wahlberg -- who will likely be brandishing his new driver from Rory McIlroy -- was apparently too enticing to pass up. If there is a golfing god, these two will be paired with Bill Murray's group. Think that w

Among the many reasons we love this time of year, outside of speculating who will make the biggest fool out of themselves at holiday parties, is it gives us an opportunity to wrap the year up in a nice neat bow (you see what we did there?). Golf is no different, and so in this week's Golf Digest Podcast, we've combed through 2015 to discuss the biggest stories and the biggest surprises. It's also an opportunity to look ahead to next year: Can Jordan Spieth and Jason Day follow up on their breakthrough years? When is the next time we'll see Tiger Woods again on a golf course? Will one of our editors survive the sewage-infested waters of Rio for the Olympics? Golf Digest editors Sam Weinman, Matt Rudy, and Alex Myers hash it out in another lively Golf Digest Podcast. And if you haven't listened to our previous episodes, get caught up now!

Stories of interest you might have missed… Jordan Spieth wouldn’t have needed many mulligans in 2015, but if he could have one what would it be? “My first putt on No. 8 [in the final round of the British Open],” he said in this story by Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press . Spieth had a long birdie putt there, putted it off the green and made double-bogey. AFP/Getty Images Jordan Spieth tosses ball to crowd after four-putting in the final round of the British Open The year 2015 “is going to match the highest-rated year ever on Golf Channel, matching 2013, the year in which Tiger won five times,” Golf Channel president Mike McCarley said in this Reuters story by Larry Fine on how the youth movement in golf has helped fill the void left by Tiger Woods. * The PGA Tour is undergoing a renovation of the 12th hole at the TPC Sawgrass to make it a drivable par 4, Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union reports . “We’ve studied all the great drivable par-4 holes, not just on

As increasing evidence sheds light on the physical and psychological risks of football, many parents are facing a dilemma: "Should my kids play?" The health toll seemingly makes this decision clear. However, the game is so ingrained into our culture that saying "no" is not always a straightforward answer. Yet a prominent -- and unlikely -- voice in football is telling parents to keep their kids out of the game. Mike Ditka, a Hall of Fame player and Super Bowl winning coach, is famous for his gruff, fearsome disposition. When proponents wax poetic about the gridiron ideals of toughness, grit and will, "Iron Mike" is the figure that comes to mind. Surprising, then, that this "man's man" doesn't know if children should participate in football. In a story for the Chicago Tribune , Ditka is interviewed about the passing of Mike Pyle, a Chicago Bears legend and friend of Ditka's. On Monday, it was announced that Pyle suffered from CTE, whic

Brooks Koepka has decided he’s ready for his close-up. It seems overdue. At 25, Koepka is not only prominent among the leading 20-somethings who are taking over golf, he possesses a differentiating supercharger: Only he and Tony Finau reached 129 miles per hour in clubhead speed in PGA Tour events last year. Koepka can temper his power with a knackâ€"honed on pro circuits in Europeâ€"for creatively varying the force and flight of his iron shots. After winning four times on the Old World’s developmental Challenge Tour (by a total of 23 strokes), he achieved breakthrough wins in Turkey on the European Tour and last February at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. On his way to reaching 12th in the world, the native of South Florida demonstrated explosiveness (leading the PGA Tour in percentage of eagles) and grit (leading in percentage of putts made from four to eight feet). All of which might be subordinate to the visceral response informed witnesses have had to his ball-str

Danny Willett doesn't always go out of his way to make you feel comfortable, and that might be why he's such a tough competitor. As his teacher, Mike Walker, says, "He was the No. 1 amateur in the world in 2008, so he expects a lot of himself. He's not unfriendly. He's single-minded." A 2007 Walker Cup standout from England, Willett had to learn patience as a pro. It wasn't until 2012 that he captured the BMW International, the first of his three European Tour titles. Since then, he has put himself in position on Sunday many times. He won the Omega European Masters in July, and a week earlier, he found himself one stroke out of the 36-hole lead at the British Open at St. Andrews, and wound up finishing T-6, his best showing in a major.

