Frustrations abound as merger shadow hangs heavy in Los Angeles

Before even a ball is struck in competition, this has been a US Open week unlike any other with the atmosphere around the player environments of the Los Angeles Country Club over the practice days somewhat muted and low key.

The frustration expressed by players on being left out of the conversation about the deal to merge the major tours in professional mens' golf is palpable and ever-present as the dust kicked up by last week’s announcement shows little sign of settling.

The words on Tuesday of World No. 2 Jon Rahm, the 2021 US Open winner, sum up the core sentiment of a widely held view that a form of disloyalty and deception has been perpetrated by the management structure of the PGA Tour.

In summing up the consensus of the players, Rahm said at his pre-championship press conference:

"I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal."

While many are struggling to concentrate fully on the particularly arduous task at hand at the LA Country Club, in the midst of the distraction at least one player seems to be welcoming the chaos.

Brooks Koepka does a glazed-eyed 'whatever’ approach to disturbance in the world around him probably as well as anyone in sport.

In the same way as he has coolly executed the task of winning major championships on five occasions over the last seven seasons while finishing runner-up in four others, he’s been in dead-eyed focused mode again this week and very little about the tumultuous events appears to be remotely concerning him.

"There’s four weeks in the year I really care about and this is one of them and I want to play well," said the man whose midas touch was rekindled in the majors, after a lapse of four years, at the PGA Championship in Oak Hill last month.

That victory