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| - Collin Morikawa said Monday a sporting boycott of Georgia is not the answer to controversy over new voting laws as the state prepares to host this week's 85th Masters at Augusta. Georgia has found itself in the crosshairs over recently adopted legislation that critics say is designed to suppress turnout amongst Black voters. On Friday, Major League Baseball confirmed it had stripped Atlanta of this year's All-Star Game in response to the furore over the new laws, a move that earned plaudits from across US sport. Morikawa, the 2020 PGA Championship winner, said Monday he would prefer to focus on a discussion about the legislation itself rather than the question of moving events out of Georgia. "This voter stuff and voters for American citizens is very important," Morikawa said. "I think that's the topic we should all be talking about. We shouldn't be talking about whether we're here or not," the 24-year-old American added. Georgia is set to host two major golf events in addition to this week's first major men's tournament of the year -- the season-ending US PGA Tour Championship in September at East Lake in Atlanta and the Women's PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club on June 24-27. In the wake of the new voting laws, there have been calls to move the events, but the US PGA Tour -- which also hosts a regular tour event in Sea Island, Georgia -- said it will keep its 30-player championship event on its traditional Georgia home course. "Our intention to stage an event in a particular market should not be construed as indifference to the current national conversation around voting rights," the tour said in a statement. "The PGA Tour fully supports efforts to protect the right of all Americans to vote and to eliminate any barriers that may prevent citizens' voices from being heard and counted. "It's the foundation of our great country and a critical national priority to listen to the concerns about voter suppression -- especially from communities of color that have been marginalized in the past -- and work together to make voting easier for all citizens." The tour cited $38 million in charity contributions the event makes possible in the Atlanta area and such financial boosts in cities across the nation figured in Morikawa's thoughts as well. "I don't think we're stepping out of our way to block it out and forget about it," Morikawa said of the voting rights issue. "The Masters, the PGA Tour, we do such a good job and we're trying to help communities out, and I think that's our main focus for the week. We are trying to do our best to help out communities and obviously give back. "But overall, the topic of voter rights and all that, that should be the topic that we talk about, not if we are here playing golf." The PGA of America said in a statement it's "committed to diversity, equity and inclusion" and "monitoring developments related to the new state legislation on voting access. We believe elections should be accessible, fair and secure, and support broad voter participation." American Patrick Cantlay, a three-time US PGA winner, said he lacks the knowledge to make an informed choice about the voting issue. "I don't know enough about that," he said. "I do know that this tournament in particular does a ton for the community, so that's obvious and important for the folks around here. "I think it's a net positive for sure that we're playing." js/rcw
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