A controversial memo written by a top Facebook insider is causing a ruckus inside and outside the company as it continues to deal with the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and its handling of users’ personal information more broadly.

The memo, written by Facebook Vice President Andrew “Boz” Bosworth in 2016 and titled “The Ugly,” argues that Facebook’s goal should be connecting people even if it “costs a life by exposing someone to bullies” or “someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.” The memo, originally viewable only to Facebook employees, was obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg quickly responded to the memo’s publication, arguing its contents do not reflect the company’s true ethos.

“We’ve never believed the ends justify the means,” Zuckerberg said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “We recognize that connecting people isn’t enough by itself. We also need to work to bring people closer together. We changed our whole mission and company focus to reflect this last year.”

Zuckerberg also said the Bosworth is “a talented leader who says many provocative things,” and that the memo is something “that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly.”

Bosworth himself walked back the memo, saying in a tweet that “I don’t agree with the post today and I didn’t agree with it even when I wrote it.” Instead, he characterized the note as an effort to surface “hard topics” for internal discussion among Facebook employees.

Bosworth’s memo was first published one day after a Chicago man was shot and killed in an incident streamed on Facebook Live, the company’s livestreaming platform.

Under heightened scrutiny for its role in influencing recent political campaigns, Facebook announced it is banning foreign ads relating to Ireland’s upcoming referendum on abortion.

The decision follows intense international criticism over attempts to use the social media company’s platform to sway voters in elections, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Britain’s Brexit referendum, Reuters reports.

“As part of our efforts to help protect the integrity of elections and referendums from undue influence, we will begin rejecting ads related to the referendum if they are being run by advertisers based outside of Ireland,” said Facebook in a statement on its website.

On May 25, Irish voters will take part in a referendum on whether to liberalize Ireland’s divisive abortion laws, which are some of the strictest rules in the world. The procedure is illegal in the Catholic-majority Republic of Ireland, with terminations not allowed in cases of rape or incest, according to the BBC.

U.S.-based pro-life groups are among those who have bought online ads in the country ahead of the vote, ABC reports. Last month, the Irish data protection commissioner said it was possible foreign actors could try to sway the referendum.

Facebook said it is still developing automated election integrity tools, so the company would rely on campaign groups to identify the foreign ads.

A new “view ads” tool, which is still in trial mode after launching on April 25, allows users to see all of the ads an advertiser is running on the site in Ireland.

SOUTHPORT, England — Jordan Spieth faced more blustery conditions at Royal Birkdale as he set out to try to win the third leg of the career Grand Slam at The Open Championship.

Spieth had a three-shot lead over Matt Kuchar, who is playing in the final group of a major for the first time.

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP: Leaderboard | Photo Gallery

Xander Schauffele put together a 65 on Sunday morning, the best round of the early starters. The wind was expected to increase, though nothing like the second round.

Kuchar was the only player within five shots of Spieth.

A record crowd has taken it all in. The R&A says this is the highest attendance for an Open in England, topping the 230,000 mark set at Royal Liverpool when Tiger Woods won in 2006.

This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

Golf trophies are nice and meaningful, and Stewart Cink has a gracious plenty of them decorating his Duluth home.

But the trophy the 2009 British Open champion — and six-time PGA Tour winner — was holding Monday was looking like a centerpiece.

It's the one featuring the bronze figure of the late Payne Stewart, jaunty in trademark knickers, the one that has come to represent the PGA Tour pro who represents "character, charity and sportsmanship," that will command a special place.

Cink is the 2017 recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, its 20th winner, joining a roster that includes the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, Gary Player, Davis Love III, Steve Stricker, Nick Faldo and, last year, Jim Furyk. The winner traditionally is named at East Lake Golf Club, a particularly fitting venue this year. Club-member Cink has carried the banner for East Lake's community endeavors since leaving Georgia Tech and hitting the Tour full-time in 1997.

Cink's also the guy who, after beating 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff for the '09 Open, so carefully tempered his joy of winning with respect for the old champion and the sentimental story line that was denied that day.

"I'm not really into golf for recognition too much, but this is a recognition that I'm very, very proud of," Cink said Monday.

"All those other (trophies) are about a career and a livelihood, this is one is about what golf instilled into me — a nature of wanting to give back some of golf's values."

Cink choked up Monday when asked what in his personal life led him down the path of philanthropy. He remembered back 25 years, while at Tech, and his long-time girlfriend called from Auburn with some startling news: She was pregnant.

The young couple sought counseling, and were encouraged to accelerate plans of marriage and child-rearing. The counselor at the time "helped us become confident that we could do it, that we could be married, we could raise a family while in college," Cink said.

He and Lisa Cink have raised two sons, and Cink's wife in turn served as a pregnancy counselor for 10 years. "I'm just so proud of that," Cink said, his voice cracking.

"Our hearts were forged that day (25 years ago)," he said.

The two predominant organizations within the Cinks' charitable foundation are the Pregnancy Resource Center of Gwinnett and the Gwinnett Medical Center neonatal intensive care unit. Also to benefit from a $300,000 grant from the Southern Company, sponsor of the Payne Stewart Award, are the East Lake Foundation and the Healing Place, an Alabama-based grief counseling center for children. Also, the annual East Lake Invitational celebrity golf tournament, started by Cink and Billy Andrade, benefits the Drew Charter School Senior Academy at East Lake.

Lisa Cink, who has since April, 2016, has been in treatment for stage four breast cancer, was with her husband Monday. The pride in seeing the Cink name in the company of Payne Stewart Award winners was undeniable. "I look at those names and I see great men, giving men. I see big-hearted genuine men and the women behind them. I also see our friends," she said.

