$319 Billion in Taxpayer Money Sent to Nonprofits. Where Did It Go?

(The Center Square) – Employers now have guidance from the Treasury Department on how to contribute to ‘Trump Accounts’ for their employees’ children, and the department says more than 50 companies have already committed to offering such contributions.

The new guidance provides a framework for employers to contribute up to $2,500 annually to employees’ ‘Trump Accounts’ for their children. Employers’ contributions are considered pre-tax, meaning they will not count toward the employees’ taxable income. If employers choose to offer the benefit to their employees, their employees can also elect to contribute pre-tax dollars to those accounts.

The guidance gives "small and large businesses a new, low-cost, tax-preferred benefit they can use to help employees build wealth for their families, attract and retain workers, and strengthen Main Street over the long term,” according to a release from the department.

‘Trump Accounts’ are tax-preferred, index-based savings accounts for minors established by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) passed in July 2025. A report by the Congressional Research Service describes them as “traditional IRAs that operate under special rules that may make saving more financially advantageous for children.”

Parents can set up accounts for all of their children under the age of 18, as long as they do so by the end of the calendar year before their 18th birthday. Accounts for babies born from 2025 through 2028 are eligible for a $1,000 federal seed contribution, and the administration has partnered with philanthropists who have also elected to offer varying seed contributions to select groups of children.

Parents, friends, relatives, philanthropists and employers can all contribute to the accounts, up to a combined total of $5,000 per year. There are no limits on contributions from charities or governments.

The department said it has already seen buy-in from dozens of major employers, with more than 50 already having committed to Trump account contributions for their employees. 

“We have worked with more than 50 of the largest employers in the country to prepare them for Trump Accounts and are proud to share their outlook on this new option,” IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano said in a statement. 

The chief human resources officer for global investment management firm Vanguard said it will offer this benefit to its employees starting in 2027.

“Beginning in 2027, Vanguard will expand its well-being and lifestyle program to offer our crew members the choice to direct a $1,500 employer contribution to an eligible Trump Account,” Jon Couture said in a statement.

Visa also plans to offer the benefit to employees, promising a company match of the government’s one-time $1,000 contribution. 

“530A Trump Accounts will help children build long-term financial security by ensuring they have a vested stake in their future from the very beginning. We are pleased to make Trump Accounts available to U.S. employees at Visa,” said Kelly Tullier, Visa’s vice chair, chief people and corporate affairs officer.

(The Center Square) – The Trump administration is bulldozing through Big Bend National Park despite thousands of Texans, including Republicans, ranchers, small business owners, sheriffs, county judges and former National Park Service superintendents calling on it to stop. 

More than 140 outfitters, recreation-based organizations and local businesses called on Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to urge the Trump administration to stop “the needless construction of physical border barriers” in the park. On Tuesday, Cornyn responded and acted.

Border wall and barrier construction will cause “irreversible harm to public recreation, rural economies, wildlife, cultural resources and Texas’ natural heritage,” the groups argue.

A bipartisan coalition of elected sheriffs and judges remain opposed to border wall construction, including all five sheriffs and all 14 border county judges, arguing technology is a better approach, The Center Square reported.

Seven former Big Bend superintendents, with a combined 259 years of National Park Service experience, have repeatedly called on the Department of Homeland Security to rescind dozens of waivers that were issued to advance construction. 

Then DHS Secretary Kristi Noem first signed dozens of waivers to ignore federal and state laws to advance border wall and barrier construction. They eliminate all protections for migratory birds and other animals unique to the region, national historic preservation and Native American grave protections, eliminated clean air and water and energy independence protections as well as protections for the American Eagle, The Center Square reported. 

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin also signed a waiver of all federal, state and local laws and regulations related to preserving environmental and cultural preservation. Former National Park superintendents said doing so was “devastating” and won’t result in border security. “It is still possible to enhance border security in Big Bend National Park without destroying what makes it one of America’s most treasured landscapes,” they said. 

His waiver allows for the installation of physical barriers, 205 miles of new roads up to 24 feet wide, among other measures including lighted utility poles in an area “which sees absolutely no illegal entries,” the superintendents argue.

