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Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth blast Riviera’s ‘horrible’ 273-yard par 3

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Rory McIlroy gave a short reply to his thoughts on the lengthening of Riviera Country Club’s par-3 fourth hole to more than 270 yards.

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“I actually think it’s a horrible change,” he said.

Not a lot of love for a hole that Ben Hogan once called “the greatest par 3 in America.”

Why such a harsh assessment on stretching the famed hole, part of Hogan’s Alley, to 273 yards on the scorecard, some 40 yards from a year ago? “Well, like 15 percent of the field hit the green last time when it was played at its original yardage at 230,” McIlroy said ahead of the 2026 Genesis Invitational.

It does seem a bit silly given that in 2024, the most recent playing at Riviera due to last year’s wildfires in the area that shifted the event to San Diego’s Torrey Pines, No. 4 played as the third toughest hole on the course.

The 72-man signature event field played the hole in 49-over par for the week and managed just 11 birdies.

“Like, if you want it to be a 275-yard par-3, you have to change the apron leading up onto the green. It can’t be kikuyu, it has to be another type of grass that can help you run it onto the green because again, in the right conditions, you try to fly that ball on the green with a 3-iron, it’s going to land, it’s going to finish up on the fifth tee box. That’s sort of what I mean by why it’s not a great change.”

Jordan Spieth went a step further. “It’s the only weak spot on the course, in my opinion,” he told Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine.

The hole is course designer George Thomas’s take on the Redan hole at North Berwick in Scotland, one of the most replicated holes in golf. The term Redan originates from a French word for part of a fortification, and the green at such a hole is usually well protected. Typically, the green slopes from the front right to back left, calling for a draw to make best use of the slopes while a reverse Redan calls for a fade.

“It’s too soft, unfortunately, to have a lot of control to say, man, I’m going to play a tight 5-iron and run it up. I think a lot of us play it left to chip uphill, but with a 3-wood in hand, that cart path on the left, honestly, comes into play because the dispersion just gets that much bigger,” Collin Morikawa said. “It’ll be very interesting. I think it’s just a very long par 3. There’s not a lot of thought to it other than just kind of hitting the green and moving on, unfortunately.”

That’s what reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, who striped a 3-wood to the right edge and fed it down to about 6 feet did during his practice round.

Asked about what was so hard about that, Spaun said, “Because it’s

It starts to matter on Thursday and that’s when the players will really start barking about what they really think of the hole.

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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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