Rory McIlroy is fully focused on The Masters at Augusta National, where he is looking for a fifth major championship win.
McIlroy has won the US Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship twice, but never The Masters.
His best finish at Augusta National came in 2022, when he finished second, three shots behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
Fellow PGA Tour star Scheffler headlines the field this year, where he is looking to secure a third Masters win after also winning last year.
McIlroy, who is behind only the American in the world rankings, has been paired with Ludvig Aberg and Akshay Bhatia for the opening two rounds.
Rory McIlroy can imagine PGA Tour vs LIV Golf Ryder Cup
He has avoided a pairing with any LIV Golf players at Augusta, of which there are 12, including three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson.
But McIlroy’s latest thoughts on the divide have now emerged, having been asked on The WHOOP Podcast if he could ever imagine a Ryder Cup of the PGA Tour versus LIV Golf.
“I could,” he said. “But at the same time do you want to give them that platform? If I am thinking from the PGA Tour’s side, which has got all of this – so many things in their favour.
“So that’s where I don’t know if you would want to do that. We do have the Ryder Cup. All of the best players, or most the best players, that are European or American. We have the Ryder Cup anyway and we also have the Presidents Cup.
“But if it was a made-for-TV thing, a one-off occasion, like an exhibition I think it would be cool and generate some excitement but I don’t know if it would be something that is a long-term thing.”
Rory McIlroy says why he took a ‘step back’ from PGA Tour and LIV Golf talks
LIV Golf players have been warned about Augusta National, with multiple major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka among their other representatives in Georgia.
The duo were involved in an exhibition with McIlroy and Scheffler back in December, although there were no official ties with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf during their Las Vegas duel.
Another LIV star in Jon Rahm has come under fire at The Masters for his deflection of any merger talks, but McIlroy has been able to share his verdict on the issue.
Asked if it matters if golf comes back together, he said: “To me, personally, selfishly, I don’t care. I am focused on my own golf and I am going to play the tournaments that I want to play.
“I am going to try and beat the golfers that I play with on that given week. I think for the overall good of the game, taking myself out of it, it would be better if we were all back together a little more often.
“We were talking about the majors getting that bump because we are, but I think golf needs that bump more than four times a year.
I think that is where, for the good of the game, absolutely it needs to come back together a little more often than it does.
“But from a personal standpoint I am happy with where my game is and happy where everything is, and whether it gets sorted out or not, I am good regardless.”
And when told that he is now less so in the epicentre of merger talks, McIlroy responded: “It was distracting.
“It probably took time away from focusing on my day job which is trying to be the best golfer I can be. But it also took time away from other things I wanted to do outside of golf.
“Like instead of being on this board calls I want to go play with my daughter and see her grow up and take vacations, whatever it is.
“I don’t regret it because I still think it was the right thing to do, but it got to the point where I realised that no matter how much time or effort I put into it, I alone could not influence what way this is going to go.
“There is so many more other people involved than me and that’s where I thought it’s better to take a step back, focus on myself, and let these other guys try and figure it out.”
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