Of Mullin, they said, “You now seem to believe you have unlimited authority and no legal accountability. While we wish it were otherwise, we nonetheless appeal to your patriotism and commitment to the full range of what makes America great by doing everything possible to minimize unnecessary impacts to Big Bend National Park. A secure border and conserving America’s natural and cultural resources do not have to be in conflict.”

The former superintendents also point to CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott claiming in May that “CBP will not build a border wall inside Big Bend National Park on the U.S.-Mexico border following blowback from local residents,” questioning “whether any statements put out by DHS or CBP officials can be relied upon.”

Federal contractors are now plowing through native vegetation along the Rio Grande’s riparian corridor, with the Santa Elena Canyon visible in the background. According to CBP plans, dynamite will be used to blast through Mariscal Mountain to build border barriers “in remote walled canyons where no unauthorized vehicle crossings have been documented and where vehicles cannot access the border with Mexico,” the Center for Biological Diversity argues. It and others sued the administration to stop destruction of the park. 

“The administration is preparing to blast hundreds of miles of destructive roads through the wildest place left in Texas and cut off public access to the Rio Grande, all to enrich private contractors,” Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the center said. “Big Bend belongs to us all, and sacrificing it is a betrayal of every Texan and every American who believes our national parks should be protected.”

The Texas General Land Office also just directed federal contractors to stop destroying state land to build a border barrier, arguing doing so is illegal, The Center Square reported. 

On Tuesday, Cornyn urged Mullin in a letter to listen to “Texas stakeholders’ concerns on federal plans to construct physical border barriers in Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.” He also urged DHS to meet with Texans directly “to discuss their concerns before any additional construction activity occurs at the parks.” 

“In the past, communications between DHS and state and local leaders have occurred, but it appears the level of coordination and communication related to proposed construction in the Big Bend region has not been as fulsome as in previous years,” Cornyn said. He also added that the county judges haven’t received a response to requests they made in April. 

“The requests from local officials and community leaders for coordination and communication appear very reasonable to me and I would ask that you or your designees meet with Texas stakeholders directly to discuss their concerns before proceeding with any additional construction of physical barriers” in the park, he said. 

Mullin, Abbott and Cruz did not respond to requests for comment. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued the Biden administration dozens of times over border barriers, hasn’t weighed in. His Senate challenger, state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, has.

“God already built a wall through Big Bend – it's called the Chisos Mountains. We don't need to give billions of our tax dollars to out of state vendors. We don't need to desecrate this sacred land. We don't need this useless, disgraceful, corrupt Big Bend border wall,” he said.

Mizzou alum Sheryl Crow will sing the national anthem before the Tigers’ opening game against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Sept. 3. The news was first broken in a video of Crow herself released by Mizzou Athletics on X Tuesday.

“I will see you then. I can’t wait to be back in town,” Crow says in the video.

Crow is a nine-time Grammy Award winner and had a total of 32 nominations. She won three awards at the 1994 event, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance for her album “All I Wanna Do." She currently has 8.5 million monthly listeners. She also recorded the song, "Real Gone" for the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film, "Cars." 

Crow is a Missouri native, born in Kennett. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Education. During her time at Mizzou, Crow sang in a cover band and played at the bar formerly known as Bullwinkles (now the Field House). She was also a Tiger hostess, showing Mizzou football recruits and their families around the campus.

The Tigers open vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.

Boulevard releases “Mizzou Brew”

A new beverage will be offered at Memorial Stadium this fall, with the addition of “Mizzou Brew” by Boulevard Brewing Co. of Kansas City. The beer is meant to celebrate 100 years of Tiger football played at the stadium, which dates back to 1926. The drink is advertised as a crisp lager with a hint of blood orange.

Boulevard Brewing Co. originally opened in 1989 is no stranger to working with Mizzou Athletics, as the company’s hard seltzer, Quirk, is an official partner of the Tigers. It also released the Mizzou Mix Pack, featuring four unique seltzers in each case, and created Tiger Paw Punch, a mango hard seltzer.

The athletics department is expected to announce several more product partnerships to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice has broadened the interpretation of “executive privilege,” a statute that shields certain sensitive presidential communications from public, judicial, or congressional oversight.

In a new authoritative memo, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel expanded the scope of the term to include executive officials’ correspondences with “private advisers,” which means “anyone the President consults outside the Executive Branch.”

