AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – His handshake is firm, like a coal miner’s. His memory razor-sharp.

When Arnold Palmer reaches out to take your hand it is swallowed in a meaty grip. It is the firm and assured handshake of a young man.

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 11 (Reuters) – His handshake is firm, like a coal miner’s. His memory razor-sharp.

When Arnold Palmer reaches out to take your hand it is swallowed in a meaty grip. It is the firm and assured handshake of a young man.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – For 80 years a defiant Augusta National Golf Club had nothing to say about its male-only membership policy.

But on the eve the 2013 Masters, the club’s chairman had just one word to describe the decision last August to finally open its doors to women.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Phil Mickelson has always been a magician on the golf course but sounded more like a mad scientist on Tuesday discussing his creation the ‘Phrankenwood’ he is about to unleash on Augusta National.

The hugely popular Mickelson will never be mistaken for Dr. Frankenstein but his monster club, described as a “souped up three-wood/driver combo”, is designed to strike fear into fellow golfers as he chases a fourth Masters title.

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Millions of Americans were glued to their television sets on Monday to witness Louisville beat Michigan in the college basketball championship game but the thrill was largely lost on the rest of the world.

The month-long orgy of college hoops culminates with the Final Four, one of the biggest events on the U.S. sporting calendar, but had it not been for a gruesome broken leg, interest in the tournament would have remained firmly within American borders.

ATLANTA, April 9 (Reuters) – Millions of Americans were glued to their television sets on Monday to witness Louisville beat Michigan in the college basketball championship game but the thrill was largely lost on the rest of the world.

The month-long orgy of college hoops culminates with the Final Four, one of the biggest events on the U.S. sporting calendar, but had it not been for a gruesome broken leg, interest in the tournament would have remained firmly within American borders.

By Steve Keating

(Reuters) – Those expecting to see the old Tiger Woods back on the prowl chasing a fifth Masters title among the azaleas and majestic Georgia pines at Augusta National next week are surely to be left disappointed.

That is because this is the new Tiger Woods, complete with a new swing, new love interest and new attitude.

April 4 (Reuters) – While Augusta National is a magical place, the so-called ‘Cathedral of Pines’ does not possess the reputed healing power of Lourdes, although Mike Weir is proof that golfing miracles do happen among the idyllic dogwoods and azaleas.

The little lefty from Canada came out of nowhere to win the Masters in 2003 but has won little since and after three barren, injury-ravaged years returns to Augusta next week searching for divine intervention.

April 4 (Reuters) – Bubba Watson has a green jacket and owns Tiger Woods’s former home, but aside from their taste in sport coats and houses that is where the similarities between the Masters champions ends.

While the reclusive Woods protects his privacy, the happy-go-lucky Watson is living the American dream in full view of a captivated audience via Twitter, YouTube and mainstream media.

TORONTO (Reuters) – After a quiet start, the National Hockey League (NHL) trade deadline day came alive with a flurry of deals at the final buzzer on Wednesday as teams made final preparations for a Stanley Cup run.

A total of 17 deals involving 30 players and 14 draft picks were consummated, most coming moments before the 3:00 p.m. deadline, saving what was shaping up as deadline day dud for Canada’s three all-sports TV networks that had dedicated an entire day’s programming to tracking trades.