Jordan Spieth, at times, seems supernatural. Most credit Spieth's success to extraordinary iron play, an aggressive short game and wise-beyond-his-years mental fortitude. While these facets have their influence, turns out there is a simpler answer for Spieth's prosperity: He's a Jedi. Clearly, the Force is strong with Young Spieth. WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

Nobody else could play on Saturday, so I decided to do chores and pay bills. But then I noticed that the temperature was almost 60, so I took the dog for a quick walk and went to Candlewood Valley as a single. The starter sent me out with Barbara, who had followed a similar logical path to the golf course: We were joined by Kevin and Steve: Steve was trying to master a new 65-degree wedge, which he had ordered from an infomercial. It's the ideal club if you want your ball to end up either almost exactly where it started or in that pond over there, on the other side of the green. Kevin started playing golf just this year. Pretty quickly, Barbara and I learned that when he was hitting the best place to stand was either a little bit behind him or to the left. Nevertheless, he did hit a few good shots, including this tricky one, on the seventh hole: Barbara is the technology person at a private school for special-needs kids. She began her career, in the late 1970s, at IBM, and she too

Stories of interest you might have missed… Will history repeat itself in the case of Rory McIlroy, who is engaged again? James Corrigan of the Telegraph argues that it won’t . “If any of Rory McIlroy’s admirers fear his recent engagement [to Erica Stoll] will lead to a repeat of history, and another derailing of his career, they need not worry,” he writes. “Different times, different characters and, for McIlroy, the sense that his ‘low-key’ relationship will actually assist his quest to return to world No  1.” “Ryder Cup legend Paul McGinley believes America’s grand blueprint to regain parity in golf’s greatest team competition has put them under ‘massive pressure’ ahead of next year’s clash at Hazeltine,” John Greechan of the Scottish Daily Mail writes . “‘There’s a lot of expectation because they’ve made a lot of decisions they think are going to guarantee their success,’ McGinley said. ‘You travel around America and everyone there thinks

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a short piece for this website on the R&A-sponsored conference, “Time for Golf,” held in St. Andrews. Unfortunately, the piece erroneously attributed certain comments to the ruling body’s new chief executive, Martin Slumbers, to whom we apologize unreservedly. The purpose of the two-day gathering in the Home of Golf was to discuss all aspects of slow play -- what Slumbers calls “one of the top-three issues in the game.” “Slow play is an issue for every golfer, although most of our conference was on the amateur game, the recreational game people play for love,” Slumbers said in a follow-up interview. “In my opinion, if we want to grow participation in the amateur game, the recreational game people play for fun, pace of play is something we should be talking about a lot more openly.” To that end, the R&A commissioned a study that attracted more than 57,000 responses. The biggest conclusion: while the vast majority of people wer

The close proximity of the seats to the court allows fans the privilege of being in touching distance of the world's greatest basketball stars, while also providing NBA games with their unique atmosphere. Actor Jack Nicholson is often seen sitting courtside at Los Angeles Lakers games. But Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt said such seats "concerned" him after Ellie Day -- wife of world No. 2 golfer Jason -- had to be carried from the court on a stretcher and in a neck brace after a collision with James during the Cavs' 104-100 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday. "Honestly, the only thing I saw was LeBron diving for the ball to save the ball," Blatt said. "I kind of got blocked and just saw a sea of bodies. We all hope that she's OK. "It's always concerned me, the sideline seats. Always concerned me, because things like that, when you're talking about players of this speed and physicality and effort level, it's not a s