“The need for presidential confidentiality applies to communications with private advisers just as it does with government officials,” the Office concluded. “Restricting executive privilege to purely intragovernmental communications would foreclose the President from relying on an array of important sources that he may find necessary to the effective discharge of his responsibilities of office.”

It clarified, however, that not everything the president tells a private individual is privileged.

To enjoy executive privilege, the communications must “relate to official presidential decisionmaking, involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and are confidential.”

Some government watchdog groups, however, argue that such a broad expansion of privilege undermines institutional transparency at a time when public trust in government is at record lows, according to polling data.

Scott Amey, General Counsel for the Project On Government Oversight, believes the move is “an effort to conceal information for a decade or more.”

“This administration has become the least transparent administration in history,” Amey told The Center Square, referencing staffing cuts at internal agency watchdogs and the scrubbing of information from government websites.

“While previous presidents have sought the advice of government outsiders, this move and the timing are to gain cover if Congress flips and it conducts oversight hearings about the activities and decisions that have been made in the past two years.”

While the memo is not a judicial decision and therefore not binding in courts, it is binding within the executive branch. It is currently unclear how the change will impact future investigations into both current and future presidential administrations

“We'll likely see many challenges related to who is an advisor, and the courts will have to decide if certain communications are truly confidential and related to presidential decision making, which hopefully will exclude conversations about fancy jets, crypto deals, and funneling money to family businesses and family members,” Amey said.

Democratic lawmakers have vowed to immediately launch investigations into those and other controversial activities within the second Trump administration if they regain control of Congress.

“The Office of Legal Counsel used to have sufficient independence from the president to give sound legal advice to the executive branch,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., posted on social media Tuesday. “This latest opinion should be seen as a partisan measure to insulate the president and his corrupt activities from Congressional subpoenas when the majority flips.”

(The Center Square) – U.S. existing-home sales fell 1.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million even as prices climbed again, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The median existing-home price hit $434,100 in July, up 2% from a year earlier and the 37th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases. Mortgage rates, meanwhile, have moved higher.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 6.69% the week of Aug. 6, above the 6.63% of a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Rates had run below year-ago levels for much of the spring, when falling borrowing costs helped lift sales.

"Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, adding that the market "would be thriving if average mortgage rates were to return near 6%."

NAR's housing affordability index registered 103.3 in July, up from 98.3 a year earlier, although that reading largely predates the rate increase. First-time buyers made up 29% of sales, down from 33% in June. Inventory stood at 1.54 million units, a 4.6-month supply and still below the six months generally considered a balanced market.

Leading indicators point to a softer second half. Newly pending listings, which track homes going under contract, were up just 0.3% from a year earlier and down 7.7% from June, according to Zillow's July market report, a sign the summer's sales may not carry into fall.

The cooling comes despite federal efforts to ease housing costs. In January, President Donald Trump directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to lower rates, and NAR reported the 30-year rate fell to 5.99% the day after. Congress in June passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a supply-focused overhaul. Rates have since risen and inventory remains below a balanced market.

Trump has pressed the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, saying the U.S. "should have the lowest interest rate in the world." The central bank held steady in July, with three officials pushing instead for a hike.

NAR cut its 2026 forecast for existing-home sales growth from 14% to 4% in April, citing rising mortgage rates. Through July, sales were running up just 2.4% from a year earlier, below even the lowered estimate.

The typical monthly mortgage payment on a U.S. home was about $1,888 in July, according to Zillow, still slightly below a year earlier, but an edge the company expects to vanish as higher rates take hold. The result is a market where prices keep climbing, a 37th straight month of year-over-year gains, even as fewer homes change hands.

(The Center Square) – A southern state that banned medical gender transition for children is funding a network of doctors and therapists who promote some of those same controversial treatments, an investigation by The Center Square found.

A nonprofit called Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group openly touts puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as treatment options for minors. And through 2027, it's receiving $1.28 million from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, records and interviews show.

North Carolina state law strictly forbids body-altering gender treatments on children younger than 18, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries. Health and Human Services says the grant only covers adult mental health services, but it has not explained how that's being policed. The agency also has not produced any oversight records.

"Under the age of 18," reads text on the Charlotte nonprofit’s website, "medical providers coordinate care with mental health providers to support youth and families in making decisions about timing, puberty suppression, or initiating hormone therapy."

