Golf

"KOBE!!!!!"

That's how LPGA Tour star Jessica Korda celebrated an amazing chip shot on the golf course Wednesday ... and it was AWESOME!!

The 28-year-old was up near the green for her 3rd shot on the 17th hole during her 1st round at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii ... when she straight-up dunked her ball into the cup on the fly!!

Check out the clip ... the stroke was incredible -- her ball landed in the center of the hole from about 30 yards away -- giving her an eagle!!!

The best part? Korda celebrated immediately after the shot hit the plastic, flicking her wrist and yelling out, "Kobe!"

Of course, the celebration has been around for YEARS ... who hasn't thrown a ball of socks into a laundry basket and yelled out the NBA legend's name???

But, it's taken on a whole new meaning since Kobe Bryant tragically passed away last year ... and it's pretty incredible to see the honor still going on to this day.

Patrick Mahomes and Trevor Lawrence chopped it up at The Masters in Augusta on Thursday ... which begs the question -- what do two superstar QBs talk about?!

Which guy's gonna dominate the AFC?? How to win a Super Bowl?? Will Dustin Johnson bounce back from his +2 start??

The big-time signal-callers hit up Augusta National Golf Club to watch the opening round of the tournament ... and appeared to be having a great time together!!

Lawrence -- who's getting married to his longtime GF Marissa Mowry this weekend -- made one final quick trip with his fiancée before getting hitched ... and the couple spent some solid time with the Super Bowl LIV champ.

Mahomes -- who recently welcomed a daughter with fiancée Brittany Matthews in February -- was at the event with his bestie and teammate Travis Kelce for the ultimate bro sesh.

Nice to see the guys all hanging together ... but the friendliness may come to an end when Lawrence becomes a Jacksonville Jaguar later this month.

A tradition unlike any other turned into a pain unlike any other for Rory McIlroy's dad at The Masters on Thursday ... 'cause the dude got drilled in the leg by one of his son's wayward shots!!

The surreal moment all went down on the 7th hole of McIlroy's opening round ... when the golf superstar tried to bend a shot around a tree to hit the green from the rough.

The problem? McIlroy's approach never turned -- and it made a beeline right for his dad!!

Rory tried to give his pops a heads up ... he shouted "Fore right!" as soon as the ball left his clubface -- but it was too late, and just moments later, Gerry McIlroy's poor calf ate the golf ball.

Gerry was seen limping shortly after the strike ... but it seems he's OK -- 'cause he joked with reporters after the direct hit, "I should ask for an autographed glove."

The shot sucks for both McIlroys ... but Rory's currently got some bigger issues on his hands -- he's +3 through 10 so far, and a possible missed cut seems to be on the horizon.

The first responders who tended to Tiger Woods in the moments after his crash detailed the gruesome injuries in a newly released incident report ... and Tiger was even more banged up than we initially thought.

Under the section labeled "describe injuries," the first responders listed in graphic detail what they saw on Feb. 23 when they came upon Woods.

"Knocked unconscious, laceration to the lower front jaw, bruised right and left rib cage, fractured right tibia and fibula, possible right ankle injury."

Later in the report, there is more detail about the injury to Tiger's right leg -- "open fracture, mid shaft on his right leg, below knee."

As we previously reported, Woods was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for emergency treatment.

He was ultimately diagnosed with comminuted open fractures in his right leg -- meaning the bone was shattered in at least 2 places and broke through the skin.

Doctors used a rod, screws and pins to stabilize the injuries, according to Tiger's medical team.

Tiger's doctors also noted, "trauma to the muscle and soft-tissue of the leg required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling."

Woods was eventually transferred to Cedars Sinai in the weeks following the crash -- and was finally discharged and allowed to go home in mid-March.

Tiger has reportedly been recovering at one of his homes in Florida ever since.

As for his golf career, that's still up in the air -- some experts believe he can make a full recovery and play again. Others aren't as confident.

Tiger says he's "getting stronger every day" -- and it seems like he's focused on making a comeback at some point.

Tiger Woods' car crash was caused by excessive speed, but there may be more to the story that we may never know ... TMZ has learned.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. will release the findings of their investigation Wednesday morning.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Tiger was speeding when he lost control of his SUV and we're told the Sheriff is hanging the cause of the accident squarely on speed.

