Collin Morikawa fed up with PGA Tour “fluff”

Collin Morikawa won’t even bother opening his inbox anymore. 

The two-time major champion has become so fed up with the division and conjecture in professional golf right now that updates on the PGA Tour’s prospective deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund bankrolling LIV Golf no longer interest him.

There’s no doubt, however, that Morikawa still wants a deal tied up between the warring factions so golf’s fractured talent pool can all compete together again.

“At this point, I think just deals need to be made and we all need to get back to playing golf,” he stressed, before shooting an eight-under opening 65 to trail by one at The Sentry, the season-opener in Hawaii.

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“It is what it is. Guys make their decision to go one way, I’ve never had an issue with it, I’ve never had an issue with anything.

“Everyone makes their own decision. But I do miss playing with everyone at one time. That’s why the majors have been fun over the past year, two years.

“Not that they’re not fun, but it’s nice to see some of these guys, right, because it’s, that was normal when I turned pro.

“I never thought it was going to be anything different. Not that it takes away from these fields, not that it takes away from the PGA Tour, but there’s great players in other parts of the world, and I think we miss that.”

A PGA Tour memo sent out to its players on December 31 acknowledged that its self-imposed deadline to finalise a deal with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has been extended, but a new target date is unknown.

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“I hope everything comes together and we’re able to all play together at some point in some time in some way, but there’s so much back and forth, the emails we get, it’s all fluff,” Morikawa admitted.

“There’s no point in reading these emails anymore that we get. Players are saying one thing and then they say something else some other time.”

In his end-of-year memo, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote: “Our goal for 2024 is to reach agreements with SSG, PIF and the DP World Tour, bringing them on board as minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises. These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of players, fans and sponsors.”

bunkered.co.uk has learned that a new mooted deadline of April’s Masters to secure a definitive agreement is wide of the mark, with all parties working hard to get a deal done well before the first major of the year.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.