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Rory McIlroy conquers a ‘cathedral’ at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

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Leading by three strokes, Rory McIlroy was able to enjoy one of golf’s most spectacular walks. As a student of the game’s history, he could appreciate each step’s significance.

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He started to stroll along the famed stretch of California coastline called the “most felicitous meeting of land and sea” while his second shot was still airborne. He had removed his hat before both his playing competitors had hit their shots to the final green.

McIlroy, 35, had won at one of golf’s most historic venues and done so in a dominating fashion that removed any stress from the final hole.

There’s a few what I would call ‘cathedrals of golf,’” McIlroy said Sunday after his victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “Here, Augusta, St. Andrews, obviously. Maybe a few more you could add in there. And I had a big fat zero on all of those going in here. So to knock one off of Pebble is very cool.”

That stress-free par on Pebble Beach’s famous par-5 finisher – McIlroy hit iron off the tee and laid up with his second shot – gave him a 72-hole score of 21-under 267 (66-70-65-66), good for a two-shot victory over his good friend Shane Lowry. Lucas Glover and Justin Rose tied for third, three shots back.

This was the 27th victory of McIlroy’s PGA TOUR career, and the second in his past three worldwide starts. He closed 2024 with a win at the DP World Tour Championship, then started this year by finishing T3 again in Dubai.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was McIlroy’s second event of the year and PGA TOUR debut for 2025. Before the tournament, he discussed his appreciation for Scottie Scheffler’s success in 2024 and Scheffler’s seemingly unmatched propensity for shooting bogey-free rounds. McIlroy is arguably the most successful player of his generation but even he admitted that it was a skill that he would like to emulate more often in the new year.

“When one of your peers has the year he had last year, and honestly the year like he had in ‘23 as well, you start to take notice of what is he doing and what has … helped him separate himself from the rest of the field,” McIlroy said. His analysis of Scheffler’s game inspired McIlroy to be more conservative with club selection off the tee and targets into the greens.

“There’s impulses that I have on the golf course that it looks like Scottie doesn’t have,” the famously-aggressive McIlroy said with a smile. McIlroy also shored up his short game, an underrated contributor to Scheffler’s success.

McIlroy debuted a new model of golf ball this week, as well, one that flies slightly lower to give him more control on his approach shots, then displayed its benefits in a first-round 66 that featured an ace from 119 yards that flew directly into the hole. McIlroy almost holed another wedge shot on his final hole Thursday, as well. He said that his increased confidence with his wedges allows him to heed the advice of sports psychologist Bob Rotella and “take dead aim” with his scoring clubs while playing it safer with longer irons.

McIlroy shot 70 in the second round and then thrived when Pebble Beach displayed some of the nasty winter weather that it is known for. His 65 in the wind and rain tied Lowry for the low round of the day. McIlroy called it a “really good poor-weather performance” and his performance on Pebble Beach’s difficult seaside stretch – he played Nos. 6-10 in 1 under par – displayed his ability to control his ball in the wind.

As long as you managed it and sort of really controlled the flight of your golf ball, … there was a score out there,” McIlroy said after the third round.

He started Sunday tied with Lowry and a stroke behind leader Sepp Straka. McIlroy and Straka were tied after Straka’s bogey at the opening hole, however, and McIlroy took the lead with a hard-earned birdie at the par-5 second, one that was a credit to his improved wedge play. He pulled his tee shot into a bunker left of the fairway and hit his second shot into the rough short and left of the hole. He hit his 50-yard pitch to 3 feet, however.

After three-putting the par-5 sixth for par, McIlroy holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh hole. He gave it back with a bogey at the next hole, however, after his approach missed left of the green. That was his only bogey of the weekend.

Tied at the turn with Straka and Tom Kim, McIlroy birdied Nos. 10 and 12 to take a two-stroke lead with six holes remaining. He pulled three ahead with his eagle at the par-5 14th and led by four after a birdie at the next hole. The 15th hole was one example of McIlroy’s new, Scheffler-inspired strategy. After hitting a 340-yard drive on the previous hole, he could have used that club again to push his ball up near the putting surface of the 388-yard 15th. He laid back, instead, and hit a 104-yard wedge shot to 4 feet.

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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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