Other information on the website suggests children as young as infants and toddlers can be treated with "gender-affirming care" – which critics of pediatric gender medicine say likely means steering them on a pathway where drugs and surgeries would be eventual options. The site even lists healthcare providers for kids.

"It's shocking," said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC Values Coalition, a conservative Christian nonprofit that was instrumental in passing the 2023 ban law and lobbied for other anti-transgender measures passed by North Carolina. "It's obvious from the latest bills from the General Assembly on this topic that this violates the spirit of these laws and the public policy of the state."

Charlotte Transgender Healthcare's executive director, and several of its doctors, did not respond to interview requests from The Center Square.

Health and Human Services refused to make any of its officials available for interviews, answering questions only through a spokesman, and only by email.

Asked how the state ensures grant money isn't intermingled with the nonprofit's outreach to children, spokesman James Werner sent a statement saying in part, "This contract is subject to the Department’s standard business practices for administrative and financial oversight of contractors providing community-based services to help ensure services are provided and funding is used in accordance with the contract terms."

The contract terms say performance will be monitored through reviews of required reports and site visits. Werner did not respond to a question about whether the state has conducted any such reviews or site visits.

Message to the public

On its website, Charlotte Transgender Healthcare, which also goes by Charlotte Trans Health, describes itself as "a compassionate collective of healthcare providers" dedicated to advancing "health equity for transgender and gender diverse individuals through education, advocacy, and accessible, affirming care." The site has a "Find a Provider" directory that connects people with doctors, psychologists, therapists, counselors and other health professionals.

"On the website, it was alarming that they actually have a drop-down box for age categories, so you can look up your provider according to what age the patient is," Fitzgerald said. "And I was shocked to see that they have children included there, because we have outlawed gender transitioning for minors in North Carolina."

Fifty-three healthcare professionals in the directory, including four medical doctors, have profiles saying they have "gender-affirming care competency" for patients ages 17 and younger. Twenty-one say they see patients 10 and younger. Six, including one medical doctor, say they serve ages 0 to 3.

The nonprofit's executive director, psychologist Holly Savoy, declined to explain to The Center Square what kind of gender-affirming care toddlers and elementary school-aged children might receive.

Savoy's own website profile says she has advanced competency for treating youth ages 11 to 17, plus adults over 18. Among her listed services are "Transition/Affirmation Letters for Hormone Therapy," "Transition/Affirmation Letters for Surgery," and "Therapy for Parents."

Savoy did not respond to phone messages or an email with detailed questions.

Source of funds

North Carolina's Republican-controlled General Assembly passed its ban on child gender transition treatments, House Bill 808, in 2023. The governor at the time, Democrat Roy Cooper, vetoed the bill, but the legislature overrode him by a vote of 27-18 in the Senate and 74-45 in the House.

That put North Carolina among 27 states that have enacted laws which, to varying degrees, ban youth access to medical gender treatments.

The new law made it illegal for medical professionals to perform surgeries on minors or prescribe puberty-blocking medications or hormones. The penalty is revocation of medical license, and the law lengthened civil liability for harm to patients to 25 years past their 18th birthday, or four years after discovery of injury.

In a clause aimed at preventing the state health insurance plan from paying for any such procedures, the bill added that, "No State funds may be used, directly or indirectly, for the performance of or in furtherance of surgical gender transition procedures, or to provide puberty‑blocking drugs or cross‑sex hormones to a minor."

The very next year, with the executive branch still under Gov. Cooper, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services took applications for community-based mental health block grants. The grants come from a pot of federal funds from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, which gives North Carolina about $29 million per year, Werner, of Health and Human Services, told The Center Square in emails.

Charlotte Trans Health received three years of funding, starting with $780,000 paid in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, and another $500,000 slated for payment in 2027, Werner said.

"It's very simple," Fitzgerald, of the Christian conservative group, said of the contradiction between state law and the grant award. "We have a state legislature that is conservative and really has followed and sought to advance family values. And we have a governor that is a radical and has sought to advance every LGBT cause known to man," which she said goes for both former Gov. Cooper and current Gov. Josh Stein.

The payments represented a significant budget boost for the nonprofit. According to its publicly available Form 990s, revenues totaled $226,030 in 2023 and $737,611 in 2024. It's unclear if any portion of the North Carolina mental health services grant is included in the 2024 figure. The 990 says government grants totaled $573,234 that year, or 78% of revenue.

