PGA

Chicks. DUI. Chicks. Injuries. Chicks. Donald Trump. Chicks. Chicks. Chicks.

Tiger Woods has had A LOT of drama over the years ... but Common says he's incredibly proud of the guy for fighting through it all and finally WINNING again!

"Tiger, we happy for that brother," Common told us outside Delilah in L.A.

"It's something when you go through some stuff and we all recognize that and honor that."

In fact, the hip-hop legend seems to think Woods will have even more success in the future -- and says everything he's been through (a whole Hooters, basically) will make him stronger.

The links wasn't the only place Tiger won. He shook hands with Big Boi from Outkast and shocked the entire Internet -- watch below and you'll be amazed too.

Two of the greatest winners in pro sports couldn't pull it off today ... with Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods LOSING a PGA Pro-Am to a team led by Phil Mickelson.

Tiger and Peyton (and 2 other guys) were teamed up at The Memorial Pro-Am Tournament in Dublin, Ohio on Wednesday ... where they faced off with Phil's foursome.

PGA officials tell us ... Tiger's team finished 2 under par -- while Phil's team finished 7 under.

Still, both Tiger and Peyton hit some pretty decent shots during the tourney ... and Tiger even gave away one of his golf balls to a little girl in the crowd!

Saquon Barkley has a problem that only Tiger Woods can fix -- he sucks at golf.

Well, maybe "sucks" is a strong word ... but the NY Giants stud rookie running back knows he needs a lot of help on the links and thinks Tiger is just the man for the job.

You've probably seen the pics of Barkley on the course ... dude looks like a monster with a club -- and he's revealing his new nickname, "Thigh-ger Woods."

"I need some lessons," Barkley joked to TMZ Sports ... "I need more than some lessons!"

There's more ... Barkley -- who just became a first-time dad -- also talked about being a parent.

But between changing diapers and training with the Giants ... good luck finding time to golf!!!

PGA star Bubba Watson says President Trump will get crushed if they ever play golf again, because Bubba gives NO ONE -- and he means NO ONE -- a free ride on the links, even the Commander-in-Chief.

We got Bubba out in NYC and asked if he ever played with Trump, which he told our guy he did ... way BEFORE Trump moved into the White House.

"2006. I met him on his gold course and played a couple holes with him."

We had to ask Bubba, now that Trump's the top man, do you maybe drop a few holes so the leader of the free world feels good about himself?

"No, I would never let him win. If he beats me he beats me. No not at all, 'cause then I could tell everybody I beat the President."

O.J. Simpson has served his time and has every right to be out on a golf course, so says PGA legend Gary Player who says he'd definitely play 18 with The Juice.

"He served his term," Player told us at LAX ... "When a man has served his term, he must be forgiven. He must go ahead now and live his life."

The 81-year-old hall of famer also doesn't understand why people have been blowing off golf outings with President Donald Trump ... saying golf should NOT be about political views.

DON'T BLAME JASON DAY for not protecting his wife from that crazy collision with LeBron James at the Cavs game ... so says Jason's mother-in-law who says they're all just glad Ellie's okay.

Ellie Day suffered a concussion and was carried out of the arena on a stretcher after James accidentally ran into her at the game ... while she and her pro golf star hubby were courtside.

Some critics have gone after Jason -- saying he should have done SOMETHING to shield her from the blow ... but Ellie's mom says it's wrong to point the finger at Jason.

"I don't blame [Jason] at all," Lucy Knapp tells TMZ Sports.

"I love Jason very much. He's a wonderful father and husband. He also a great son-in-law. He cares about his family very much."

"I just thank God that she's okay."

Lucy says she cried when she saw the incident on television and refuses to watch the replays -- but says Ellie appears to be doing well and is now resting and recovering at home.

Tiger Woods says he STRONGLY regrets lying to his ex-wife about all the cheating back in the day -- but says they've moved past it ... and now Elin Nordegren is "one of my best friends."

The golfer opened up to Time Magazine ... saying if he could change anything about 2009 ... "it would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife."

Of course, Elin kicked Tiger to the curb that year after learning he had been banging an army of skeezers behind her back.

But now, Tiger says he's busted his ass ... and worked hard to rebuild his relationship with the mother of his 2 children.

"Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends. We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then."

When asked if there was anything he would've done differently ... Woods said, "When it comes down to it, right down to it, it’s just having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife when we were married."

"Our frustrations would have come out if we had talked about it and been open and honest with each other. Which we are now, and it’s absolutely fantastic."

