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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...