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Justin Rose struggles to keep his cool in the heat but Masters dream lives on

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Three-time runner-up throws his putter after missing birdie chance on the 4th as he seeks Augusta glory after long wait

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Hot days and hard greens at the Masters. It was up in the mid- 80s by lunchtime on Friday, and that was if you were underneath the trees with a Georgia peach ice-cream sandwich. Out there on the other side of the ropes it looked a whole lot hotter again. The world’s best golfers sweated away chasing after Rory McIlroy’s lead in conditions which, they all agreed, could yet get as tough as they come at Augusta National. By midway through the afternoon McIlroy loomed over the tournament like the Augusta sun, and you worried players who made the mistake of looking right at the big white leaderboards might burn their eyes on the numbers he was running up.

A way up ahead along the course, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth were each doing their best to just stay focused on their own game. There was a time, and not so long ago, when both Spieth and Koepka had a claim to be even better than the man they were now trailing, and Rose, of course, played one of the very best rounds of his life to finish runner-up to McIlroy here last year. They have won nine majors between the three of them, but with McIlroy in this sort of form, it was hard work just to stay within a short iron’s distance of him over the weekend.

After an hour all three were bunched together on one under par, four shots off McIlroy’s overnight lead. Spieth had made up a shot with an improbable birdie at the 1st after lumping his opening drive into the fairway bunker, Rose had dropped one at the same hole after he three-putted from the fringe, and so had Koepka, who then made two strokes back again with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd. That meant all three were in the sort of position where they were thinking about making a run.

 

By the end of the day Rose was five under, tied for fourth place. Koepka was two shots behind him, in 13th. He put a lot of his improvement down to the fact that he’d accidentally had the wrong settings on his driver during the opening day’s play. Then there was Spieth, and, well, you needed to scroll a way down the pages to find him. He finished one over par, back among the also-here-this-years.

While Spieth zigzagged around the course, Rose just kept plugging away along the fairways. After dropping that shot at the 1st, he covered the next five holes in even par, as if, regretting that early mistake, he was determined not to even attempt anything that might cause him to make another one until he had steadied himself again. If you needed an idea of just how tough it was out there Rose, usually as imperturbable as a butler, ended up tossing his club after he missed his birdie putt on the 4th.

Rose knows that it pays to be patient, and he regathered himself. His first birdie of the day finally came at the 7th, and after that they rushed in a flurry as he made the turn. He was kicked into it by a long back-and-forth with his caddie about exactly what sort of shot he should play at the 9th. “I really wanted to hit nine iron in there, and the wind wasn’t fitting that club, and I just didn’t really want to hit eight iron in there because I felt like it was going to skip through the green,” he explained. “So I was really trying to bide my time and wait for that little moment where I could commit to the nine-iron. It was a great moment where I was able to get it quite close to the hole and make birdie.”

Rose followed it with a pair of spectacular approach shots at the 10th and 11th, both of them to within a few feet of the pin. There was a bogey at the 12th but he made it back at the 15th.

 

Given that Rose has finished as the runner-up here in three different years, and lost two playoffs doing it, there are a lot of people out here pulling for him. There have been so many sentimental bets, at comparatively long odds, that the only people who don’t want to see him get it done are the bookmakers. He tries not to think about it. “Of course I want to win this tournament. I don’t really need to try any harder; know what I mean? I think trying harder ain’t going to help me. So that’s probably the dance I’m doing with myself. I know the intrinsic motivation is there. It’s about execution.”

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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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