PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Collin Morikawa’s disappointment over a close call at the Arnold Palmer Invitational hasn’t impacted his game at the Players Championship, where he finds himself in contention following two rounds.
But the aftermath of his one-stroke runner-up finish to Russell Henley on Sunday lingers.
Morikawa declined interview requests after the round at the Bay Hill Club and explained to the media at the Players on Tuesday that he was simply too frustrated to talk afterward as he’s had a series of close calls over the past year without a victory.
But his comments caused some harsh pushback, especially from Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and PGA Tour Champions player Rocco Mediate, who does a radio show on SiriusXM.
That caused Morikawa, without prompting, to push back after his round of 65 left him two shots behind leaders Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia at TPC Sawgrass on Friday afternoon.
“I might bite my tongue after saying this, but to the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys (of Golf Channel), to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don’t regret anything I said,” Morikawa said at the end of a post-round news conference. “It might have been a little bit harsh that I don't owe anyone, but I don’t owe anyone.
“I respect the fans. I’m very thankful for them. I’m grateful. It makes me emotional, but it’s just—it hurts to hear people say this, and especially you guys, because I finished the round and I went to go sign for 10 minutes, 15 minutes for all the people after. Not a single person from media went to go follow me because, I don’t know. But that's me.
“So for people to be calling me out is—it’s interesting. It just, it doesn’t show anything. I mean, look, I get what you guys are saying. But I was there. I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not. I finished second. They could care less. But yeah, I’m going to leave it at that, all right? So thank you guys.”
Morikawa’s timeline isn’t exactly correct. After he completed his round Sunday, he was requested by the media who wait for players outside of the scoring area.
He was asked to go to a media flash area where reporters ask questions and he declined. Morikawa left scoring and headed past the area where reporters were waiting on Henley. Morikawa’s assertion that nobody tried to talk to him while he signed autographs was a result of his originally saying no to the request to be interviewed.
In his Tuesday interview session here, he was asked to explain what happened afterward.
“Just heated. Just pissed,” Morikawa said. “Like I don’t owe anyone anything. No offense to you guys, but for me in the moment of that time, I didn’t want to be around anyone. Like, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I didn’t need any ‘sorries.’ I didn’t need any ‘good playings.’ Like, you're just pissed.
“Honestly, if it was an hour later I would have talked to you guys, but an hour later I was on my way out to here, because I didn’t want to be in Orlando anymore. But I just felt like I put everything I did into the, let’s call it, seven hours of my time being there, right, a few hours before showing up, physio, workout. Look, my entire routine, right. I was just drained.”
Morikawa is considered media-friendly and is typically cooperative. In the moment, his frustration was understandable. While those there certainly would have preferred he speak, it is the sort of thing that happens often. Players are allowed to decline media requests and many do.
The two-time major champion’s ire appears to be directed more at those who criticized him over the air.
“Biggest bunch of horses--t you could ever say, period. I mean, that is the dumbest, most selfish garbage you could ever say,” Mediate said on his radio show. “Mr. Palmer would’ve hunted him down. Trust me on that one because he told me one thing, Mr. Palmer told me one thing that stuck with me. (He said) ‘You know what, Rock, it’s real easy to go in and talk to somebody when you won or when you’ve played well, but can you do it when you don’t? That's the key.’
“Obviously he can’t, O.K., so stop talking to me about, ‘I didn’t wanna talk to anybody.’ Your job is to tell people what happened. I don't give a s--t about your workout in the morning and all that other crap. Tell me what happened. You lost? You lost. You got beat? That’s what happens. Guess what? Golf’s hard.”
Chamblee, on the Golf Channel broadcast Tuesday night, called Morikawa’s actions “disrespectful.”
“When I found that he had refused to do the interview I was thinking about the players who had suffered far more devastating losses, far more momentous losses, who regained their equilibrium and with class gave the media—and it’s not just giving the media, it is giving the fans and the sponsors and the entire ecosystem of the golf world an explanation of the humanity of losing,” Chamblee said.
Golf Channel did an entire segment on players who in defeat did post-round interviews, most notably Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters (he lost a six-stroke lead to Nick Faldo); Jean Van de Velde at the 1999 British Open (where he lost in a playoff after a triple-bogey 7 on the final hole of regulation); and Tom Watson at the 2009 Open (where, at age 59, he lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink).
The interesting thing about all of this is that Morikawa did not do anything particularly wrong Sunday on a difficult day. He simply didn’t have his best stuff, having led by three with five holes to go. He shot even-par 72 to a 70 by Henley, who chipped in from off the green at the 16th hole for an eagle that flipped a one-shot deficit into a one-shot lead that he maintained over the closing two holes.
Morikawa, who has six PGA Tour wins, became the first player to win two different majors in his first attempt—the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open. He has struggled over the past year, since his win at the 2023 Zozo Championship, to finish off victories but his fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking, which is a testament to his consistency.
He has eight top-five finishes worldwide, including a third for third last year at the Masters and a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship, since his last win.
“I don't have to get motivated for this week,” Morikawa said Friday. “You show up and you know what the goal is, right? But I’ve kind of looked at it Monday, Tuesday, figured out what do I need to do different, what do I do the same to put myself in that position, and just things go your way, right, and you just make it happen.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Collin Morikawa Fires Back at Media Criticism Around Fast Exit From Bay Hill.
