Open champion Collin Morikawa has say on Saudi-backed LIV Golf and declares: I'm only interested in memories not money

Collin Morikawa, the Open champion, insists he’s more interested in memories than money in his career, admitting he doesn’t even know how much he earned for his Claret Jug win at Royal St George’s last year.

The two-time major champion spoke about the money stakes in golf after it was claimed that 15 players in the world’s top 100 had registered for the the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event at the Centurion Club near London in early June.

“Look, I said in February that my alliance is to the PGA Tour,” said Morikawa in a press conference about his title defence in the 150th Open at St Andrews in July. “Will I still watch what’s going on? Yeah, I’m curious about what’s going on. Do I care who is going to be playing? No, not at all.

“At the end of the day, I’m here to win majors and to win PGA Tour tournaments and return to defend my Race to Dubai title.”

Phil Mickelson is one of the players to lodge an application to receive a release from the PGA Tour to play in the first of Greg Norman’s events, which will carry prize pots of £20 million.

Others thought to be in line to play in the 48-man field at the Centurion Club include European Ryder Cup trio Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and South African Louis Oosthuizen.

The English leg is the first of eight tournaments in the LIV Golf Invitational Series, which also takes in stops in the USA, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. The final event, a £15m team championship, will be staged at Donald Trump’s Doral course in Miami from October 28-30.

“To be honest, we don’t know who they are and if they are actually going to compete,” added Morikawa. “At the end of the day, nothing is concrete. Yes, people have signed up, but it doesn’t mean they are going to play.

“It