Collin Morikawa on crunch PGA Tour meetings: "We are rolling the dice"

Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa revealed an insight into the crunch PGA Tour meetings that have recently been called to combat the emergence of the LIV Golf Series.

Speaking to Dan Rapaport on the Foreplay Podcast, Morikawa said golf fans could guess who speaks the most in these player meetings, presumably meaning Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy who led one of the first key meetings back in August.

The 25-year-old downplayed his role in the gatherings somewhat but portrayed his excitement for the 13 elevated events which will take place in the revamped PGA Tour season in 2023.

Related: What upset Collin at 2022 U.S. Open

The WM Phoenix Open, the RBC Heritage, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Travelers Championship have been elevated this season and the top 20 players from this year's Player Impact Program will supposedly compete in all 13 tournaments which also include increased prize purses.

Another meeting was held on Tuesday ahead of the Hero World Challenge with the 20 players in the field at Albany Golf Club.

Morikawa believes with each decision comes some risk, but also believes the new changes to the Tour, including the expanded PIP purse and the minimum earnings program, will benefit every player and not just the top 20.

"I'm a little bit of both - I'm sure everyone can guess who is speaking the most here and there. There's a group of people who are speaking the most. I'm kind of right in the middle - I view myself as someone who can understand a lot of this stuff, just take it all in," Morikawa said.

"It's never too much information, so I can just sit there and be like OK, I understand what they're trying to put out and what they're trying to do and kind of think about it. But it's crazy because who knows what's right and what's wrong?

Related: Morikawa gets hitched to Katherine Zhu

"We could be rolling the dice right now and that's what everyone's doing, but I think in the end, it's all going to be good for everyone. Not for the top players which some people think, it's going to be good for everyone.

"I remember when I was vying to get in my first WGC which was in Mexico in 2020, I birdied the first five or six holes at Riviera the week before. I was right on the cusp of getting into the top 50 and then I five-putted - yeah, I'm a really good putter!

"The WGCs to me were awesome. It was a very small (group of) a few people, the top 50 in the world plus a handful of others, but they are the best fields. So I'm excited to see what 2023 is going to be like with these Elevated Events," Morikawa added.

"That's what you want to do. You want to compete against these guys, you want to see them playing at their best and you want to see how your game stacks up at that time. Hopefully, it's on top.

"I fully feel that I know that I can beat these guys when I'm playing well and I just have to put four good days/rounds (together) and just play like normal golf and not be stupid."

Morikawa has proven on multiple occasions that he can win against the best players in the world. In July 2021, he won The Open Championship and became the first player to win two majors on his tournament debut.

In the same season, the American made his WGC breakthrough at the Workday Championship. He was winless in 2022 but still notched eight top 10s and two runner-up finishes.

Also in the podcast, Morikawa discussed the period during last season when speculation surrounded his future on the PGA Tour shortly after Brooks Koepka revealed he'd joined LIV Golf.

The five-time Tour winner asserted he never knew who was moving to the Saudi-financed league and he also spoke of his frustration at finishing 11th in the PIP for the second consecutive year.