Morikawa Distances Himself From Saudi Golf League
The American has reiterated his allegiance to the PGA Tour as speculation mounts as to who'll join the controversial series
World No.3 Collin Morikawa has again distanced himself from the upcoming LIV Invitational Series, which gets under way at the Centurion Club in London in June.
In recent days, speculation has grown as to the identities of the players who’ll take part in the series, with Sergio Garcia linked with the tournament and Phil Mickelson requesting release from the PGA Tour to open a path to playing in the first event.
Morikawa pledged his allegiance to the Tour before February’s Genesis Invitational, and, speaking at a media day press conference for the 150th Open Championship, taking place at St Andrews in July, the 25-year-old’s stance doesn’t appear to have wavered. He said: “Look, I said at Riviera earlier this year in, I believe, February that my alliance is to the PGA Tour. Will I still watch what’s going on? I mean, yeah. You’re curious to what’s going on. But do I care who’s going to be playing, or do I care who’s going to be making money? No, not at all."
Morikawa doesn’t seem to be in the mood for any distractions as the year progresses and was very clear about his priorities for the rest of 2022. He said: "At the end of the day, I’m here to win Majors. I’m here to win PGA Tour tournaments. Hopefully, return and defend my Race to Dubai title. There’s a lot of other things that are on my mind and a lot of goals that I set at the beginning of the year that I look forward to."
"So far, through about five months or four months, I haven’t really won, or I haven’t won. It’s not I haven’t really won. I haven’t won at all. So I want to get back out there. I want to go back out and win another couple Majors somehow and finish off this kind of year on a good note. I look forward to the rest of the year for sure.”
With Morikawa reiterating his stance on the LIV Invitational Series, it's looking increasingly likely that the current World No.15, Louis Oosthuizen, will be its highest-ranked player.
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Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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