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McIlroy vows ‘the story isn’t over’ as he revels in Royal Portrush support at the Open

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Rory McIlroy has promised to revel in the Northern Irish love during the Open Championship this week, with the 36-year-old also warning fellow competitors that he has regained focus after claiming the Masters in April. “The story certainly isn’t over,” he insisted.

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McIlroy has returned to Royal Portrush for the first time since 2019, when he admitted the scale of ovation on the Open’s first tee contributed to him whacking his ball out of bounds. He later missed the cut.

Attention in the coming days promises to be even more intense, given his Masters win meant he became only the sixth golfer in history to complete a career grand slam.

“I think in ’19 I probably tried to isolate,” McIlroy said on Monday. “I think it’s better for everyone if I embrace it. I think it’s better for me.

“It’s nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times. But it’s also nice for the person that is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction and not trying to hide away from it.

“I think it’s more of, embrace everything that’s going to come my way this week and not try to shy away from it or hide away from it. I think that’ll make for a better experience for everyone involved.”

McIlroy was asked unsurprisingly to reflect on the first hole, six years ago, where he slumped to a quadruple‑bogey eight. He said: “The walk to the first tee and then that ovation, I was a little surprised and a little taken aback, like: ‘Geez, these people really want me to win.’ I think that brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself, not really wanting to let people down. It’s just something I didn’t mentally prepare for that day or that week.

“I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle. I talked about it at the Masters on that last day. The battle on that last day wasn’t with Augusta National. It wasn’t with Bryson DeChambeau. It wasn’t with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself.”

It certainly appears as if McIlroy has found an appropriate level of motivation. After only four hours of sleep, he played 18 Portrush holes first thing on Monday morning. McIlroy openly challenged the sense he will compete in the 153rd Open without any pressure, an event he had circled on the calendar at the start of 2025.

“I’ve done something that I’ve told everyone that I wanted to do,” McIlroy said. “But I still feels like I have a lot more to give. Anyone that sits up here at this table, we’re all competitors. We all want to do better. We all think we can just get a little bit extra out of what we have.

“It’s been an amazing year. The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the Green Jacket, having completed that lifelong dream, I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them. But at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.

“I try to go about my business. I try to give the best of myself every time I’m out there. It’s amounted to some pretty nice things so far. I still feel like there’s a lot left in there.”

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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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