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

As World Cup ticket prices continue to be debated, FIFA president Gianni Infantino declared they are in line with most American sporting events.

FIFA has come under fire for the cost of tickets to the quadrennial tournament that starts June 11 in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but Infantino said market rates have to be applied.

“In the U.S., it is permitted to resell tickets as well, so if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price,” Infantino said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. “And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double our price.”

A quick look Wednesday on the Ticketmaster website for the June 19 group-stage match between the United States and Australia in Seattle certainly didn’t display any bargains.

The lowest price for two tickets early Wednesday evening was a resale pair for $2,725.10, which broke down to $2,290 for the tickets and $435.10 in service fees. However, a new search 30 minutes later showed the total price climbing to $2,770.90 for seats high in the upper deck along the sideline at Lumen Field. For fans more familiar with football than futbol, they could be considered on the 25-yard line.

On its own market place, FIFA takes a 15% purchase fee from the buyer of a resold ticket and a 15% free from the seller.

However, Infantino said World Cup prices are not out of line.

“We have 25% of the group stage tickets which can be bought for less than $300,” Infantino said. “You cannot go to watch in the U.S. a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300. And this is the World Cup.”

Last month, FIFA had four tickets for the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J. listed for just under $2.3 million apiece. They were in the lower deck behind the goal.

“If some people put on the resale market some tickets for the final at $2 million, No. 1, it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2 million, and No. 2, it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets,” Infantino said.

“And if somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2 million, I will personally bring a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience.”

–Field Level Media

Few places on earth must feel more comfortable to Rory McIlroy than Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.

And with Scottie Scheffler taking the week off, the Northern Irishman is favored to win the Truist Championship for a record fifth time when the signature event field tees off Thursday.

“I really feel like this tournament … got my career going, especially on the PGA Tour,” McIlroy said this week. “Getting my first win on Tour in 2010. Then it’s been a pretty fruitful place since then.”

McIlroy prevailed at the tournament at Quail Hollow, previously called the Wells Fargo Championship and the Quail Hollow Championship, in 2010, 2015, 2021 and 2024. Sepp Straka is the defending champion this week, but the Austrian won the 2025 Truist at Philadelphia Cricket Club, a one-year relocation as Quail Hollow hosted the PGA Championship instead.

It’s the final week before players head to Aronimink Golf Club for the PGA, and while Scheffler is preparing for the second major of the year at home, most of the rest of the top 10 in the world are in Charlotte. McIlroy is hungry to add to his six major titles after repeating as Masters champion earlier this spring.

“I’ve spoke about this a lot, I felt like winning the Grand Slam (in 2025) was like this — was going to be this life-changing thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember like, ‘No, I still have a lot of my career left and I want to keep playing and keep competing,'” McIlroy said.

“I’m excited for the road ahead. I’m excited for this week, I’m excited for Aronimink next week.”

While McIlroy has shown top form this season, there may be no hotter players in the sport than the duo of Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young.

Fitzpatrick has won three of his past four starts and two straight at the RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the latter a team event he played with his brother Alex. The Englishman could become the first player to win three PGA Tour starts in a row since Dustin Johnson in 2017.

Young won The Players Championship in March and doubled his win total for the year at last week’s Cadillac Championship, also a signature event.

“For me at the moment, I think it’s just trying to maintain the same approach each week,” Young said, noting how he took three weeks off between The Players and the Masters. “… I feel like I just picked up where I left off after The Players in terms of mindset and physically I had had time to practice at home. I think it’s a good thing to learn for me that, you know, I can take a couple weeks off and just come back and keep beating the same process.”

Golfers are trading in Trump National Doral’s “Blue Monster” for Quail Hollow’s “Green Mile,” a brutally challenging three-hole finish with two long par-4s and a precarious par-3 17th with water surrounding more than half the green.

“I think with the weather we had last year for the PGA the greens were a little bit softer, the rough was a little bit higher,” Fitzpatrick said. “This week it’s actually the opposite. The greens seem to be very, very firm and the rough’s a little shorter, which is nice. Yeah, I’m really kind of shocked at how firm the greens are right now and that’s definitely going to make it a great test.”

Seventy-two golfers will play in the no-cut, $20 million event. If the winner is not already qualified for the PGA Championship, he will be added to next week’s field.

–Field Level Media