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Graeme McDowell hopes LIV can move on from controversy

Golf: LIV Golf Dallas - Final RoundJun 29, 2025; Carrollton, Texas, USA; Graeme McDowell plays his shot from the tenth tee during the final round of the LIV Golf Dallas golf tournament at Maridoe Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Now that the LIV Golf League will no longer be financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Graeme McDowell told Sports Illustrated that he is hopeful the league can shed some controversy and serve as a “viable golfing product.”

McDowell, 46, received death threats and other backlash when he joined LIV in 2022.

“I don’t think we could have ever imagined how deep this would go. The hatred,” he said. “It’s funny, but if we can shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia and bring some U.S. money and get rid of that narrative … because that narrative is just nasty.”

When he signed with LIV, McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, called it “a compelling opportunity” and that it was the best decision for his family. He wishes he could take back those remarks.

“I was ready to jump ship and go get a real job,” McDowell told Sports Illustrated. “And then these guys came along and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this tour. Do you want to come play?’ I love playing. I love competing. I regret a few things I said at the beginning, stuff like growing the game. I should have just said it for what it was: this is good for my bank account, and I’m getting a runway to play the game of golf for as long as I possibly can. “

PIF officially announced in April that it was done backing LIV after this season, leaving the future of the league in doubt. However, CEO Scott O’Neil told the media on Tuesday that he has confidence in LIV. O’Neil offered no specific plans.

“I think we all knew that we were going to have to stand on our own two feet at some point to be able to make this into a legitimate business,” McDowell said. “When you’ve kind of got the type of cash that we had in the beginning for a startup company, it was a little crazy and maybe not very real. It’s kind of like we’re turning 18 now. I’m going to go into the real world. We got to fend for ourselves a little bit. We try to make this into legit business.”

LIV Golf has seven tournaments remaining this year, beginning with this weekend’s event at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.

–Field Level Media

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Report: Tigers fired Gabe Alvarez over harassment claim

Syndication: GoErie.comErie SeaWolves manager Gabe Alvarez watches warm-ups prior to a game with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at UPMC Park in Erie on July 13, 2022.

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The Detroit Tigers fired Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez after an investigation into alleged harassment claims by a female employee, The Athletic reported Wednesday.

The Tigers announced Tuesday that Alvarez’s contract had been terminated due to an undisclosed “violation of club policy.”

Alvarez, 52, was in his second season as manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, who were 17-16 under his leadership.

Sources told The Athletic that Alvarez was fired following a human resources investigation into the complaint.

Neither the Tigers nor Alvarez and his representatives responded to The Athletic’s requests for comment.

A major leaguer for parts of three seasons, Alvarez was a career .222 hitter with seven home runs and 33 RBIs over 92 games for the Tigers (1998-2000) and San Diego Padres (2000). During nine seasons in the minor leagues, Alvarez batted .278 with 114 home runs.

A second-round pick out of Southern California in 1995, Alvarez served as an assistant coach at his alma mater starting in 2010. He was hired by the Tigers to be the manager at Double-A Erie starting in the 2022 season and was promoted to manager at Toledo in October of 2024.

–Field Level Media

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No close shaves for Cameron Young with Quail Hollow up next

PGA: Cadillac Championship - Final RoundMay 3, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cameron Young watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the final round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images

Cameron Young might be the hottest golfer on the PGA Tour with two victories and two other top-five finishes in his past five events.

And the World No. 3 is not interested in changing much during a hot streak, including whether it’s time to shave his beard.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s coming off. I’m kind of afraid to see what I might look like without it,” said Young, who turns 29 on Thursday. “It’s been a couple years now and, yeah, I don’t know, we weren’t allowed to have a beard in college, so it was one of those things, as soon as I was allowed to, I just did it for no reason, other than that.

“Yeah, it’s been there since. Between that and not having to deal with it on a daily basis, it’s kind of lower maintenance and I’ve grown accustomed to the way I look with it.”

Young went to college at Wake Forest, located approximately 90 miles from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte where he will tee it up in the Truist Championship, beginning Thursday.

“Always nice coming back to North Carolina and especially here,” Young said. “I mean, this is a top-notch golf course facility and tournament. I always look forward to coming back here. It’s quite a challenge, so I really look forward to the challenge of this golf course.”

Young tied for second at Quail Hollow in 2022 before tying for 59th the next year and tying for 34th in 2024. He bounced back to tie for seventh last year.

He figures to be a contender at Quail Hollow this week after winning last week’s Cadillac Championship by a mammoth six strokes. He posted a 19-under 269 at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course outside Miami, with President Trump in attendance.

“Last week was a really good week,” Young said. “I feel like a lot of pieces came together pretty well. Yeah, difficult golf course, kind of an atypical week with the President around, just some different things that go on with that piece of it. But I feel like I did a really good job just staying where I was and doing my job. Yeah, very pleased with the outcome.”

Young’s strong year leaves him only behind No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland in the rankings. It also has increased his own notoriety but he said handling the rise in outer noise isn’t as challenging as maintaining his own mental game.

“Yeah, it really hasn’t been too different, in my opinion,” Young said. “I do a few more things like this (press conference), but most of the noise and the noise that’s probably more difficult to deal with is the noise in your own head.

“So to me that’s where a lot of my time is spent. … Those World Rankings are based in the past. It’s a good indicator of how you’ve played recently or whatever it is, but that No. 3 next to my name in the World Ranking doesn’t give me one thing this week. Doesn’t give me one thing next week.”

–Field Level Media

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Ty France comes through as Padres knock off Giants

MLB: San Diego Padres at San Francisco GiantsMay 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (left) gets the force out at second base ahead of San Diego Padres right fielder Nick Castellanos (right) during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images

Ty France broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run, pinch-hit triple, Xander Bogaerts added a two-run homer in the eighth, and the San Diego Padres captured a road series win over the San Francisco Giants with a 5-1 victory Wednesday afternoon.

After taking over from opener Bradgley Rodriguez, Matt Waldron (1-1) threw five one-run innings for his first win of the season, propelling San Diego to a second straight triumph after a series-opening defeat on Monday.

After offsetting solo homers by the Padres’ Gavin Sheets, his fifth of the season, and Giants’ Rafael Devers, his third, the Padres took advantage of an inning-opening throwing error by San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman to grab the lead for good in the seventh.

Giants starter Adrian Houser (0-4) was pulled at that point, then watched as Keaton Winn walked Ramon Laureano.

Winn got two outs as the runners reached second and third, before France greeted Matt Gage with a flyball down the right-field line that barely eluded a diving Jesus Rodriguez, scoring Fernando Tatis Jr. and Laureano.

The triple was France’s second of the year. He’d totaled just four in his first seven major-league seasons.

Bogaerts’ homer, his second of the series and seventh of the season, came two batters after Ryan Walker walked Manny Machado to lead off the eighth.

After Rodriguez needed just seven pitches to set down the Giants in order in the first, Waldron allowed just Devers’ homer and one other hit in his five innings. He struck out seven and did not walk anyone.

Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller, making his first appearance of the series, combined for six strikeouts over the final three innings, allowing just one hit.

Nick Castellanos had two hits for the Padres, who out-hit the Giants 6-3.

Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles for San Francisco, which has lost eight of its last nine.

Houser was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out three.

-Field Level Media

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