Jackson Koivun makes pro debut in John Deere Classic and U.S. Senior Open goes to Scioto

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

Site: Silvis, Illinois.

Course: TPC Deere Run. Yardage: 7,327. Par: 71,

Prize money: $8.8 million. Winner's share: $1,584,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).

Defending champion: Brian Campbell.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Last week: Viktor Hovland won the Travelers Championship.

Notes: The tournament has a big emphasis on youth. Jackson Koivun, the No. 1 amateur in the world, makes his professional debut. The tournament gave sponsor exemptions to NCAA champion Preston Stout of Oklahoma State, and U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, who just graduated high school and is going to Georgia. ... Zach Johnson is skipping his first U.S. Senior Open to play the John Deere Classic, his local PGA Tour event that he won in 2012. ... Jordan Spieth won his first PGA Tour title at the John Deere in 2013. He is in the field this week ahead of returning to Royal Birkdale where he won the 2017 British Open. ... Also playing is 18-year-old Blades Brown, who has special temporary membership. Brown also is in the top 20 in Korn Ferry Tour points. The Korn Ferry Tour is off this week. ... Memorial winner J.T. Poston is playing. ... Max Homa is in the field. This is the one-year anniversary of the last time Homa was inside the top 100 in the world ranking.

Next week: Genesis Scottish Open and ISCO Championship.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

U.S. SENIOR OPEN

Site: Columbus, Ohio.

Course: Scioto CC. Yardage: 7,170. Par: 70.

Prize money: $4 million. Winner's share: $800,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 5-7 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday, noon to 2 p.m. (Peacock), 2-5 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Peacock), 3-6 p.m. (NBC).

Defending champion: Padraig Harrington.

Last year: Harrington won by one shot over Stewart Cink at The Broadmoor in Colorado.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink.

Last PGA Tour Champions event: Dicky Pride won the Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

Notes: This is the 100-year anniversary of Bobby Jones winning the 1926 U.S. Open at Scioto Country Club. ... Jack Nicklaus grew up at Scioto, about 15 minutes away from Muirfield Village that he built for the Memorial. ... Samuel Bush, the grandfather of the late President George H.W. Bush, was one of the co-founders of Scioto. ... The winner is exempt into the U.S. Open next year at Pebble Beach. ... Padraig Harrington will try to join Miller Barber as the only three-time winners of the U.S. Senior Open. ... The tournament dates to 1980. ... This is the third time for Scioto to host the U.S. Senior Open. Gene Sauers (2016) and Dale Douglass (1986) and the previous two winners at the course originally designed by Donald Ross. ... Andrew Green did a renovation at Scioto to restore it to its original design, while removing hundreds of trees. ... Steve Stricker (2019) and Fred Funk (2009) share the U.S. Senior Open record for largest margin of victory at six strokes.

Next week: Kaulig Companies Championship.

Next U.S. Senior Open: Oak Tree National in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Online: https://www.usga.org/ and https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

BMW INTERNATIONAL

Site: Munich.

Course: Golfclub Munchen Eichenried. Yardage: 7,354. Par: 72.

Prize money: $3 million. Winner's share: $500,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-11 a.m. (Golf Channel), 11 a.m. to noon (Golf Channel app); Saturday-Sunday, 7 a.m. to noon (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Daniel Brown.

Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.

Last week: Eugenio Chacarra won the Italian Open.

Notes: Patrick Reed is playing the second of four straight weeks on the European tour as the American tries to build his lead in the Race to Dubai. ... This is the home club of Stephan Jaeger, who is playing the John Deere Classic this week on the PGA Tour as he is outside the top 70. ... Marco Penge of England, who has not played since the PGA Championship as he tries to take care of health issues, is in the field. Penge withdrew from the U.S. Open and said he would not return until he was ready. ... The field include seven players from LIV Golf, which including Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer. ... Eugenio Chacarra of Spain is playing as he tries to secure one of the 10 spots on the PGA Tour from the Race to Dubai. ... The tournament dates to 1989, when David Feherty defeated Fred Couples by five shots. ... Paul Azinger was a two-time winner of the BMW International Open.

Next week: Genesis Scottish Open.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

Last week: Hae Ran Ryu won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Next week: Amundi Evian Championship.

Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

Last week: Drew Nesbitt won the Memorial Health Championship.

Next week: The Blue Championship.