LeBron James running over Jason Day's wife on Thursday night at the Cleveland Cavaliers game has thrown golf into the national headlines in unfamiliar fashion. On a slow sports day, clips of Ellie Day getting bowled over by James have been playing on news channels all morning. Some people have even went as far to point blame at this year's PGA Championship winner for not doing more to protect Ellie. To which we say, 'C'mon, really?' Sure, it does look like Jason moves to his right to avoid James. But what could Jason really have done? Even if Jason tried to throw his body in front of Ellie, it would've been the same result. A sprinting, 6-foot-8, 260-pound LeBron James isn't going to be easily stopped by a stationary Jason Day with two seconds to react. Day took the fall schedule off to spend time with newborn daughter, Lucy, and to rest a bad back. A golfer with a bad back against one of the best athletes in the world? Easy choice there. Equating Ben Hogan

Grantown-on-Spey is a small town on the Spey River, near the northern edge of Cairngorms National Park, in Scottish whiskey country. It was the birthplace of Bobby Cruikshank, a Scottish golf pro whose principal claim to fame is that he lost to Gene Sarazen in a semi-final match in the P.G.A. Championship twice, in 1922 and 1923. The town was founded in 1765 and was named after a local rich guy, James Grant, who is at the far left in the foursome below. I don't know why the golf clubs these guys are holding don't have heads: The local course isn't one I would plan a trip around, but I did enjoy playing it. It was designed by Willie Park and James Braid in 1890, during the second Scottish golf boom, which accompanied the rise of the railroads. (The first American golf boom took place at the same time. In those days, just about the only thing you needed to be a golf-course architect in the United States was a Scottish accent.) There's a practice area in a field next to t

Ellie Day, the wife of PGA Tour star Jason Day, left Thursday Night's Cleveland Cavaliers game on a stretcher after LeBron James crashed into her going for a loose ball. The play happened with 5:00 left in the fourth quarter. James saved a loose ball near the sideline, but tumbled into the front row where Jason and Ellie were sitting. Ellie took the brunt of the collision with James, who is 6-foot-8 and weighs 260 pounds. Here's another angle: The game was delayed for several minutes as James and a few other Cavs players went over to check on Ellie. Ellie had the couple's second child last month. She was alert when she was taken out on the stretcher and brought to an upstairs room in the arena to be observed, according to TNT's Craig Sager. Two weeks ago, Day was on the sideline to watch the Packers take on the Lions. On Thursday, he and his wife had court-side seats. They posed for this photo earlier in the night. Stay tuned for updates. UPDATE (11:15 p.m.): ESPN is r

Rome's Colosseum may once have witnessed bloody battles to the death, but in 2022 the Eternal City will host golf's most gladiatorial contest for the first time. Italy overcame competition from Austria, Germany and Spain to be named only the third country from mainland Europe to stage the Ryder Cup -- golf's greatest team event, where Europe takes on the United States over three days. Denmark, Portugal and Turkey had also been in contention when the bidding process began in June 2014, but later withdrew. "I would like to offer my congratulations to Italy, whose bold and ambitious bid has seen them become the host nation for the 2022 Ryder Cup," European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said Monday. "History has shown time and again that the Ryder Cup is pure theater with the players the stars, and there is no question that the Eternal City of Rome will provide a wonderful backdrop for one of the great occasions in world golf." The biennial competition a

We never thought we'd be interested in a highlight video showing every shot from the winner of the Race to Dubai. Edited down to 10 minutes long? That's watchable. If you didn't watch Rory McIlroy's winning 66 from last Sunday, we'll forgive you. And even if you did, maybe you just feel like appreciating a great round of golf. Eight birdies, along with two bogeys, gave Rory an encouraging way to end his 2015 season. Either way, the European Tour has you covered with this video.