We're told the SUV's black box shows Tiger actually accelerated at the time of the crash. We're also told that just as Tiger lost control the SUV actually gained speed.

There's more ... law enforcement sources tell us, the Sheriff's Dept. did not get a warrant to check Tiger's cell phone to determine if he was on a call or texting at the time of the crash. Our sources say the Dept. felt it did not have probable cause to get a warrant for cell phone records, although that is often done in accident investigations.

Our sources say Tiger hit his head 3 to 4 times on something hard in the cabin.

As we previously reported, the Sheriff had said there was no evidence Tiger was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, although authorities never tried to get a warrant to draw blood. They say they did not have the necessary probable cause.

We're told there will be no charges filed or citations issued against Tiger.

As you know by now, Tiger was on his way to an L.A. golf course when he crashed his Genesis GV80 SUV down the side of a hill in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Tiger, who told first responders he had no recollection of the accident ... suffered major injuries to his right leg, and underwent surgery to repair the damage.

Tiger is out of the hospital and is back in Florida where he's recovering.

The reality of missing out on The Masters is settling in for Tiger Woods ... his golf pal, Justin Thomas, says the injured star is “bummed" to not be playing this weekend.

JT explained the situation to reporters at a news conference Tuesday ... saying Tiger just hit him up last week and expressed sadness over not being able to compete for his sixth green jacket.

"We texted Friday morning, and he said it's kind of starting to set in," Thomas revealed. "He's bummed he's not here playing practice rounds with us, and we hate it too."

Thomas -- who normally has all of his Masters practice rounds with Woods -- says he's visited Tiger several times in the past few weeks out in Florida.

JT didn't reveal how the recovery process is going for the 45-year-old ... but the fact that he's texting about golf appears to be at least a somewhat good sign he's on the mend.

As we previously reported, Woods suffered horrific leg injuries in a car crash in California on Feb. 23 ... and just returned to Florida from the hospital about 3 weeks ago.

He's not expected to make an appearance at this weekend's event -- a tourney he's DOMINATED over the years -- but some of the guys are still honoring him, nonetheless.

In addition to Thomas lamenting not being able to play with him this week ... Woods' other golf bud, Fred Couples, rocked a Tiger mask at the course Tuesday to show support.

"Not the same without you," Couples tweeted.

"I'd be in traction at a hospital if I tried this."

That's how one announcer described the insanity of Bryson DeChambeau's Master's prep on Monday ... and, yeah, it truly was THAT ridiculous!!!

Golf's maniacal 27-year-old star hit the practice range to prep for the PGA Tour's most prestigious tournament in Georgia this week ... and the guy just completely went off with his driver.

Check out the footage captured by Golf Channel ... Bryson was swinging so damn hard, fellow tour pro Vijay Singh could do nothing but sit and stare in awe!!

The swings were rapid-fire, too ... Bryson would destroy a golf ball to the moon and then immediately turn to his caddie for a reload!!!

"It's exhausting to watch," one announcer said of the routine.

It's unconventional for sure ... but it's worked for DeChambeau this year -- he's known as the longest driver on tour BY FAR, and he's one of the biggest favorites to win The Masters this weekend because of that power.

You've seen birdies and eagles on a golf course before ... but ever seen an eagle EAT a birdie on the links?!!?!

That's exactly what happened during some guy's round in Canada on Thursday ... when a bald eagle straight up hunted down a seagull and then ate it right next to a fairway!!!

The wild scene all went down out at Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver ... where a golfer decided to whip out his camera as an eagle was flying by.

What happened next was INSANE ... the eagle stalked a seagull -- tailing it at full speed, before it finally latched on to the bird with its razor-sharp talons.

The eagle took the 'gull to the ground ... then began eating it -- and eventually took off with the carcass like it was a small purse!!

The guys on the course were shocked by what they had just seen... with one of the guys saying, "That was crazy!"

By the way ... in case you were wondering, seagulls ARE actually a part of bald eagles' diets.

According to the National Eagle Center, the majestic beasts normally munch on fish, but smaller birds like seagulls and other mammals are often on the menu too.

Before you read this -- no, this ain't an April Fools' Joke!!

Golf superstar Brooks Koepka got on one knee and popped the question to his gorgeous GF Jena Sims ... and she said, "YES!!!"

... A MONTH AGO!!!

