Rahm, Koepka seek to keep US Open focus amid merger turmoil

Jon Rahm could do without the sense of "limbo" wrought by the bombshell merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf's Saudi backers as he prepares for the US Open, but Brooks Koepka expects to thrive amid the "chaos" of the week.

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The winners of the first two majors of the year - Rahm claimed his second major title at the Masters in April and Koepka bagged his fifth at the PGA Championship last month - were among the many blindsided by the shock announcement last week that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour would join forces with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

The deal is being billed as one that will end the bitter rift that erupted when the PIF-funded LIV Golf breakaway league launched in October 2021.

But the merger has already drawn scrutiny from US lawmakers, and with nothing official and few details released of how the rapprochement will unfold, players arriving at Los Angeles Country Club for the 123rd US Open almost uniformly said they were just trying to shut out the politics and focus on the task at hand.

"Well, there's a lot of not-answered questions," world number two Rahm said Tuesday. "It's tough when it's the week before a major. (I'm) trying not to think about it as much as possible."

Rahm said the sudden revelation from PGA Tour officials, including commissioner Jay Monahan, who had vilified LIV as a Saudi sportswashing scheme poaching stars to play in a substandard format, couldn't help but raise doubts about the way forward.

"I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it's clear that that's not the consensus," Rahm said. "I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.

"I get