When my friends and I play golf, we spend most of our time discussing stuff like continuous non-vanishing tangent vector fields and the sorites paradox, but most other guys, most of the time, talk about sports. That’s easy for the ones who skim money from their children’s college funds to finance killer teams on FanDuel, but it can be challenging for others. Now, though, there’s an equalizer: TipOff Sports , a weekly email cheat sheet “for people who want a quick and easy way to know what’s going on in the world of sports.” TipOff’s editor is David Epstein, the author of The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance , which spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The book explains how a regular dad, using items found in almost any kitchen or garage, can turn his children into athletic superstars by making simple modifications to just one or two of their chromosomes. Well, that’s not exactly right, but it’s a terrific book, a

Despite the emergence of young, marketable players like Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth, Woods remains much better known than the game's new stars. Repucom, a company that analyzes and provides market data, found that 97% of Americans are aware of who Woods is, compared to just 20% for Fowler and 37% for world No. 1 Spieth. However, one area in which the 39-year-old now lags majorly behind -- aside from recent trophies -- is "trendsetting," where Fowler is now the world's leading golfer with an 81% rating, according to the research. The world No. 5 caused quite a stir in May after sharing a passionate kiss with model girlfriend Alexis Randock on the 18th green following his victory at The Players Championship. Being part of celebrity couple, combined with his Puma sponsorship -- a fashionable clothing brand new to golf -- boosts Fowler's brand just as much as his playing success, says Repucom managing director Jon Stainer. "In the case of the most influential

Last week's season-ending European Tour event at the Jumeirah Golf Estates was designed to crown a yearly champion -- and it did, Rory McIlroy. It was also designed to showcase Dubai as a plce to buy property and spend money. Aiming for expatriate Brits with some disposable income to spend, the United Arab Emirates loosened restrictions on foreign land ownership a decade ago, so now anybody can buy a luxury villa alongside one of the jarringly green golf courses built in the desert. Jumeirah Golf Estates is popular for its gated safety and two Greg Norman courses, but you won't get in there with coins you found under the couch cushions. This $2.3 million five-bedroom, six-bath villa is considered a "starter home" in a development where you'll also find $30 million palaces. The 4,790-sqft home has direct golf course frontage and easy access to the 130,000-sqft clubhouse. A central courtyard redefines the concept of an open floor plan, and the formal dining room ov

If you make a hole-in-one on the day before Thanksgiving, do you have to buy everybody a turkey dinner? University of Texas junior Beau Hossler will have to let us know. Upon returning from campus in Austin to his home in Mission Viejo, Calif., the 20-year-old U.S. Walker Cupper posted this celebratory picture on Instagram. Naturally a few of his buddies had some fun with him in the comments section. Apparently, too, Hossler might have been somewhere else to be on Wednesday, judging from his "glad I skipped class today" reference. Ask us, and making an ace sufficiently counts as an excused absence. WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

Remember the Twitter, ahem, "war" between Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald earlier this fall ? After a period of ceasefire, Donald appears to have relit the flames of battle. Donald posted a conversation with Bradley regarding an upcoming trip to Sun City, South Africa for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, in which Donald instills fear in the 2011 PGA Championship winner. Warning: Adult language follows: Funny, although Donald shouldn't be the one to throw stones regarding Sun City, given his less-than-manly reaction to a baboon he encountered at the Nedbank last year. WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

We all play golf courses that feature various memorials to people and events: benches, flagpoles, that sort of thing. At my home club, for instance, there's a stone marker honoring the memory of a longtime starter at the club from decades earlier. Call me naive, but I've always operated under the assumption that this was at one point an actual person. It's worth reconsidering only because of a New York Times report from Tuesday that says Donald Trump's Northern Virginia Trump National Golf Club features a plaque between the 14th and 15th holes honoring a Civil War battle at that precise spot. The inscription, signed by Trump, reads: “Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as ‘The River of Blood.’ It is my great honor to have preserved this important section of the Potomac River!” Nice sentiment, small problem: there apparently was no such battl

