PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — After carding a 7-under round of 65 Friday and rising to a tie for fourth place heading into the weekend at the Players’ Championship, Collin Morikawa reiterated his stance that he doesn’t “owe anyone” following the criticism he’s received regarding his decision to not speak to the media following his loss at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.
“For people to be calling me out is — it’s interesting. It doesn’t show anything,” Morikawa said. “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?”
Morikawa held a three-stroke lead with five holes to play on Sunday at Bay Hill before watching Russell Henley chip-in for eagle on 16 and go on to beat him by a stroke. The two-time major winner hasn’t won on Tour since the 2023 ZOZO Championship.
In his pre-tournament press conference at TPC Sawgrass Tuesday, Morikawa had initially addressed why he hadn’t stopped to do media following the loss.
“I don’t owe anyone anything. No offense to you guys, but for me in the moment, I didn’t want to be around anyone,” Morikawa said. “Like, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I didn’t need any sorries. You’re just pissed.”
Former PGA Tour player and current Champions Tour player Rocco Mediate criticized Morikawa’s decision to skip out on talking to the media as well as his explanation for it, calling it “the biggest bunch of horses—” and “pathetic” on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Tuesday.
“Your job is to tell people what happened. You lost? You lost. You got beat? That’s what happens. Guess what? Golf’s hard,” Mediate said. “Man up, talk about it and be done.”
On Golf Channel on Tuesday night, former players and current commentators Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley also took time to discuss Morikawa’s decision, with Chamblee referring to Morikawa as “fragile.”
Morikawa addressed those comments directly Friday, naming Mediate, McGinley and Chamblee by name in the process.
“I just want to add one more thing. I might bite my tongue after saying this, but to the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys, to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don’t regret anything I said,” Morikawa said. “You know, it might have been a little bit harsh that ‘I don’t owe anyone’, but I don’t owe anyone.”
Morikawa added it “hurts” and that it makes him “emotional” to hear people critique him in such a way and noted multiple times that, even though he didn’t speak after the round, he spent 15 minutes signing for fans in attendance.
“Not a single person from the media went to go follow me, because I don’t know,” Morikawa said. “But that’s me.”