Points leader: Doc Redman.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour

Japan Golf Tour: Japan Players Championship, Nishi Nasuno CC, Tochigi, Japan. Defending champion: Tatsunori Shogenji. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Ladies European Tour: Hulencourt Women's Open, Hulencourt GC, Vieux Genappe, Belgium. Television: Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel app); Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon (Golf Channel app). Defending champion: Darcey Harry. Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

Challenge Tour: Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, Le Vaudreuil, France. Previous winner: David Horsey. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/

Japan LPGA: Shiseido-JAL Ladies Open, Totsuka CC (East), Kanagawa, Japan. Defending champion: Saki Nagamine. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: The Lotte Open, Bear's Best Cheongna, Incheon, South Korea. Defending champion: Hyejun Park. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Mason Howell chips to the green on the fourth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

LONDON (AP) — Self-flying fighter jets, uncrewed submarines and drones will be at the center of Britain’s future military under a defense plan announced Tuesday that includes a 15 billion pound ($20 billion) spending boost.

Like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States. But its Defense Investment Plan has been repeatedly delayed as military leaders and Treasury officials wrangled over the cost.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plan reflects a world of conflicts transformed by technology and will keep Britain safe in “a more dangerous and volatile world."

“When the world is arming and aggression is rising, the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it," he said.

But the blueprint does not commit to spending 3% of U.K. GDP on defense by 2030, one of the factors that spurred John Healey to resign as U.K. defense secretary on June 11. Healey accused the government of underspending on the military at a time of “rising threats," citing a British intelligence assessment that Russia could attack a NATO member country by 2030.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Healey said that “with European security at stake,” Britain needs "to develop a clear, credible funding plan that will hit 3% and that will meet our NATO commitment of 3.5% by 2035."

Starmer said Healey’s successor, Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis, had worked to “sharpen and strengthen" the plan. Its 15 billion pounds in new spending is more than the 13.5 billion pounds ($18 billion) Healey was offered by the Treasury, but far less than the 28 billion pounds ($37 billion) that defense officials had called for.

Under the plan, defense spending will hit 2.7% of GDP by 2029. Starmer said the 3% target will be reached “in the next Parliament,” a period that could extend to 2034. The U.K. remains committed to hitting NATO’s 3.5% target by 2035, though it's unclear how it will get there.

The government said the new funding will boost spending on defense to almost 300 billion pounds ($400 billion) over the next four years. Big-ticket items include 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) for drone technology, 8 billion pounds ($10.6 billion) to build new stealth fighter jets alongside Japan and Italy, and 11 billion pounds ($14.5 billion) to increase weapons stockpiles. The U.K. will also spend 64 billion pounds ($85 billion) modernizing its nuclear weapons.

Starmer said some road and energy projects would be scrapped to help pay for the military.

The U.K. military is seeking to reverse years of decline in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia, which invaded its neighbor Ukraine in 2022 and increasingly tests the defenses of European nations with overt and covert activity.

The U.K. has watched how drones have transformed war in Ukraine, which uses 200,000 of them a month to defend against Russian forces. Britain plans to invest billions in drone systems across all branches of the military. Instead of a planned fleet of new destroyers, the Royal Navy will get hybrid vessels that will act as command hubs for drones.

“The very nature of conflict is changing before our eyes,” Starmer said during a speech at a drone manufacturer near London. He said that, armed with cutting-edge technology, Ukrainian forces have destroyed Russia’s Black Sea fleet, “struck deep into Russian territory and stopped the advance of one of the biggest armies in the world.”

Britain and other NATO member nations have faced pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase military spending. Trump has long questioned the value of the military alliance and complained that the United States provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.

The resignations of Healey and junior Defense Minister Al Carns were among a series of blows that prompted Starmer to announce last week that he will resign. A NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8 may be his final overseas trip as prime minister.

His replacement, likely the former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, will be under pressure to stick to the commitments in the defense plan.

“It is a platform on which I know my successor will build," Starmer said.

Opposition Conservative Party defense spokesperson James Cartlidge said the plan was “too little, too late.”

And retired Gen. Richard Barrons, who helped lead a defense review in preparation for the investment plan, said “we have to find more money for defense sooner.”

“We’re not keeping up with our allies, we’re certainly not keeping up with our enemies, and we know that the U.S. is no longer going to come and save European security in the face of a Russian threat,” he told the BBC.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, hugs Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on the occasion of the announcement of a defense plan, in Berkshire, England, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks on the occasion of the announcement of a defense plan, in Berkshire, England, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces a defense plan, in Berkshire, England, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, followed by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis arrive for the announcement of a defense plan, in Berkshire, England, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, June 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Dan Jarvis arrives for a cabinet meeting hosted by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street in London, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)