Contract 'complies with regulations'

Asked if the state grant complies with state law against gender transition treatments, Werner said in an email that the nonprofit has a contract with a limited scope of services—and it's only for treating adults.

The contract, which he provided, lists nine performance requirements. Among them: linking 60 people to support services for housing, employment, and financial assistance; providing 105 individual counseling sessions and 24 group counseling sessions; distributing educational materials to improve healthcare providers' understanding of transgender and gender-diverse issues; and buying $30 gift cards for community advisory board members who take part in focus groups to give feedback on the nonprofit's services.

"Funds allocated to Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group are used for adult mental health services including case management, psychotherapy, and linkage to medical services limited to mental health counseling," the department's statement said.

There's a potential compliance issue, though, when it comes to President Trump's executive orders concerning federal funds, SAMHSA spokeswoman Danielle Bennett told The Center Square in an email.

"SAMHSA funds, including those provided to subrecipients of SAMHSA grants, cannot be used for any activities that violate federal law or the requirements set forth under applicable Executive Orders," she wrote. "This includes a prohibition on the use of funds to promote gender ideology or the provision of gender transition services."

An executive order from January 2025, called "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," contains the directive, "Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology," and that each agency must "ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology." The directive has come under legal challenge, though, with injunctions issued in Washington and Oregon.

The Center Square asked North Carolina Health and Human Services if the grant to Charlotte Trans Health conforms to the president's order.

"The Department’s contract with Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group complies with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, including those addressing the use of federal funds," the statement said. 

What does it mean?

Several profiles on the Charlotte Trans Health website that indicate a willingness to work with children belong to medical doctors.

Obstetrician and gynecologist Erin Cook's page says she has advanced-level gender-affirming care competency for serving children and youth ages 4 to 17. One of her listed services is "Hormone Replacement Therapy for Teens."

The page for family physician Carson Rounds says he has advanced gender-affirming care competency for youth ages 11 to 17, and intermediate competency for children 4 to 10. His list of services also includes hormone replacement therapy for teens, as well as "Puberty Suppression."

One medical doctor's profile on the site, for family medicine physician Rhett Brown, says he has advanced competency for ages 0-3, as well as youth up to age 17.

None of those doctors responded to messages from The Center Square seeking input for this story.

The website also has an "important notice" at the bottom saying it's "not designed to promote or endorse any medical or healthcare practice, program, or agenda, or any medical tests, products, or procedures. Nothing on this website should be construed by you to be a promotion, endorsement, or advertisement for any particular practice, provider, or procedure."

Leor Sapir, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has studied pediatric gender medicine in depth, skimmed the group’s website and said it’s not immediately clear if Charlotte Trans Health is performing any treatments on children that are banned by state law.

"Either they’re speaking out of both sides of their mouth, or they’re being deliberately vague," he said.

Social transition

Oregon pediatrician Julia Mason, a founding board member of the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, called claims of competency in advising parents of babies and toddlers "disturbing."

There are no medical interventions normally offered to infants and prepubescent children, according to Mason, whose nonprofit argues that the use of hormones, puberty blockers and surgeries to treat youth with gender dysphoria lacks sufficient evidence of safety or efficacy.

The Charlotte nonprofit's website is likely alluding to socially transitioning young children, she said, which could mean telling them they were born in the wrong body and changing their names, hairstyles, clothing and pronouns to match the opposite sex.

"Social transition concretizes an identity that otherwise could have been temporary," Mason said. "So kids who are young enough to believe in Santa Claus will truly believe the parents and adults in their life who tell them that when they're older, the doctors will change their sex."

The Center Square reached out to several pro-LGBTQ groups for this story, but received no responses from ACLU of North Carolina, Equality North Carolina, Campaign for Southern Equality, Lambda Legal or the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

(The Center Square) — The U.S. Department of Justice stationed federal agents to monitor polling sites in two Minnesota counties ahead of Tuesday's primary elections. 

The Justice Department announced Tuesday morning that agents from the Civil Rights Division will monitor polling locations in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. The two counties account for the majority of Minnesota's urban centers, including Minneapolis and St. Paul. 

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in the department's civil rights division, said deployment of federal agents was part of broader efforts to ensure election integrity across the country. 