Of course, 30-year-old Brooks and 32-year-old Jena are known to have a good time and some lighthearted fun -- and their engagement announcement was no exception.

Living up to their steez, the couple decided to wait nearly a month to announce their plans to get hitched on the biggest "Fake News" day of the year -- April Fools' Day.

"Forever is no joke 💕," Jena captioned the photo of the proposal Thursday ... showing a huge diamond ring on ~that~ finger.

Sims revealed the actual date of the proposal on Instagram ... saying he popped the big Q in Jupiter, FL on March 3, 2021.

The current #8-ranked Koepka and Sims have been dating for around 4 years ... and their relationship burst onto the scene after he won the U.S. Open in 2017.

The investigators tasked with finding the cause of the Tiger Woods crash have determined the cause of the accident -- but they're not releasing the results, citing "privacy issues."

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed Wednesday the investigation into Woods stemming from the Feb. 23 crash has wrapped up -- but when pressed on the findings, he told the media he won't go public with the findings until he gets permission from Tiger's camp.

"A cause has been determined, the investigation has concluded," Villanueva said.

"We have reached out to Tiger Woods and his personnel ... There's some privacy issues on releasing information on the investigation so we're going to ask them if they waive the privacy and then we will be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident."

Villanueva did not expand on why he would need Tiger's permission to release the info.

As we previously reported ... the investigation had unearthed some troubling evidence after law enforcement sources told us they believed Tiger never hit the brakes as he spun off the road. We were also told there was no evidence he took his foot off the gas either.

We were told investigators believed Tiger did nothing to prevent the crash once he lost control of his expensive SUV rental. Our sources had said before Tiger got to the scene of the crash he had been driving "normal" and not speeding. Evidence indicated he accelerated and was speeding when he lost control.

As we reported, the Sheriff's Dept. said Tiger told one of the first responders he had no recollection of the accident. Even still ... the Sheriff said almost immediately after the crash there was no evidence of impaired driving nor any evidence of alcohol. That being said ... the Sheriff also never attempted to get a warrant to draw blood to test for medications and was adamant Tiger wouldn't face criminal charges for the crash.

Tiger, of course, suffered major injuries in the single-car crash -- like major damage to his right leg, comminuted open fractures to both his upper and lower tibia and fibula -- which required emergency surgery.

The Tiger Woods crash investigation has unearthed some troubling evidence ... because law enforcement sources tell us they believe Tiger never hit the brakes as he careened off the road and there's no evidence he took his foot off the gas either.

The investigation has been going full steam since the accident nearly a month ago. The Sheriff's Dept. has been looking at the SUV, the crash site and many other pieces of evidence. They are also retrieving data from the SUV's black box. So far, we're told investigators believe Tiger did nothing to prevent the crash once he lost control of the vehicle.

Sources with direct knowledge say investigators have looked at various videos ... from the hotel where he started the ill-fated drive to various surveillance cameras along the way.

We're told before Tiger got to the scene of the crash he had been driving "normal" and not speeding, but the evidence indicates he accelerated and was speeding when he lost control.

As we reported, the Sheriff's Dept. says Tiger told one of the first responders he had no recollection of the accident.

This all leads to the question -- Could Tiger have lost consciousness just before the crash?

The Sheriff said almost immediately after the crash there was no evidence of impaired driving and there was no evidence of alcohol. That said, the Sheriff never attempted to get a warrant to draw blood in order to test for medications.

Tiger was recovering from back surgery at the time of the crash, and had been hosting a golf tournament -- he couldn't play because of his back.

Tiger Woods is finally out of the hospital and recovering at home -- and assuring his fans he's "getting stronger every day."

"Happy to report that I am back home and continuing my recovery," Woods said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

"I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that I have received over the past few weeks."

"Thank you to the incredible surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Cedars Sinai Medical Center. You have all taken such great care of me and I cannot thank you enough."

Tiger continued, "I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day."

The 45-year-old golfer suffered major damage to his right leg during a Feb. 23 car crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes area of Los Angeles.

Woods suffered comminuted open fractures to both his upper and lower tibia and fibula -- which required emergency surgery.

Doctors at Harbor-UCLA used a rod to stabilize the leg and screws to treat Tiger's badly damaged ankle.

He was moved to Cedars Sinai in the days following the crash where he continued his care.

Cops opened an investigation into the accident but officials say there were no obvious signs that Tiger was under the influence of any substance at the time of the crash.

