diff --git a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/IXLRangeBase.cs b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/IXLRangeBase.cs
index 30c12a3..9ef7381 100644
--- a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/IXLRangeBase.cs
+++ b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/IXLRangeBase.cs
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@
         ///   Merges this range.
         ///   <para>The contents and style of the merged cells will be equal to the first cell.</para>
         /// </summary>
-        IXLRange Merge();
+        IXLRange Merge(Boolean checkIntersect = true);
 
         /// <summary>
         ///   Creates a named range out of this range. 
diff --git a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/XLRangeBase.cs b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/XLRangeBase.cs
index 559a675..69cc663 100644
--- a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/XLRangeBase.cs
+++ b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/Excel/Ranges/XLRangeBase.cs
@@ -319,12 +319,7 @@
             return CellsUsed(includeFormats);
         }
 
-        public IXLRange Merge()
-        {
-            return Merge(true);
-        }
-
-        internal IXLRange Merge(Boolean checkIntersect)
+        public IXLRange Merge(Boolean checkIntersect = true)
         {
             if (checkIntersect)
             {
diff --git a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML_Sandbox/Program.cs b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML_Sandbox/Program.cs
index bcb5bbc..f3ca136 100644
--- a/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML_Sandbox/Program.cs
+++ b/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/ClosedXML_Sandbox/Program.cs
@@ -12,7 +12,39 @@
 {
     class Program
     {
-        static void Main(string[] args)
+        private static void Main(string[] args)
+        {
+            
+            using (XLWorkbook wb = new XLWorkbook(XLEventTracking.Disabled))
+            {
+                using (var ws = wb.AddWorksheet("MergeCellsWorksheet"))
+                {
+                    int total = 5000;
+                    var timer = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();
+                    // Insert some values
+                    for (int i = 1; i <= total; i += 2)
+                    {
+                        ws.Cell(i, 1).Value = "Merge Cell 1";
+                        ws.Cell(i, 3).Value = "Merge Cell 2";
+                        ws.Cell(i, 4).Value = "Merge Cell 3";
+                        ws.Cell((i + 1), 4).Value = "Merge Cell 4";
+
+                        ws.Range("A" + i + ":B" + (i + 1)).Merge(false);
+                        ws.Range("C" + i + ":C" + (i + 1)).Merge(false);
+                        ws.Range("D" + i + ":E" + i).Merge(false);
+                        ws.Range("D" + (i + 1) + ":E" + (i + 1)).Merge(false);
+                    }
+                    timer.Stop();
+                    Console.WriteLine("Took {0}s", timer.Elapsed.TotalSeconds);
+                }
+
+                wb.SaveAs(@"c:\temp\saved.xlsx");
+            }
+            Console.WriteLine("Done");
+            Console.ReadKey();
+        }
+
+        static void MainX(string[] args)
         {
             DateTime start, end;
             var times = new List<Double>();