Denny Kovacs was 24 when he played his first round of golf, on July 4, 1971. He’s 68 now and in those 44-plus years he has played 41,967 holes on 709 different courses, has taken 201,241 strokes, made 17 eagles, 1,586 birdies, 15,254 pars, 17,310 bogeys and 1,570 triple bogeys. Yes, he’s a golf nut. Kovacs, a former air traffic controller who now is a shop assistant at Indian Springs Golf Club in Indio, Calif., has charted every hole of every round he has ever played. Here is his latest spreadsheet entry: He’s never made an ace or an albatross. but he has hit 19 shots inside 12 inches. He made his first birdie in 1972, his first eagle in 1985 and his 1,000th birdie in 2009 on the par-5 sixth hole at Indian Springs (driver, 3-wood off a house roof, wedge, 15-foot putt). Anal-retentive is a phrase that comes to mind.
 “They all think that way,” he said laughing. “I have the same kind of record for bowling since 1968. I was an amateur body builder for awhile and had all kind

According to the Los Angeles Times , reigning NBA MVP and current Golf Digest cover boy Stephen Curry has purchased a new house in Walnut Creek, Calif. The 8,000-square foot, Mediterranean estate is as nice as one would expect an 8,000-square foot, Mediterranean estate to be for a $3.2 million price tag. However, there's just one problem if you're a golf nut like the Golden State Warriors guard: There doesn't seem to be any part of the property devoted to golf. No backyard golf course like the one soccer star Gareth Bale is building . No backyard golf hole. No backyard range. Not even a backyard practice green. Shocking. Take a look at some of the photos: If you notice, those last three photos all have TVs set to basketball. It's almost as if the previous owners new they'd be selling their home to an NBA star. Of course, if they had set the TVs to golf, Curry would have bitten just as easily. And if they'd made it a little more golf friendly, he probably would

When Jordan Spieth checked off what he called “bucket list” rounds at Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne, he experienced those masterpieces in all of their Australian glory: he took a trolly. Or, as they’re known in some parts of the world, a buggy. Translation Americans: he took a pull cart! Call them whatever you want, but in Australia all of those macho Mad Max’s have little issue pulling a cart around when they play. Many superintendents even attribute the widespread use of trollies to contributing to the health of their greens by allowing those large wheels to run right over the putting surfaces. As I wrote three years ago in Golf Digest, this is one of the many fine attributes of Australian golf. So many thanks to Peter Boland and Phil Duffy for sharing this shot of Spieth playing Royal Melbourne last weekend dragging his tour bag around one of the world’s most storied layouts. Spieth arrived a few days before his bid to repeat as Australian Open champion by playing tw

SYDNEY, Australia -- One year, two major wins, a Fed-Ex Cup victory and $22m in on-course earnings removed from his previous visit to The Australian Club here, Jordan Spieth still feels able to call the closing 63 with which he claimed the 2014 Australian Open, “one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in my life.” Which is no surprise to any of those who witnessed the then 21-year old Texan’s dismantling of the Jack Nicklaus-design in blustery conditions that provoked defending champion Rory McIlroy to claim his successor’s final-round performance was nothing short of “awesome.” But a lot has happened to Spieth since that special round, most recently visits to two of Australia’s finest courses, Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne. Unlike Tiger Woods, who professed “admiration” for Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt courses without ever taking a look at any of them other than the one he was playing that week, the Masters and U.S. Open champion is a golfer, not just a profe

The 18-year-old retained the Race to the CME Globe title -- given to the golfer who wins the most points during the LPGA Tour season -- to pick up her bumper prize. Ko finished joint seventh at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Italy. "It's been a long season of ups and downs as well, mainly ups, but I think every emotion went through me today," said Ko, who was reduced to tears during an emotional final round. "What triggered the tears more is what a tough day it was. "I tried to stay patient all day and even up to the last minute I had a putt lip out, so it was tough, but it's been a long season. I think the hole was smaller than the ball today. "I'm happy that the season is over and I can relax now." South Korean Inbee Park and American Lexi Thompson could have both finished above Ko, but missed birdie putts on the penultimate hole to hand the New Zealander top spot. Thompson's compatriot Cristie Kerr won the tournament by

