SI:AM | Tiger Finishes With a Bang

Plus, our first NFL mock draft of the offseason.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Just a PSA: Tiger Woods should be teeing off right around the time this email hits your inbox. Also, we’ll be off Monday for a long weekend. Enjoy tomorrow’s weekend edition, and we’ll check back in Tuesday.

In today’s SI:AM:

🐅 Tiger finishes with a flurry

🎷 Lauri Markkanen on his career year

🔮 Three QBs in the top 10

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He’s still got it

Nearly 30 years after his professional debut, the golf world still stops in its tracks to watch Tiger Woods.

Woods plays a limited schedule these days after a February 2021 car crash that severely injured his right leg but was back on the course yesterday near Los Angeles at the Genesis Invitational to play his first stroke-play event since July’s Open Championship.

And how did he do? He closed out his round with three straight birdies to post a two-under 69, putting him in a tie for 27th. (You can check out the highlights of his round here.)

Woods was placed in a star-studded threesome with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy and even though both players scored better than he did, it was Woods who stole the show, Bob Harig writes. Here’s how Woods summed up his round:

“Ebbs and flows,” Woods said. “It was nice that I had this unbelievable pairing, two great guys, two great friends. The people were obviously very supportive, they were just cheering all of us on, which is great. Just made this whole—this tournament better.

“I happened to actually hit some good shots finally and made a couple putts. Even though I had a little mishap at 10, I was able to fight back and get it going. It was a nice finish.”

We’ve seen Woods post a few strong rounds in his limited appearances since the crash. He shot a 71 at the 2022 Masters and a 69 in the second round of last year’s PGA Championship. But he’s typically struggled as weeks have progressed. In three weekend rounds since his comeback, he’s a combined 21 over par. That’s not a surprise. Woods has been frank about the challenges of walking the course on his surgically repaired leg, so it makes sense that he would struggle when forced to put the leg to the test for four straight days.

But Tiger’s mobility looked better yesterday. Harig wrote that Woods played “without the grimacing that he became accustomed to last year.” Still, today’s round could be a tough one for him. It’ll be a short turnaround from yesterday’s late tee time before he tees off at 7:25 a.m. PT, which will mean an early wakeup call to get his body ready for his round. Chilly temperatures (it’s forecasted to be in the upper 40s when he tees off) might also pose a problem for his surgically repaired back. His good round yesterday gave him a nice cushion in terms of trying to make the cut, though. Tiger’s infrequent appearances are a special occasion at this point in his career, so hopefully he makes it to the weekend.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Kevin Hanson has a post–Super Bowl mock draft in today’s Daily Cover story, featuring three quarterbacks going early.
• The Jazz are still a playoff contender thanks to the unexpected emergence of Lauri Markkanen, Rohan Nadkarni writes.
• Stephanie Apstein checks in from Angels camp, where pending free agent Shohei Ohtani was mum about his future.
• Albert Breer’s latest mailbag includes questions about the 49ers’ quarterback situation, the Chiefs’ offensive line and more.
• Chris Mannix was in Phoenix for Kevin Durant’s first press conference with the Suns, but in reality the event was far from a normal media availability.
• Durant’s arrival has instilled confidence in the Suns’ fan base, with postseason ticket prices jumping 156% after his blockbuster trade to Phoenix.
• Tom Verducci pays tribute to Tim McCarver, who died yesterday.
• LeBron James has a good feeling about the revamped Lakers.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo injured his wrist and might miss the All-Star Game.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Kraken rookie Matty Beniers’s goal on the rush. He leads all rookies with 18 goals this season.

4. Big Brent Burns’s stickhandling, leading to an assist.

3. Damaria Franklin’s game-winning layup for Memphis with seven seconds left against UCF. It was the only shot the Tigers attempted in the final five minutes.

2. Maryland fans’ storming the court after handing No. 3 Purdue its second straight loss.

1. Olivia Miles’s buzzer beater for Notre Dame against Louisville.

SIQ

On this day in 1927, days after being purchased by Conn Smythe, the Toronto Maple Leafs played their first game under their current nickname. What was the team called during the first part of that season?

• Arenas
• St. Patricks
• Huskies
• Nationals

Yesterday’s SIQ: Jerome Bettis, who turned 51 yesterday, is best known for his time with the Steelers but was originally drafted by the Rams. How many draft picks did Pittsburgh give up when it acquired him in 1996?

• 2
• 4
• 6
• 8

Answer: 2. A second- and fourth-round pick. That was it for Bettis and a third-round pick. The Rams took Bettis with the 10th pick in the 1993 draft, and he rushed for 1,429 yards as a rookie, earning him the Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Pro honors. But after a down season in ’95 (183 carries for 637 yards), the Rams were looking to move on from Bettis. He went on to have six more 1,000-yard seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

The Rams were eager to send Bettis elsewhere because they were high on a running back prospect in that year’s draft: Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips. While Phillips’s talent was undeniable (he averaged 6.2 yards per carry in three seasons with the Huskers), serious concerns about his character had led some teams to take him off their draft boards. In September 1995, Phillips was arrested after attacking his former girlfriend, dragging her down a flight of stairs after breaking into quarterback Scott Frost’s apartment. Phillips was suspended by coach Tom Osborne but reinstated six weeks later.

The Rams ignored the red flags and took Phillips with the No. 6 pick, then traded Bettis to Pittsburgh later on draft day.

Phillips played just 25 games with the Rams before he was released. Phillips was fined some 50 times during his Rams career for missing meetings, but the final straw was showing up to a game hungover. Phillips, who struggled throughout his life with alcoholism, was sentenced to 31 years in jail in 2009 for driving a car into three teenagers as well as assaulting a former girlfriend. In April ’15, his cellmate was found choked to death in their cell. Phillips was set to stand trial for the man’s death when he died by suicide in prison in January ’16.