No matter how uncomfortable the compliment makes his wife, Cink could not help but credit her example with giving his golf career a little kick in the slacks. His three top-10 finishes are his most since 2013. His $1.2 million in money winnings is his most since 2010.

"Lisa has been fighting now for a year and a half and I've watched her fight," he said. "Seeing the nature of what she's done and how she has left no stone unturned has inspired me to leave no stone unturned as far as my career.

"As we just saw, the PGA Championship was a showcase for youth — it's awesome, they're great. I thought maybe I hadn't fought quite hard enough. Maybe there were a few stones I hadn't turned over."

At 44 — "I'm not 45 yet, so I'm in my early 40s," he said — winning more golf trophies on the PGA Tour may be problematic. Currently 73rd in FedEx Cup points, he plans to return to the course in two weeks with the start of golf's playoffs. Making it back to East Lake Sept. 21 with the surviving 30 players for the Tour Championship would be monumental.

Having already enjoyed a career moment at East Lake in 2017, Cink is in full its-all-gravy-from-here mode.

"All I can do is move up (in the FedEx standings), that's the way I'm viewing it," he said with a smile. 

This article is written by Steve Hummer from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – As the 6th PGA Jr. League Championship presented by National Car Rental returned to picturesque Grayhawk Golf Club, Team New Jersey (Hillsborough) and Team Georgia (Duluth) took early leads in their respective divisions, with Texas and New Hampshire knocking on the door.

Eight Regional Champion teams combined of boys and girls from across the country are vying for the national title. The 80 boys and girls represent All-Star Teams from a record 42,000 kids who played in PGA Jr. League during 2017.

At 2-0, New Jersey, which features two girls and eight boys, sits atop the Ryder Division standings, after defeating Team Illinois (Chicago) 8-4 in the morning session; and Team Arkansas (Little Rock) 10-2 in the afternoon match.

MORE: Full coverage of the 2017 PGA Jr. League Golf Championship | Photos from Grayhawk

The power pairing of 12-year-old Katie Li, who is appearing in her second PGA Jr. League Championship with Team New Jersey, and 11-year-old Megan Meng, a 2016 U.S. Kids Golf World Champion, went birdie-birdie-birdie on the final three holes to propel New Jersey to its desert hot start.

New Jersey leads Team Texas (Houston), who went 1-0-1 on the day. After tying Team Arkansas (Little Rock) 6-6 in the morning, Texas beat Illinois (Chicago) 7-5. Texas is in a must-win situation against New Jersey on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s Championship final pairing. New Jersey needs to either win or tie to clinch a chance to play for the title.

“I’m very proud of this team,” said Team New Jersey Captain Anthony Latham, PGA. “They’re scrappers. They prepared and worked hard, but we pride ourselves on being ready for anything. The third match was pivotal, because they’d lost the first two flags. Megan and Katie’s three consecutive birdies on Hole Nos. 16, 17 and 18 got us to seven , which secured the win."

“We started rough, but I think as we went on, we gained more confidence,” Li added. “Once we got a birdie, it encouraged us to keep making putts.”

In the Wanamaker Division, Team Georgia flexed its muscle early on and never looked back en route to a 10.5-1.5 win over Team Ohio (Columbia Station) to take first place by 2.5 points over Team New Hampshire after the opening stanza. The Wanamaker Division had a bye in the morning round.

Veteran Ethan Gao, 12, of Alpharetta, Georgia, who was the youngest player in the Championship last year, made an impressive return to Grayhawk, as he drilled a 25-foot eagle putt on the final hole to accentuate his team’s opening day win. Gao believes last year’s experience has given him an edge this year in a number of ways.

“Coming back, it settles my nerves a little bit more, and I can putt freely,” said Gao. “The competitors on my team have become my friends now, and everyone’s turned into my friends now, and I feel that it’s great that PGA Jr. League organized this.”

“Every single one of our kids played incredibly today,” said PGA Professional and Team Georgia Captain Patrick McCrary. “We didn’t have a weak link…the camaraderie on this team has been great to watch.”

MORE: A PGA Jr. League golfer’s journey from Rwanda to Scottsdale

Team New Hampshire (Atkinson) pulled off quite the win against Team California (San Jose) on the back nine of the Raptor Course. New Hampshire’s third and fourth twosomes each eagled Hole No. 18, their third hole of the day, and they rode this momentum to a victory over a tough California team.

“It jump started us a little bit,” said Team New Hampshire Captain Peter Doherty, PGA. “Between families, word starting getting back to the kids in the other groups. From there on, it never seemed to stop…Today’s win boosts the confidence more than anything. I hope it gets them off to a better start tomorrow, and they can just let it ride all afternoon.”

What’s a kid to do after such a great first day?

“They’re going back to the hotel to play football in the pool,” Team Georgia Assistant Coach Greg Powers answered.

Play Continues Saturday, Nov. 17 at 8:30 a.m. MT
Each team competes round-robin against the three other teams in their division Friday and Saturday (Nov. 17-18). The two teams with the best records from each division will compete for the national title; 2nd place teams from each division will compete for 3rd place; 3rd place teams from each division will compete for 5th place; and 4th place teams from each division will compete for 7th place on Sunday (Nov. 19).

Ryder Division
New Jersey (Hillsborough): 2-0-0, 18 points
Texas (Houston): 1-0-1, 13 points
Arkansas (Little Rock): 0-1-1, 8 points
Illinois (Chicago): 0-2-0, 9 points

Wanamaker Division*
Georgia (Duluth): 1-0-0, 10.5 points
New Hampshire (Atkinson): 1-0-0, 8 points
California (San Jose): 0-1-0, 4 points
Ohio (Columbia Station): 0-1-0, 1.5 points

*Teams in the Wanamaker Division each had a bye on Friday, Nov. 17, and therefore only played one match each.