Jason Bohn stared time and talent in the face in May at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, warming up for a possible playoff in the Crowne Plaza Invitational. Joining him was Jordan Spieth, the still 21-year-old Masters champion just six weeks removed from slipping on the green jacket. “He came up and said, ‘Nice playing, old man.’ ’’ Bohn told me last week from his home in the northern Atlanta suburbs. “I told him, ‘You know what? I’m twice your age, and you still couldn’t beat me this week.’ ” Bohn, 42, had reason to chirp. Playing as well as Spieth at least for that weekâ€"they ended up finishing tied for second, a stroke behind Chris Kirkâ€"was a good mark for the veteran to measure himself against. Jason Bohn's overhaul of his swing in 2012 has paid dividends for the journeyman PGA Tour. “Moments like that hit me,” Bohn said. “In golf, 42 doesn’t seem very old, but when you’re competing against guys 22 to 28 years old, it kind of is

On Monday, the USGA announced that beginning Jan. 1, 2016 scores shot while playing by yourself are no longer acceptable for handicap purposes. This is a dark day for people everywhere with vanity golf handicaps. Here's an explanation of the new policy: Playing alone and necessary peer review: To further support the key [USGA Handicap] System premise of peer review, scores made while playing alone will no longer be acceptable for handicap purposes. This change underscores the importance of providing full and accurate information regarding a player’s potential scoring ability, and the ability of other players to form a reasonable basis for supporting or disputing a posted score. (Section 5-1: Acceptability of Scores) Sure, we all have friends who just happen to always play their best when no one else was there, but this new rule produces a lot of questions. First off, doesn't this fly in the face of the notion that golf is a game of honor? Aren't golfers supposed to be tr

There is an odd dispute brewing in Bristol, Tenn., and neighboring Bristol, Va., between two golf courses over one word. And a trite word at that. The owner of the Olde Farm golf course on the Virginia side of Bristol has sued the owner of the Olde Tennessean Golf Club on the Tennessee side of Bristol. The dispute is over the word “Olde.” The Olde Farm golf course The Olde Farm owner is contending “trademark infringement, unfair competition, dilution and false designation of origin arising under Section 43 of the Trademark Act of 1946,” the Bristol Herald Courier reported last week . Now, the Olde Farm course is not old at all. It opened in 1999, though it was built on the site of an 18th-century farm. The course at the Olde Tennessean is old, built in 1894, but it was called Bristol Farms until new owners changed the name in July. However the dispute is resolved, let’s just stipulate that the use of “olde” in a golf course name has gotten old. There is Olde Oaks, not to

Lydia Ko didn't win the LPGA Tour's finale, but her T-7 was enough to come away with the season-long Race to the CME Globe title. Again. Meaning she walked away with the $1 Million bonus. Again. That's a lot of green for a teen. And this time, the 18-year-old phenom -- who also won her first Rolex Player of the Year Award -- celebrated by imitating Dr. Evil from Austin Powers : Not bad, especially considering Ko was only born a week before that movie came out. WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

Graeme McDowell got a lucky break when his errant tee shot on No. 7 during the final round of the RSM Classic hit off a fan's ankle and bounced back into the fairway. It wasn't as lucky for the Kisner family. For one, it didn't help Kevin Kisner, who G-Mac -- and the rest of the field -- is chasing. And it also hurt Mrs. Kisner. Literally. Christy Kisner, who is at Sea Island hoping to see her son win his first PGA Tour title, was the unlucky fan who got hit. Fortunately, Christy was OK, and G-Mac made light of the situation when he got to his ball: Of course, any pain will be lessened for Christy if Kevin comes away with the win. If G-Mac makes it back-to-back-victories, though, she should be prepared for a sarcastic, "Thanks a lot, mom." WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS

If you've ever watched the Open Championship, you've probably tried imitating Ivor Robson. Now you can hear some of the European Tour's biggest names announcing their own names in the cheery, high-pitched manner of the longtime starter. Robson is retiring after 41 years as the tour's official voice of the first tee and the European Tour made a fantastic tribute video for the popular man that includes appearances by Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, and Henrik Stenson. You'll laugh -- and you might even cry. Check it out: WATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS