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Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are in their hockey era.

Kelce, star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Swift, a 14-time Grammy winner, traded in a football for a hockey puck on Thursday and traveled to Sunrise, Florida, for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

The duo was spotted walking to their suite at Amerant Bank Arena as nearby fans applauded. Kelce donned a red long-sleeve shirt and matching shorts, which he paired with a baseball cap and pair of white sneakers. Swift opted for an all-white, two-piece getup that she paired with white heeled boots and her signature red lip.

The power couple first broke the internet in September 2023 when Swift accepted Kelce’s invitation to watch him play at Arrowhead Stadium after he watched her rock the same stadium during her wildly popular ‘Eras Tour.’ She was prominently featured during FOX’s game broadcast while sitting next to Kelce’s mother Donna in a suite. Swift and Kelce were later spotted leaving together in a convertible after the Chiefs’ blowout win over the Chicago Bears, not only fueling dating rumors, but setting the entire internet on fire.

When Swift is not touring the world or cheering on Kelce at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, the duo has frequently held date nights at various sporting events. Kelce and Swift attended the 2024 U.S. Open men’s final alongside Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany Mahomes. One month later, the couple attended Game 1 of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. Swift was also at Kelce’s side after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans in February.

Swift previously starred in a commercial for the NHL’s Nashville Predators in 2008. ‘Come on! Taylor Swift at a Predators game? You’re crazy,’ the commercial says. Some find themselves thinking that nearly two decades later.

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When it comes to the nation’s federal government, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is ‘not a fan.’ 

He believes that it ’causes or exacerbates more problems than it actually solves,’ telling Fox News Digital during an interview on Wednesday that the bulk of his oversight is ‘to expose how awful government is’ in order to obtain ‘public support for reducing it, limiting its size, limiting its cost, limiting its influence over our lives.’

‘As our federal government grows, our freedoms recede,’ he said. ‘You see what the federal government does, how it wastes money.’

The national debt has ballooned to the eye-watering sum of more than $36 trillion, with lawmakers and presidents from both parties presiding over the deficit spending that has led the nation to this point. 

Johnson said he’s ‘trying to force reality’ upon everyone in the nation’s capital, regardless of whether they want to face that reality.

He said for decades the nation has been suffering a ‘chronic debt crisis,’ illustrating the dramatic decline in the value of the U.S. dollar by noting that ‘the dollar you held back in 1998 is now only worth $0.51 cents,’ while ‘a dollar you held in … 2019 is only worth $0.80 cents.’

The senator referred to inflation as ‘the silent tax.’

But he’s certainly not staying silent.

Johnson indicated that the elected leaders are mortgaging the future of American children, but ‘don’t talk about it.’

‘I’m forcing everybody to look at it,’ he said, noting that his ‘primary role’ is to force ‘acknowledgment of our problem.’

But as keenly as Johnson advocates the idea of slashing the sprawling tentacles of the massive federal bureaucracy, right now he’s just pushing to pare spending down to pre-pandemic levels.

The conservative fiscal hawk has been making headlines for taking a stand against the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the GOP-controlled House of Representatives last month. 

But Johnson told Fox News Digital that he actually likes a lot of the measure.

‘I’m really not critical of the bill as far as it goes,’ Johnson explained, noting that he’s a ‘big supporter’ of much of what’s in it, though he noted that has not read all of it — the measure is more than 1,000 pages long. 

‘My main beef is it just doesn’t go far enough,’ he said, noting that after the COVID-19 pandemic Democrats failed to return to pre-COVID spending and deficit levels.

The Congressional Budget Office’s estimated budgetary impact for the measure indicates that the net effect on the deficit would be a more than $2.4 trillion increase over the fiscal years 2025-2034.

But White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has said the measure would decrease deficits.

‘The bill REDUCES deficits by $1.4 trillion over ten years when you adjust for CBO’s one big gimmick–not using a realistic current policy baseline. It includes $1.7 trillion in mandatory savings, the most in history. If you care about deficits and debt, this bill dramatically improves the fiscal picture,’ Vought said in a post on X.

Budget director pushes back against claim that

Johnson also noted during the interview that there has not been a ‘reckoning’ regarding the ‘abuse’ at all levels of government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that he does not refer to the COVID-19 jab as a vaccine. Instead, he referred to it as an ‘injection,’ asserting that it is ‘not a vaccine,’ and that it caused injuries and death.

The senator said that he thinks the shots should have ‘black box warnings.’ 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states that the ‘CDC recommends a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults ages 18 and older’ and claims that the ‘vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death.’

Johnson, who has served in the Senate since 2011 and won election to a third term in 2022, said he’d prefer not to seek another term in office.

‘I don’t covet this job,’ he said, noting that he wants to leverage his post to help save America and aid those who are ‘ignored by the system.’

While he’s not ruling out another run, Johnson, who turned 70-years-old earlier this year, said he’d ‘be happy’ to return to Oshkosh and ‘live a nice, peaceful life.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Hamlin announced that he will miss the Cup Series’ first ever race in Mexico this weekend following the birth of his son. Hamlin and fiancée Jordan Fish also share daughters Taylor James, 12, and Molly Gold Hamlin, 7.

‘We are happy to announce the birth of our son,’ Hamlin announced on social media on June 12. ‘Everyone is doing well. My main priority is to be here at home for Jordan and our family over the next few days when she is able to go home and we transition to life as a family of five.’

‘Ultimately I need to be there for her,’ Hamlin said during a June 10 interview on SiriusXM NASCAR. ‘I’m just going to make sure I spend the proper time with her. The racing will come second this week.”

Hamlin is expected to return to racing next weekend. He signed off his birth announcement, writing, ‘See you guys in Pocono,’ referring to the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 22.

It’s been an eventful month for Hamlin. Not only did the Hamlin family welcome baby No. 3, he also picked up his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 8.

Hamlin has 57 wins in his Cup Series career, which ranks 11th on the all-time list. While a championship has eluded him, he finished runner-up in 2010 and third three times (2006, 2014 and 2021).

Drivers departed for Mexico City on Thursday with practice for the Viva Mexico 250 beginning Saturday ahead of the Sunday’s June 15 Cup race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Ryan Truex will drive the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Mexico City, the team announced on June 12, stating that JGR intends to apply for ‘a waiver to maintain his status for the 2025 Playoffs.’

NASCAR classifies the birth of a child as an exemption to its Playoff Waiver System, meaning Hamlin should be eligible to compete for the 2025 Cup Series championship later this year.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that one of Iran’s top nuclear facilities had been hit in Thursday night’s strike against the regime.

‘Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs, nine,’ Netanyahu said. ‘In recent months, Iran is taking steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.’

The Natanz Nuclear Facility – one of Tehran’s key nuclear sites and which has been flagged by security experts that in coordination with the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to produce 11 nuclear weapons within a month – has been hit in the strikes, though the extent of the damage remains unknown. 

‘We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart Iran’s nuclear weaponization program,’ Netanyahu said in live remarks. ‘We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. 

‘We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb,’ he added. 

The Nantaz Nuclear Facility was at least partially destroyed in 2020 following an explosion, and satellite imagery has suggested Iran began constructing deep underground tunnels to further secure and obscure their nuclear program, reported the Institute for Science and International Security earlier this year. 

It is unclear at this time if any of the underground structures were hit in the Thursday night strikes. 

‘We will not let the world’s most dangerous regime get the world’s most dangerous weapons, and Iran plans to give those weapons, nuclear weapons, to its terrorist proxies,’ Netanyahu said. ‘That would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real. 

‘The increasing range of Iran’s ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe, and eventually to America,’ he added. 

Reporting by The New York Times also said the Parchin military complex had been hit in the overnight strikes, though Fox News Digital could not independently confirm the hit.

The extent of the damage also remains unknown as it was reported in November that the Parchin military complex had been significantly damaged in Israel’s October strikes which housed a nuclear weapons research facility. 

Another five military bases surrounding Tehran were also reportedly hit. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

It’s his second consecutive Vezina and third overall, but it’s just the fourth time that a goaltender has won the Hart Trophy during the league’s post-1967 expansion era.

Hellebuyck, the top U.S. goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off, led the NHL with 47 victories, tied for second most in league history, as the Jets captured the first Presidents’ Trophy (top regular-season record) in franchise history. He gave up two or fewer goals in 40 of 63 appearances and led the league (minimum 25 games played) in goals-against average (2.00) and shutouts (eight). He finished second in save percentage (.925).

The most recent goalies to win the Hart Trophy were Carey Price (2014-15), Jose Theodore (2001-02) and Dominik Hasek (1996-97 and 1997-98).

Hellebuyck is the first repeat Vezina winner since Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Hellebuyck received 81 first-place votes and 1,346 total points in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl was runner-up with 53 first-place votes and 1,209 points. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (973 points) was the other finalist.

Hellebuyck received 31 of 32 first-place Vezina votes from general managers. With 158 points, he topped Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (80) and Los Angeles’ Darcy Kuemper (33).

Earlier in the day, Kings captain Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship) for the third time. He had 67 points in 81 games while having only four penalty minutes.

Other NHL awards winners

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Alex Ovechkin, Capitals

First All-Star team

C Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado; LW Kyle Connor, Winnipeg; RW Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay; D Cale Makar, Colorado; D Zach Werenski, Columbus; G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg

Second All-Star team

C Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton; LW Brandon Hagel, Tampa Bay; RW David Pastrnak, Boston; D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay; D Quinn Hughes, Vancouver; G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay

All-rookie team

G Dustin Wolf, Calgary; Ds Lane Hutson, Montreal and Denton Mateychuk, Columbus; Fs Macklin Celebrini, San Jose and Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim and Matvei Michkov, Philadelphia

Defensemen and forwards are listed alphabetically

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

INDIANAPOLIS — Oklahoma City Thunder Mark Daigneault walked the corridor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, going from one interview to another.

He had just finished answering questions about his team’s NBA Finals series against the Indiana Pacers and was about to sit down with ABC’s TV crew and ESPN’s radio crew for more questions about the same.

But he stopped to talk music, jam bands in particular, and in the moment, he preferred to talk about Grateful Dead songs rather than answer questions about the Thunder’s defense on Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton.

This was the day before Game 3, the game in which Michael Kang of jamband String Cheese Incident sang the national anthem.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was introduced to the Grateful Dead four decades ago by then-Boston Celtics teammate Bill Walton, and Pacers alternate governor Steve Simon, the son of owner Herb Simon, is a longtime fan of the Grateful Dead and iterations of the band, including Dead and Co. He’s has been friends with Kang for 25 years.

Turns out, Daigneault is a big music fan and a jam band fan, having seen Phish and Dave Matthews Band concerts. He expressed his appreciation for the Grateful Dead, and he has started to listen to Billy Strings. Daigneault walked into the arena for Game 3, earbuds in and his head bopping to the beat of whatever song he had on.

Daigneault counts the Dead’s final studio album, “Built to Last,” as one of his favorites, and that album has songs that are underrated such as “Foolish Heart,” “Standing on the Moon” and “Victim or the Crime.” He listed “Ripple,” “Jack Straw” and “Franklin’s Tour” as a few of his favorite Dead songs.

After Basketball Hall of Famer and noted Deadhead Walton died a year ago, Carlisle relayed a story. Carlisle had a date with the woman who became his wife and wanted to take her to a Dead show near Washington, D.C. He called Walton.

“ ‘I don’t have any tickets. Can you help me?’ ” Carlisle said. “He said, ‘Just go to the back door, ask for Dennis McNally and tell him you’re Rick Carlisle from the Boston Celtics. You’ll be just fine.’ I said, ‘Really?’ I drove up to the loading dock. … I walked down, knocked on the door and the whole thing ended up working out.”

Simon said he first saw String Cheese Incident in 1997, met bandmembers in 2000 and invited Kang to a Pacers-Los Angeles Lakers Finals game that June.

“I’ve been a lifelong NBA fan,” Kang said.

At a String Cheese Incident concert outside of Indianapolis during the Eastern Conference finals, Kang told the crowd that if the Pacers reached the Finals, he’d be back to play the national anthem.

And that’s how Kang found himself in the national anthem singer’s greenroom hanging out with Simon and two associates just before tip-off of Game 3 on Wednesday, June 11.

“I became a citizen of the United States three years ago,” said Kang, who was born in South Korea. “I had a green card, and I’ve been living in the country for a long time but finally got my citizenship. It’s a long story, but it ended up happening during COVID. And then ever since then I’ve been actually super patriotic and feeling very connected to the values of the United States and the Constitution.”

Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

A full field of 156 golfers teed off Thursday in the opening round of the 125th U.S. Open, the third major championship of the 2025 season.

For a record 10th time, the tournament takes place at the historic Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 7,372-yard, par-70 layout is sure to challenge the world’s top players and those who survived the rigorous annual qualifying process.

Bryson DeChambeau is the defending champion after he pulled out a one-stroke victory over Rory McIlroy a year ago at Pinehurst. J.J. Spaun led the day with a 4-under par opening round.

USA TODAY Sports has complete coverage of Thursday’s opening round. Follow along for highlights and analysis:

US Open 2025 leaderboard

  • 1. J.J. Spaun -4 (F)
  • 2. Thriston Lawrence -3 (F)
  • T3. Si Woo Kim -2 (F)
  • T3. Brooks Koepka -2 (F)
  • T3. Sungjae Im -2 (F)

You can get the latest leaderboard updates and tee times here.

What is US Open projected cut line?

Just around 40% of the 156-person field will tee off in the third round as the U.S. Open has one of the tougher cut lines to make than the other majors; only the top 60 players and ties will advance after 36 holes – the end of the second round.

It’s still early, but the projected cut line for the 2025 U.S. Open is +6, according to the predictive model used by Datagolf.com.

Scottie Scheffler ends first round

The world’s No. 1 golfer didn’t have a great day at Oakmont, proving how challenging the course can be. Scheffler finished the first round 3-over-par, currently in a tie for 55th place.

Scheffler had three birdies and six bogeys, including two on the 13th and 15th hole to drop him down the leaderboard.

Brooks Koepka finishes strong

Back-to-back birdies to end the day has Brooks Koepka now into the top four, finishing the day at 2-under-par.

Koepka knows all about winning this major after he won the 2017 and 2018 position. The strong finish has positioned him to contend for a third U.S. Open title, which would make him the seventh golfer to do so.

Sungjae Im falls out of first

It was a brief stay at the top of the leaderboard for Sungjae Im, who suffered back-to-back bogeys to drop back to 3-under-par. J.J. Spaun is now back in first after he shot a bogey-free first round at 4-under-par.

Sungjae Im takes lead

There’s a new person on top of the leaderboard as Sungjae Im is now 5-under-par through 11 holes, taking over the top spot from J.J. Spaun. He started off his day on the back nine like Spaun and he cruised through it with three consecutive birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th.

Im started the front nine with back-to-back birdies, and his approach shot on the par-4 2nd hole was a beauty.

He still has a way to go, but if Im holds his score to -5, it would be the lowest opening round in the 10 times Oakmont has hosted the U.S. Open.

Patrick Reed scores rare albatross

The shot of the day has come from Patrick Reed, who holed out from 286 yards away on the par-5 4th. The magnificent second shot is an albatross, also known as a double eagle.

Reed didn’t initially know the ball went in, and after getting some help from others, he smiled as he looked like he didn’t believe what he did.

It’s the fourth albatross in U.S. Open history, and the first since 2012 when Nick Watney did it at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

J.J. Spaun posts bogey-free 66 for clubhouse lead

Birdies have been rare at Oakmont – especially as the day has progressed – but J.J. Spaun managed to get through his round without a bogey to take the clubhouse lead with 4-under-par 66.

His score equals the lowest opening round at Oakmont in the 10 times the course has hosted the U.S. Open.

Playing in one of the first groups off the 10th tee, Spaun took advantage of the calm morning conditions to record birdies on four of his first eight holes and rise to the top of the leaderboard. He needed just 26 putts in the round.

Spaun, 34, has one PGA Tour win on his resume but could’ve had a much higher profile entering the U.S. Open if not for a final-round collapse at the Players Championship in March.

He led the so-called ‘fifth major’ after three rounds, only to hit his tee shot into the water on the signature island green 17th hole and lose in a playoff to Rory McIlroy.

Where to watch the US Open: TV Channel, streaming Thursday

The 2025 U.S. Open will be broadcast by NBC and USA Network throughout all four rounds, with USA Network the sole home for first-round action on Thursday, June 12 and NBC and USA Network splitting coverage for the second, third and final rounds. All four rounds of the U.S. Open will be live streamed on Peacock, usopen.com, the USGA app and Fubo, which offers a free trial. Peacock will also broadcast U.S. Open All-Access, its whiparound-style offering, on all four days.

  • TV channel: USA Network – (7 a.m.-5 p.m.)
  • Live stream: Fubo (7 a.m.-5 p.m.), Peacock (5 p.m.-8 p.m.), usopen.com (featured groups)

Watch the 2025 US Open with Fubo

Tough course? Qualifier eagles No. 1

Maxwell Moldovan had to go through 36-hole Final Qualifying to earn his spot at this year’s U.S. Open. But he certainly showed he belonged with the big boys on his opening hole of the tournament.

On the 484-yard par 4, Moldovan hit a perfect approach shot from the right side of the fairway. And we mean PERFECT.

It hit the front of the green, slowly rolled toward the flagstick and dropped in the cup for an eagle 2.

Moldovan is a 23-year-old player on the Korn Ferry Tour from Uniontown, Ohio.

He qualified for last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, but missed the cut after shooting 14 over par in the first two rounds.

High school amateur Mason Howell tees off at Oakmont

Mason Howell may not be done with high school, but he’ll be headed to the 2025 U.S. Open.

The 17-year-old high school junior from Georgia punched his ticket to the 125th edition of the PGA Tour major after magnificent play in the qualifiers.

‘That was one of the greatest moments of my life,’ Howell said after the event.

Howell competed in the U.S. Open final qualifying at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta and breezed through the course Monday. The day is dubbed ‘Golf’s Longest Day,’ as players have to play two rounds of golf in one day, although that was hardly an issue for Howell.

Find out more about Mason Howell from USA TODAY’s Jordan Mendoza.

US Open tee times today

For a full list of tee times, you can find Thursday’s starts here.

All times Eastern; (a) amateur; (1 or 10) starting hole

  • 6:45 a.m. (1): Matt Vogt (a), Kevin Velo, Trent Phillips
  • 6:45 a.m. (10): Zac Blair, Scott Vincent, Alistair Docherty
  • 6:56 a.m. (1): Chandler Blanchet, Alvaro Ortiz, Doug Ghim
  • 6:56 a.m. (10): Jacques Kruyswijk, Jordan Smith, Eric Cole
  • 7:07 a.m. (1): Evan Beck (a), Maxwell Moldovan, Justin Hicks
  • 7:07 a.m. (10): Tom Kim, J.J. Spaun, Taylor Pendrith
  • 7:18 a.m. (1): Harris English, Keegan Bradley, Tommy Fleetwood
  • 7:18 a.m. (10): Ludvig Åberg, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama
  • 7:29 a.m. (1): Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Jose Luis Ballester
  • 7:29 a.m. (10): Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak, Maverick McNealy
  • 7:40 a.m. (1): Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland
  • 7:40 a.m. (10): Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy
  • 7:51 a.m. (1): Akshay Bhatia, Matt McCarty, Robert MacIntyre
  • 7:51 a.m. (10): Patrick Cantlay, Si Woo Kim, Lucas Glover
  • 8:02 a.m. (1): Cam Davis, Davis Thompson, Thomas Detry
  • 8:02 a.m. (10): Cameron Smith, Brian Harman, Phil Mickelson
  • 8:13 a.m. (1): Richard Bland, Trevor Gutschewski (a), Lanto Griffin
  • 8:13 a.m. (10): Niklas Norgaard, Brian Campbell, Justin Lower
  • 8:24 a.m. (1): Edoardo Molinari, Sam Stevens, Ryan Gerard
  • 8:24 a.m. (10): Davis Riley, Jackson Koivun (a), Johnny Keefer
  • 8:35 a.m. (1): Thriston Lawrence, Noah Kent (a), Thorbjørn Olesen
  • 8:35 a.m. (10): James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, Michael La Sasso (a)
  • 8:46 a.m. (1): Jinichiro Kozuma, Cameron Tankersley (a), Chase Johnson
  • 8:46 a.m. (10): Joakim Langergren, Mason Howell (a), Chris Gotterup
  • 8:57 a.m. (1): Philip Barbaree, Riley Lewis, Brady Calkins
  • 8:57 a.m. (10): Zach Bauchou, Jackson Buchanan, Lance Simpson (a)
  • 12:30 p.m. (1): Frederic LeCroix, Emiliano Grillo, Sam Bairstow
  • 12:30 p.m. (10): Will Chandler, Andrea Pavan, Takumi Kanaya
  • 12:41 p.m. (1): Byeung Hun An, Joe Highsmith, Ryan Fox
  • 12:41 p.m. (10): Bryan Lee (a), Guido Migliozzi, Preston Summerhays
  • 12:52 p.m. (1): Victor Perez, Jacob Bridgeman, Adam Schenk
  • 12:52 p.m. (10): Erik van Rooyen, Max Greyserman, Matt Wallace
  • 1:03 p.m. (1): Min Woo Lee, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka
  • 1:03 p.m. (10): Russell Henley, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Nick Taylor
  • 1:14 p.m. (1): Sam Burns, Nico Echavarria, Denny McCarthy
  • 1:14 p.m. (10): Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson
  • 1:25 p.m. (1): Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
  • 1:25 p.m. (10): Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka
  • 1:36 p.m. (1): Corey Conners, Jason Day, Patrick Reed
  • 1:36 p.m. (10): Cameron Young, Tom Hoge, J.T. Poston
  • 1:47 p.m. (1): Joaquin Niemann, Bud Cauley, Daniel Berger
  • 1:47 p.m. (10): Jhonattan Vegas, Michael Kim, Matthieu Pavon
  • 1:58 p.m. (1): MacKenzie Hughes, Tony Finau, Chris Kirk
  • 1:58 p.m. (10): Marc Leishman, Aaron Rai, Nick Dunlap
  • 2:09 p.m. (1): Ben James (a), Rasmus Højgaard, Stephan Jaeger
  • 2:09 p.m. (10): Matthew Jordan, Yuta Sugiura, Carlos Ortiz
  • 2:20 p.m. (1): Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson, Justin Hastings (a), Laurie Canter
  • 2:20 p.m. (10): Ryan McCormick, Trevor Cone, Zachary Pollo (a)
  • 2:31 p.m. (1): Frankie Harris (a), Emilio Gonzalez, Roberto Díaz
  • 2:31 p.m. (10): James Nicholas, Tyler Weaver (a), Riki Kawamoto
  • 2:42 p.m. (1): Grant Haefner, Joey Herrera, George Kneiser
  • 2:42 p.m. (10): Austin Truslow, Harrison Ott, George Duangmanee

US Open odds: Favorites at Oakmont

All odds via BetMGM on Thursday, June 12.

  • Scottie Scheffler: +275
  • Bryson DeChambeau: +750
  • Jon Rahm: +1200
  • Rory McIlroy: +1400
  • Ludvig Aberg: +2200
  • Xander Schauffele: +2200
  • Collin Morikawa: +2500
  • Joaquin Niemann: +3000
  • Shane Lowry: +3300
  • Tommy Fleetwood: +3300

US Open weather forecast: Latest updates for Thursday at Oakmont

— Elizabeth Flores

LIV golfers at the US Open

A total of 14 LIV Golf players are competing at the 2025 U.S. Open:

  • Jose Luis ‘Josele’ Ballester
  • Richard Bland
  • Bryson DeChambeau
  • Tyrrell Hatton
  • Dustin Johnson
  • Brooks Koepka
  • Jinichiro Kozuma
  • Marc Leishman
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Joaquin Niemann
  • Carlos Ortiz
  • Jon Rahm
  • Patrick Reed
  • Cameron Smith

US Open predictions and picks

Picks made ahead of the U.S. Open’s first round:

Jacob Camenker, USA TODAY: Scottie Scheffler (+275)

‘Scheffler has by far the shortest odds to win the U.S. Open, but it’s for a good reason. He has won three of his last four tournaments, including the PGA Championship, and has finished no worse than T-25th in any event this season.

‘Scheffler’s success is largely thanks to his strong tee-to-green game. He ranks first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: tee to green (SG:T2G) but has also been the tour’s second-best scrambler. That combination should allow him to have fewer issues than others with Oakmont’s brutal rough and could ultimately deliver him his first U.S. Open title.’

Dylan Dethier, Golf.com: Xander Schauffele always shows up at U.S. Open

‘Don’t let him throw you off the scent with his first non-top-20 major finish in three-plus years or a surprisingly poor putting performance at the Memorial. If Xander can find the groove with his driver, he has as good a chance as anybody to win this thing. Don’t forget: He’s played eight U.S. Opens in his life, he’s never finished worse than 14th, and he has six top-7s. Book this man for a win, cover your bases with a top 10.’

Jessica Marksbury, Golf.com: Scottie Scheffler continues to dominate

‘How can I go with any other player? Scottie is back in alpha mode, and a U.S. Open at Oakmont — golf’s toughest test on the game’s toughest course — will identify the most complete player as champion. That’s Scottie. Third leg of the career grand slam comin’ up!’

Nick Piastowski, Golf.com: Bryson DeChambeau repeats

‘With high rough, give me the guy who’s hitting wedges into the greens. It’s hard to bet against Scottie Scheffler, but I’m predicting a DeChambeau repeat.’

Iain MacMillan, Sports Illustrated: Scottie Scheffler is running a one-man race

‘If you aren’t going to bet on Scottie Scheffler, you should stick to betting the ‘without Scheffler’ market. We haven’t seen a golfer listed with as short of odds as +280 to win a major since Tiger Woods in his prime, but in my opinion, his odds should be even shorter.

‘He has won three of his last four starts, including running away with the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Over the last six months, Scheffler has gained 0.73 true strokes per round more than any other golfer in the world. The 0.73 strokes per round gap between Scheffler and the second-ranked golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, is the same as the gap between DeChambeau and Sepp Straka.’

US Open predictions: Sleeper picks at Oakmont

Picks made ahead of the U.S. Open’s first round:

Jacob Camenker, USA TODAY: Sepp Straka (+4000)

‘Straka hasn’t yet won a major but has turned into one of the PGA Tour’s most consistent players. He ranks second to only Scheffler in total strokes gained (SG: Total) and ranks top-three in both strokes gained approaching the green (SG:APP) and greens in regulation (GIR) percentage. He missed the cut at the Masters and PGA Championship this year but has finished top-three in two of his last three events, including a win at the Truist Championship.’

Daniel Dobish, Sportsbook Wire: Corey Conners (+5500)

‘Conners is another one of those golfers who is super accurate off of the tee, hitting 559 of a possible 812 fairways. He is so-so in driving distance, which isn’t a bad thing. He’ll likely be able to avoid some of those deep fairway bunkers as a result. He ranks 10th on Tour in SG: Off-to-Tee, while checking in 13th in GIR (69.64%), so he knows how to make up for his modest driving power.’

Dennis Esser, The Athletic: Russell Henley (+6000)

‘(Henley) is coming off two missed cuts in major championships, but he has five top 27 finishes at the U.S. Open in his last six tries. He had his best-ever finish at the U.S. Open in 2024 with a T7 at Pinehurst No. 2. He is coming off of a T5 at the Memorial, where he gained over nine strokes from tee to green, and only a cold weekend putter kept him from challenging (Ben) Griffin and Scheffler.’

US Open location: What to know about Oakmont

Oakmont Country Club will host the 125th U.S. Open, which begins this week. It will be the 10th time that the venue has hosted the event, three times more than any other club.

It will also be the first time the event has returned to Oakmont since 2016. The U.S. Open is scheduled to be back at the venue in 2033, 2042 and 2049.

Henry Clay Fownes designed the course at the Oakmont Country Club, intending to challenge the sport’s best.— James Williams

US Open winners by year: List of champions

Here are the most recent winners at the U.S. Open. Read here for a complete list of winners.

  • 2024: Bryson DeChambeau (Pinehurst)
  • 2023: Wyndham Clark (L.A. Country Club)
  • 2022: Matt Fitzpatrick (The Country Club)
  • 2021: Jon Rahm (Torrey Pines)
  • 2020: Bryson DeChambeau (Winged Foot)
  • 2019: Gary Woodland (Pebble Beach)
  • 2018: Brooks Koepka (Shinnecock Hills)
  • 2017: Brooks Koepka (Erin Hills)
  • 2016: Dustin Johnson (Oakmont)
  • 2015: Jordan Spieth (Chambers Bay)
  • 2014: Martin Kaymer (Pinehurst)
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Thousands of soccer fans will flock to stadiums across the United States over the next week as the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup gets underway, starting with the opener between Inter Miami and Egyptian club Al-Ahly on June 14.

According to a since-deleted social media post, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) will be there, too.

‘CBP will be suited and booted,’ the organization wrote June 4 on X, ‘ready to provide security for the first round of games.’

The presence of federal law enforcement officers, including those from CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is relatively common at major sporting events like the Super Bowl, which often carry special designations that prompt more rigorous security.

But as the Trump administration continues to aggressively enforce immigration laws, prompting wide-scale protests in Los Angeles, there are concerns that CBP and ICE will go beyond their traditional security roles at the Club World Cup.

‘You never know with how this administration, the aggression they’re showing on immigration enforcement, whether they have other intentions, as well,’ said John Sandweg, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP who previously served as the acting director of ICE in late 2013 and early 2014. ‘But the role, certainly of CBP and even ICE, in terms of a major sporting event is not unusual.’

CBP has since deleted its post about being ‘suited and booted’ for the opening round of games, with The Athletic reporting June 12 that FIFA officials had ‘expressed concerns to the CBP about the reaction it had provoked.’

In response to a series of emailed questions about that report, how many CBP officers would be at Club World Cup games and what their roles would be, a CBP spokesperson said the organization is ‘committed to working with our local and federal partners’ to ensure the event is safe for everyone involved, as it does with other major sporting events.

‘Our mission remains unchanged,’ the spokesperson said.

ICE did not reply to an email from USA TODAY Sports seeking more information about its role at the Club World Cup, though the organization confirmed to WTVJ-TV in Miami that its officers will be assisting with security. The NBC Miami station also reported the statement from ICE included a reminder that ‘non-American citizens need to carry proof of their legal status.’

That sort of language is concerning to people like Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, who said it could be intimidating both to U.S. residents and foreign fans with valid travel visas.

‘I’d be worried and disturbed if I were going to the games,’ Kennedy told The Miami Herald. ‘If I didn’t have status, I would probably stay away altogether.’

When asked about ICE agents working security at Club World Cup games, and the possibility of fans being detained, president Gianni Infantino told reporters June 10 that he didn’t have any concerns.

“No, I don’t have any concerns about anything in the sense that we are very attentive on any security question,’ he said. ‘Of course the most important (thing) for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games. This is our priority. This is a priority of all the authorities who are here.’

While there has been concern and confusion on social media about why CBP and ICE officers would be on hand at a sporting event, Sandweg said their presence alone is not strange.

At major sporting events that receive a special security designation, he said, federal law enforcement officers usually support local and state officials with general security efforts while also offering different forms of expertise. ICE, for example, has worked to identify, investigate and curtail the sale of counterfeit merchandise at past Super Bowls. And CBP has mobile technology they use to screen vehicles at the border, which can instead be used to scan delivery trucks entering a stadium.

The questions around the Club World Cup, however, stem from a broader shift in immigration enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration has taken aggressive and sometimes extreme steps to enforce immigration laws over the past few months, with officers sometimes wearing masks and detaining people at schools, restaurants or as they leave courtrooms after immigration court proceedings. The raids have prompted both national and local backlash, with the most recent flashpoint coming in Los Angeles over the weekend, when Trump dispatched the national guard to quell protests in the streets.

Many of those enforcement efforts have targeted Hispanic people, who also make up a significant portion of soccer fans in the U.S.

‘If people think they are going to get scooped up, they wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t,’ Gerald Foston, national president of the U.S. Soccer supporters group Sammers SC, told NorthJersey.com, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.

‘I’m African American. I’ve been mistaken for Dominican, so even though I’m going to a game, do I have to walk around with my passport?’

The Club World Cup features 32 teams from 20 countries, including the United States, with games spread across a dozen venues during the next several weeks. It will run concurrently with the Concacaf Gold Cup, another soccer tournament that includes national teams from North and Central America. Citizens of Haiti, a country whose national team is playing in the Gold Cup, have been banned from traveling to the U.S. by Trump, though the ban includes an exception for competing athletes and coaches.

In many ways, the two events will serve as a tune-up for next summer’s men’s World Cup, which the U.S. is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

While Trump has embraced the United States’ role as an international sports host and pledged to welcome fans from around the world, some immigration advocates see his recent actions as having the opposite effect.

‘Military parades, Border Patrol officers ‘providing security’ at international sporting events … no, this is not a description of the buildup towards the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. This is how the Trump regime welcomes the world,’ George Escobar, the chief of programs and services at immigration advocacy group CASA, said in a statement.

‘Sports are supposed to bring people together, not be used as weaponized targets for political agendas.’

It’s unclear whether or how the broader political environment in the U.S. will impact international attendance at the World Cup or Summer Olympics. But for the Club World Cup, Sandweg wonders if even the potential presence of ICE and CBP could put a damper on the festitivies or drive away fans.

‘Given all that’s going on right now, the optics are such that it’s certainly going to have a chilling effect, I think, on attendance,’ he said.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.

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Israeli Defense Forces launched a sweeping strike on Iran following months of attempted, and seemingly failed, nuclear negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran.

Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported that Israel carried out strikes in Iran, adding that explosions were heard in the capital of Tehran.

A state of emergency has been declared across Israel as the country braces for an Iranian response.

The strikes came after Israel first threatened to go after Iran’s nuclear facilities in early November following a series of back-and-forth missile attacks between April and October last year.

Direct engagement between Israel and Iran began after Tehran in April 2024 levied its first ever direct strikes against Israeli territory. Israel responded less than a week later and destroyed part of Iran’s S-300 long-range air defense system.

On Oct. 1, Iran levied a ballistic missile strike on Israel, to which Jerusalem responded with a series of hits on Oct. 26 that targeted military facilities and missile storage locations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later confirmed that Israel’s October strike partially degraded part of Iran’s nuclear program, and international concerns remained heightened that the security threat could escalate in the region. 

Some hoped that President Donald Trump’s administration would be able to make headway in nuclear negotiations where the Biden administration, and others in the international community could not. 

Negotiations between Washington and Tehran, mediated by Oman, resumed in Muscat on April 12 and Trump repeatedly called on Netanyahu not to hit Tehran and to let negotiations proceed. 

Following the first round of talks, Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that the U.S. was looking to limit Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67%, a level generally used for civil nuclear energy needs. 

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump pulled out of in 2018, Iran committed to maintaining no more than this level of enrichment until 2031 – though it has been found to have repeatedly violated this agreement. 

But the next day, on April 15, Witkoff backtracked his comments and said in a statement that ‘Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.’

Four days later the U.S. entered its second round of nuclear talks in Rome on April 19, before a third round was held in Muscat on April 26. Both sides expressed optimism following the talks.

Details of the negotiations were not released, but reports suggested the discussions largely focused on limiting Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.

Talks appeared to take a turn after the U.S. hit Iran with another round of sanctions in late April, which resulted in the postponement of the previously scheduled May 3 talks.

The fourth round of talks began to show signs of strain when Iran described the negotiations as ‘difficult but useful,’ and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made clear that Washington’s zero enrichment demand was a ‘non-negotiable.’

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi reported that ‘some but not conclusive progress’ was made following the fifth round of talks held in Rome on May 23. 

By early June, Trump and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei had repeatedly made clear they both would refuse to bend when it comes to the issue of enrichment, but a sixth round of talks was still set for June 15 in Oman.

It is unclear if those talks will continue following the Israeli strike.

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Elmo has a friend, indeed.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries,D-N.Y., brought along a stuffed friend to help make a point on the House floor Thursday.

Jeffries held up a stuffed Elmo doll while accusing Republicans of targeting beloved children’s shows like ‘Sesame Street’ in their push to slash federal spending.

‘Today, we are on the floor of the House of Representatives debating legislation that targets Elmo. And Big Bird. And Daniel Tiger and ‘Sesame Street,” Jeffries said, waving the puppet as he railed against the GOP-led rescissions package.

The moment, widely circulated online, came during debate over the Republican-backed Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources from President Trump, which would eliminate over $9 billion in unspent or low-priority federal funds.

Among the targeted programs: $3 million in taxpayer support for an international version of Sesame Street in Iraq.

Democrats objected to what they characterized as cultural and humanitarian vandalism disguised as fiscal responsibility. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., delivered one of the sharpest lines of the day: ‘While you all have killed off Elmo, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this trash and I yield back,’ Garcia said.

Republicans dismissed the theatrics and defended the package as a commonsense rollback of bloated, ideological spending. The bill also includes broader cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports PBS and NPR, long-time targets of fiscal conservatives who argue the taxpayer shouldn’t subsidize public media.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebutted, ‘I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people.’

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., pushed back forcefully: ‘The Minority Leader held up a Sesame Street character here on the floor as if Sesame Street’s somehow going to go away,’ Scalise said. 

‘I was watching a commercial on TV yesterday where the Cookie Monster was actually doing an advertisement for Netflix because a private company is paying money to run Sesame Street. It’s not going away. It’s doing just fine. Very lucrative.’

Scalise argued the bill doesn’t threaten Sesame Street’s survival, only its taxpayer subsidy, and called out what he described as ‘far-left, radical views’ being promoted through outlets like NPR and PBS.

‘There is still going to be a plethora of options for the American people,’ he said. ‘But if they are paying their hard-earned dollars to get content, why should your tax dollars go to only one thing that the other side wants to promote?’

He concluded bluntly: ‘They can still watch Sesame Street in Iraq. But let the Iraqi people pay for it — not the taxpayers of the United States of America’s children.’

Even more eyebrow‑raising was the inclusion of taxpayer‑funded global health spending for procedures like circumcisions.

Among the line items flagged by GOP lawmakers: $3 million to subsidize circumcisions, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia, alongside similar grants for transgender surgeries in Nepal. Republicans contended that pulling back these types of low-impact or ideological slush funds was a logical first step toward returning more than $9 billion to the U.S. Treasury.

The bill passed the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week and Senate Democrats have signaled strong opposition.

The bill passed the House in a 214–212 vote. Four Republicans, Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev.; Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; and Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., broke ranks to vote against the bill. All Democrats voted no.

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