Woods was in town for his Genesis Open golf tournament -- and had stuck around after it concluded to shoot promo videos with celebrities like Dwyane Wade and David Spade for Golf.com.

Tiger Woods is back in the video game business -- signing a HUGE new contract with 2K to appear in its PGA Tour game franchise.

So, yeah ... YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PLAY AS TIGER WOODS AGAIN!!

This is massive news for the guy who was once the king of golf video games!!!

Remember, Tiger dominated the gaming world with his Tiger Woods PGA Tour games from 1999 to 2013 -- but hasn't taken a swing in the digital space since.

That's changing though ... 2K announced Tuesday morning it signed Tiger to an "exclusive, long-term partnership" -- in which he will also serve as an "executive director" for its PGA Tour game franchise.

The deal means Tiger's image and likeness can be used in all PGA Tour 2K golf games.

Tiger -- who's still recovering from a bad February car crash -- issued a statement on the deal ... saying, "I am looking forward to making my return to the video game landscape, and with 2K and HB Studios, I’ve found the right partners to make it happen."

"I'm honored to take part in this opportunity and look forward to sharing my expertise and insights as we build the future of golf video games together."

Two months after muttering an anti-gay slur on the golf course ... Justin Thomas was back holding up a trophy -- winning the Players Championship on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.

The 27-year-old lost several major sponsors -- including Ralph Lauren -- back in January after television mics caught him using the f-word during a round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Thomas had missed a 5-foot putt ... and, as he kicked the ensuing shot into the hole, he said "f*****" under his breath.

Thomas later called the incident "inexcusable" and apologized ... saying, "It's terrible. I'm extremely embarrassed. It's not who I am; it's not the kind of person that I am or anything that I do."

A few weeks later in February, Justin lost his grandpa, who died at 89 years old ... and then also nearly lost his good pal, Tiger Woods, in a terrifying car crash just weeks after that.

Thomas -- who had intended to enter a "training program" to learn from the anti-gay slur incident -- said all of it had tested him "mentally, physically, emotionally."

But, Thomas finally put everything behind him this weekend ... and used a monster 4th-round Sunday to hold off stars like Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau to earn the PGA Tour win.

"It’s been a crappy couple of months," Thomas said Sunday. "I’ve had stuff happen in my life I never thought I’d have happen."

Thomas added, "I kept telling everyone on my team or my family I’m ready for something good to happen this year."

Rory McIlroy -- one of Tiger Woods' best friends on the PGA Tour -- says Tiger is "doing better" after his horrific car crash ... and could be discharged from the hospital in the next week or so.

McIlroy made the revelation on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday ... saying he's spoken with Tiger since the 45-year-old was seriously injured in a rollover crash on Feb. 23 -- and is getting positive news from the golf legend.

"He's doing better," Rory told Fallon ... "Hopefully if things go well over the next week or so he might be able to get home and start recovery at home."

It'd be great news for Woods ... Tiger's right leg was severely broken in the accident -- requiring multiple procedures to fix the issues since.

McIlroy, though, said Woods has been in good spirits during his recovery ... even sending Rory encouragement -- and even some friendly trash talk -- over his performance at this past weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida.

"Even from the hospital bed," McIlroy said with a smile, "he's still giving me some heat."

Tiger has not spoken publicly since Feb. 28 -- when he thanked the pro golfers, including McIlory, who paid homage to him by wearing red and black during their rounds.

Jordan Spieth -- one of the best golfers on the planet -- paused his practice round Tuesday to hear a speech about him from a child fan ... and the adorable scene was all caught on video!!

Spieth had been working his way around the TPC Sawgrass course in Florida in preparation for this week's PGA Tour event ... when out of nowhere, a little kid caught the 27-year-old's attention.

"Hey, Jordan!" the child yelled. "I'm doing a report on you at school, do you want to hear my speech?"

Jordan -- one of the sweetest guys on Tour -- obliged ... and then the kid delivered greatness!!

For around a minute, the child recited fact after fact about Jordan ... missing no details and not stumbling a single time -- and Jordan LOVED IT!!!

When the kid finished, everyone clapped ... and Spieth hooked him up with a signed ball and a glove!!

Unclear what the kid scored on his class project ... but we're guessing an A was given.

Because, come on, did you see the Masters outfit he wore for the classroom address???