U.S. Open: Will grouping PGA, LIV together cause extra tension?
Things could get interesting at 1:54 p.m. PST at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday.
At least, there are golf fans out there who wonder if they will be, as that is the time that Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy tee off together in the first round of the U.S. Open.
The two have kept a good rapport despite the ongoing friction between the leagues they play for, but it has been a whirlwind of a week since it was announced that the feuding pro golf circuits could soon function under the same umbrella.
The Irishman proclaimed that he "still hates LIV" while LIV-playing Koepka joked to the media that he would see them at the PGA's Traveler's Championship next week.
The duo — with Hideki Matsuyama being the third wheel in this group — aren't the only PGA Tour and LIV Golf players to be mixed together to kick off this major event. Is the recent news of a potential PGA-LIV merger going to make things extra tense?
A couple of weeks ago, it wouldn't really be news that PGA Tour and LIV golfers would be grouped together for the first round at LACC. After both sides appeared to keep things professional on the links at the Masters and at the PGA Championship, it would have been fair to assume everything would be kosher this weekend in Southern California. Does the proposed merger change that?
This isn't to say that fans should expect fistfights on the course or anything. It's highly unlikely Matt Kuchar gets into a mid-round shouting match with Patrick Reed or Phil Mickelson southpaws Keegan Bradley in the jaw. But fans probably shouldn't expect a happy-go-lucky " Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods at the Masters" vibe either.
With so much still up in the air with regard to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf eventually cohabitating, it probably wasn't great for this "merger" to be proposed one week before a major event. (Jon Rahm said as much this week.)
So while it's unlikely we'll see any benches-clearing fisticuffs at LACC this weekend, it's a possibility that even the professionals out on the course won't be able to deny the tension.
We'll just have to wait and see when the 123rd U.S. Open tees off on Thursday.
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