Woods says he's already spoken with his kids about why he and Elin are no longer together -- explaining, "Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes."

The PGA Championship was hit by tragedy -- a Sheriff's K-9 overheated in a patrol car and died in the line of duty.

PGA golfer Steve Elkington is getting hammered on Twitter right now ... after making a joke about Michael Sam throwing a purse at the NFL combine.

The 51-year-old Australian -- who won the PGA championship in '95 -- wrote, "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine ... No one else expected to throw today."

Moments after the tweet, the backlash began ... with Steve's followers going off on the golfer. Here's a sample:

-- "You are TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOUR PUBLICIST keeps his job aren't you?? Good luck motherf*ker. See your apology at 11 on ESPN."

-- "BREAKING: Irrelevant golfer makes awful joke"

-- "Homophobia is hilarious (to a sh*tty old white dude)."

-- "let me get this straight - a golfer is making jokes about a football player's manliness?"

There's more ... but you get the point.

Paulina Gretzky's engagement is great news ... for one man -- that golfer dude who snagged the Great One. Sorry, we mean ... the Great One's daughter.

The rest of us are stuck with the Internet ... which, luckily, is laced with absurdly hot Paulina pics.

As if the world wasn't bad enough ... smokin' hot Paulina Gretzky has dashed the hopes and dreams of men worldwide ... by getting ENGAGED to pro-golfer Dustin Johnson.

Paulina announced the terrible news on Instagram Saturday -- posting a pic of the giant diamond rock on her ring finger, captioned "Never been happier."

The couple has only been dating since early 2013 -- but, really, who wouldn't lock that down?

Now, a final farewell, to Paulina's almost-hitched assets ...

Jason Dufner knows he's scoring way over his head -- not by winning the PGA Championship, but by landing his smoking hot wife ... and he's not shy about it.

Jason's been the talk of the sports world ever since his lady, Amanda Dufner (who's kinda Evangeline Lilly-ish), joined him on the 18th green last Sunday to celebrate his first victory in a major tournament.

Duf -- who won't be confused with golf studs Adam Scott or Dustin Johnson -- was in NYC on Tuesday when we asked what everyone's been thinking: How did YOU score HER?

It was posed more delicately than that, but check out JD's answer ... you gotta love this guy!

77-year-old pro golfer Gary Player didn't do a lick of extra training for his naked debut as the oldest man ever in ESPN's "Body Issue" -- dude says he's been in tip-top shape since birth ... aka the '30s ... yeah, he's that old.

Gary tells TMZ, “I did not do anything special for the shoot" ... other than busting his hump working outdoors on his farm in South Africa everyday for a few months prior to dropping trou for ESPN.

He added, "I was already relaxed, tanned and ready to go.”

Before Gary flashed the family jewels for the shoot 2 weeks ago in Miami ... he says ESPN treated him like a king and provided a serious spread of his fav foods -- including crudités, fresh fruit, hummus, salad, and herbal tea. No wonder GP's in great shape.

As for the whole naked thing, Gary says it didn't bother him one bit -- "I was relaxed and confident in my own skin to do this."

US Open winner Justin Rose -- the first English golfer to win the tournament in 43 years -- definitely isn't Jewish ... because he celebrated his historic victory last night with the least Kosher meal of all-time.

The owner of The Gypsy Saloon in West Conshohocken, PA, tells TMZ, 32-year-old Rose and his crew dropped by last night after he took the title -- beating out Phil Mickelson by two shots -- and ate "like a king."

We're told the kitchen had been closed for hours by the time Rose and his team got there, but the owner fired everything back up just for the new champ ... dishing out heaping plates of lobster mac and cheese, strawberry and caprese salad, calamari, wings, NY strip steak, chicken, pasta, and eggplant rolls.

No surprise, we're told Rose was in great spirits the entire meal -- chatting up the waitresses and other customers -- and the champagne did flow.

We're told Rose was with a party of 6 (including his wife) and the bill came to $550 ... plus a "very generous" tip. The trophy didn't leave his side for a second.

As for Tiger Woods ... dude didn't even crack the top 10.

Adam Scott won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this afternoon with former Tiger Woods caddie Steve Williams on his bag ... while Tiger finished tied for 37th.

Afterward, Williams called it "the best win of my life."

It all went down at the Dubai Desert Classic -- and after the incident, golf officials announced Woods would be fined for breaching the tour code of conduct.

So far, no word on how much cash Tiger will have to cough up for the spit shot.