Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are playing together at the U.S. Open in Los Angeles following the recent LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger, per ESPN. McIlroy was one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf when PGA players, such as Koepka, began leaving the Tour to join it. Although McIlroy has quit talking about LIV quite as much given the merger news, he still admitted that he “hates” LIV Golf.

“But it's not LIV, I think that's the thing,” Rory McIlroy previously said of the merger, via Sky Sports News. “I still hate LIV, like I hate LIV. I hope it goes away, and I would fully expect that it does. And I think that's where the distinction here is, this is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and the PIF. Very different from LIV. All I've tried tried to do is protect what the PGA Tour is and what the PGA Tour stands for, and I think it will continue to do that.”

Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy are two of the best golfers in the world. Both have clearly taken different directions in their careers, but their talent is fairly similar. It should be noted that McIlroy reacted to Koepka's PGA Championship win in May.

“I’m so happy for you,” McIlroy told Koepka, via Sunday World.

That interaction suggests there is no bad blood between the golfers despite their different stances on LIV Golf. Nevertheless, who knows what may happen in the heat of competition during the U.S. Open.