Axios

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on Friday said he decided to fine the team's defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $100,000 for his comments on the Jan. 6 deadly Capitol insurrection.

Driving the news: Earlier this week Del Rio referred to the Capitol attack as “a dust-up,” prompting the ire of fans, players and even some elected officials.

Oklahoma beat Texas, 10-5, on Thursday to repeat as softball national champions, the first team to do so since national seeding began in 2005.

Why it matters: The Sooners have cemented themselves as an all-time dynasty, winning four of the past seven Women's College World Series titles and 115 of their last 122 games.

The State Department will brief the Phoenix Mercury on the Brittney Griner case while the team is in Washington D.C. this weekend, coach Vanessa Nygaard said at a press conference on Thursday.

The big picture: Griner, who has played for the Mercury since 2013, has been detained in Russia since March.

The inaugural LIV season runs from June 9 through Oct. 30 and doesn't conflict with any current majors. Five events are based in the U.S. and two are at courses owned by former President Trump.

State of play: LIV is highly controversial, partly due to conflicts with the PGA Tour and partly because of where the money is coming from: the Saudi Arabian government.

The PGA Tour has suspended 17 golfers who are playing in the debut LIV Golf event in London, it announced on Thursday.

Driving the news: LIV is highly controversial, partly due to conflicts with the PGA Tour and partly because it is funded by the Saudi Arabian government, Axios' Kendall Baker writes.

After months of speculation, LIV Golf finally tees off Thursday in London. Across the Atlantic, the PGA Tour continues its season in Ontario.

Why it matters: We may be witnessing the dawn of a new era, or maybe just the early days of a well-funded startup doomed to fail. Either way, men's professional golf has changed forever, and there's no going back.