“The DOJ is committed to nondiscriminatory monitoring throughout the primary and general election seasons," Dhillon said. 

The Justice Department previously deployed staff to Minnesota counties in 2020, 2022 and 2024 federal elections. The agency also deployed agents to monitor polling stations in Michigan during the primary elections in the state last week. 

"We're sending actual DOJ civil rights lawyers," Dhillon said in a video posted to social media. "They are trained in election law, they are trained in observing these types of things and, who knows, you may even see me at the polls somewhere." 

Minnesota is among six states the Justice Department announced it would observe in July. Arizona, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Virginia are all on the list where federal agents have or will monitor. 

Leaders in Minnesota slammed the Justice Department's plan to deploy agents in the two counties. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said he plans to have state observers stationed to monitor the extent of federal oversight. 

"I certainly understand why reports of agents of the federal government at the polls would alarm people, especially here in Minnesota, given what we have all gone through over the last several months," Simon said. "I want to say that we aren't taking anything for granted now."

Simon said he was unaware of federal agents causing issues at polling places in other states. He emphasized the importance of having additional precautions after the uptick in federal agent presence following Operation Metro Surge, an effort to crack down on illegal immigration in Minnesota's urban areas. 

"They have in other states, to my knowledge, behaved themselves. We don't have any reason to believe they'll depart from that record this primary cycle, but we want eyes on the observers, and that's what we're aiming to do," Simon said.

A pair of Mizzou divers made a splash at the 2026 USA Diving Championships on Monday in Morgantown, West Virginia.

National champion Collier Dyer (unattached) and Tanner Braunton (unattached) took home third place in the 3-meter synchronized diving event. The pair finished behind Jack Ryan (Stanford Diving) and Quinn Henniger (Johansen Diving Academy) who won their third national title together, scoring 827.82 points in their three lists — 135.15 points more than Dyer and Braunton's 692.67.

Dyer also finished seventh in the 3-meter springboard event, one spot in front of Braunton. Braunton logged another top-10 finish, placing eighth in the 1-meter springboard event.

The 2026 rendition of the USA Diving National Championships concludes Tuesday with the men's 10-meter synchronized diving and women's 3-meter synchronized diving.

The 2026 U.S. Amateur began Monday with 312 golfers, including three from MU, taking to the courses at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

The Tigers were represented by Trent Mierl, Brock Snyder and Veikka Viskari making up the largest group of Tigers to ever go to the tournament.

Round 1 did not go according to plan for the Tiger golfers though, as each of the three finished outside the Top 200.

Viskari led the three Missouri golfers, finishing with a 7-over-par 77 to slot in at a tie for 260th with 15 other golfers. The Finland product couldn't get into a rhythm, finishing the front nine with a double bogey and a pair of bogeys. He was able to birdie the 12th but picked up another double bogey and two more bogeys.

Mierl and Snyder both finished 9-over-par 79 to come in at a tie for 284th with nine other golfers. Mierl started off strong with a birdie on the third hole, but quickly cooled off as he bogeyed the next three holes. Snyder never saw himself under par as he bogeyed six times through 16 holes. Then, on the 18th hole, Snyder plummeted as he triple bogeyed the hole.

If any of the three MU golfers hope to make the cut, which only the top 64 make, they'll have to find themselves even or lower.

The Tigers will start their second round of play when Mierl tees off at 6:22 a.m. at Merion Golf Club, while Snyder tees off at 7:39 a.m. and Viskari at 12:47 p.m. at Philadelphia Country Club.

Former Missouri and current Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III is expected to miss all of the preseason with a groin injury, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. The wideout is expected to be back for the Bears' Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 13. 

Per the Chicago Sun-Times, Bears head coach Ben Johnson also said "we don’t have issues with any of our injured guys. We’re going to be fine.”

Burden was at the team's walkthrough Monday, per Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune. 

Burden suffered the injury by falling awkwardly on his leg after colliding with cornerback Tyrique Stevenson during Saturday's practice. 

Burden was selected by the Bears with the No. 39 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after spending three seasons at Missouri. He then logged up 47 receptions for 652 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie season.

Burden was a two-time first team All-SEC selection with the Tigers, racking up 86 receptions for 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024, then 61 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns in his 2025 junior campaign.