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I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do – McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy says he has “earned the right to do whatever I want to do” after skipping media interviews following his opening two rounds of what he called a “pretty average” US Open performance.

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The Masters champion spoke to the media for the first time since the tournament started after Saturday’s four-over 74 pushed him back to 10 over par after three rounds.

McIlroy said he hoped Sunday’s final round will be a case of taking “four and a half hours and out of here” to put a disappointing week behind him.

The 36-year-old has cut a frustrated figure throughout the tournament at Oakmont, only just making the halfway cut on Friday.

And, after Saturday’s round, he said making himself less available to some sections of the media is partly due to a leaked story surrounding his driver before last month’s US PGA Championship.

It emerged the United States Golf Association (USGA) instructed McIlroy to change the club just two days before the event after an equipment inspection deemed it ‘non-conforming’.

There was no suggestion that McIlroy had done anything wrong with regards to his driver and he is not contractually obliged to speak to the media at events.

“It’s just frustration with you guys [some sections of the media],” the Northern Irishman said in his first post-round interview at a major since winning the Masters at Augusta in April.

“I have been totally available for the past number of years,” McIlroy added. “That [driver issue] was a part of it but at Augusta I skipped you guys on Thursday. It’s not out of the ordinary as I’ve done it before, but I am doing it a little more often. I feel like I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do.”

The Oakmont course has proved to be a challenge for the entire field and, although McIlroy has been happy with some aspects of his game, retaining focus has been an issue at times.

“The name of the game this week is staying patient and I’ve tried to do a good job of it out there, but it’s just one of those golf courses where you can lose patience pretty quickly,” he said.

“I have driven the ball as good for a long time, so that’s a positive from this week. I was hoping to play better, but didn’t.”

A course where the tiniest mistakes get penalised a lot’

McIlroy said he has felt “a little bit flat on the golf course” since his Masters triumph in April, which saw him become the sixth player to complete a career Grand Slam of winning all four majors.

Naturally, he is keen to achieve further success, but knew from his slow start to Friday’s second round that any chance of collecting a second major of the year this week was gone. Throwing a club in anger on the 12th fairway and smashing a tee box marker with his club on the 17th tee showed the frustrations he was feeling with his game.

But with the shackles off a little, he produced a good finish to squeeze into the weekend action, but was unable to carry that into Saturday as he finished four over for the day.

McIlroy acknowledged anything short of a top performance would be punished on the course.

“It’s much easier when you’re on the cut line when you don’t really care if you’re here for the weekend or not,” he added of Friday’s effort.

“I was thinking, ‘do I want another two days here or not?’, but it makes it easier to play when you’re in that mindset.

“I’ve certainly experienced times when I haven’t played the way I wanted to. I actually feel like I’ve played OK this week, but it’s just the sort of golf course where the tiniest mistakes get penalised a lot and that’s how it’s felt.

“You’ve got to be on every single shot and if you miss a fairway, you’re going to be scrambling for par. If you miss your landing spot by a couple of yards, these greens repel the ball into rough and it just makes things very tricky, so you’ve got to be on your game.”

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Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

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The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

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With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

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Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

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Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

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It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

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Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

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It looks like LIV Golf is over.

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The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

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