Collin Morikawa doesn’t say much about the ongoing LIV Golf and PGA Tour merger saga, but when he does, he often shares the same concern: he misses “playing with everyone at one time,” as he mentioned at the 2024 The Sentry. Unfortunately for many Tour players, the merger deal is stalled. Recently, the Tour pushed back against the Saudi-backed league’s $1.5 billion proposal. LIV golfers and PGA Tour players will once again share the same course, and Collin Morikawa has some thoughts to share.

Collin Morikawa attended the press conference at Augusta National, where he was reminded that he hasn’t played alongside LIV golfers like Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann in quite some time. Does it matter to the World No. 4? Morikawa echoed his sentiments from last year, agreeing that it does. “I enjoy it. Look, I think everyone enjoys it. All those guys were amazing to me. They still are. We were very friendly out there.” 

The last time he played with Rahm and Niemann, for instance, was at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Then, Rahm (T5) and Niemann (T9) finished far ahead of Morikawa (T24). However, this is the kind of competition the golf world is looking for at the Masters. But the interviewer couldn’t help but take notice of his statement in that answer: “Yeah, it’s amazing how much we take for granted in life, I think.” What did the former Masters champion mean by that?

Morikawa explained himself. “Well, I mean, look, you look back at whenever LIV started and this whole debacle started, and back then when I first turned pro, no one really complained. You just — we enjoyed it. But then this all happened, and you take things for granted. You get my point? You look back and you’re like, man, we had it pretty good. Everyone always talks about money, and I think the whole — the money thing needs to get pushed aside. It’s just being golfers, being professional golfers, playing. These weeks are special now. You don’t take them lightly.” 

Collin Morikawa isn’t the only recent Tour golfer to voice out against LIV Golf regarding the golf divide. Just last month, while speaking with the media on a pre-Masters call, Scottie Scheffler infamously quoted, “If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys.” It started a wave of reactions in the golf world. However, it remains to be seen if we hear the same words at Augusta National. Until then, we have the latest update about the merger from LIV star Jon Rahm.

Jon Rahm does not want to think about the merger ahead of the Masters

Jon Rahm is one of the 12 LIV golfers who will be at Augusta National this year — one fewer than the 13 LIV Golf appearances at the Masters in 2024. While he wasn’t part of the discussions, Rahm is likely aware of the latest situation. The PGA Tour rejected the PIF’s recent $1.5 billion investment offer for PGA Tour Enterprises, which included a condition that the LIV Golf League would remain intact. Although Rahm and his fellow LIV golfers will be competing against many Tour players at the Masters, the prospect of him playing alongside Tour players more frequently still seems distant—and he does not want to think of that right now.

Jon Rahm sat down for an interview at Tuesday Augusta National and said, “I mean, I think we all would like to see that. But as far as I can tell and you guys can tell, it’s not happening anytime soon. I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about that, especially having a week like this one. I think all of our concerns should be on this week and things outside of that we can let ourselves think about outside this week.” 

It makes sense. Jon Rahm will compete at Augusta National as a past champion. In 2024, he entered the Masters not only as the defending champion but also as a recent defector to LIV Golf, ultimately finishing T45 at nine-over par. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is actively participating in the merger discussions, though the outcome remains uncertain. However, the players will likely be more focused on winning at Augusta than on the merger. Will we have more interactions between LIV and Tour golfers or merger talks? We will know soon!