Collin Morikawa is is right in contention to win The Players Championship but rather than focus on his golf game, the headlines will be around his post-round comments.
Morikawa has been the subject of interest from the media since the Arnold Palmer.
Having finished runner up, Morikawa didn’t quite fulfil his media duties and he’s come in for criticism since.
However, Morikawa insisted in the build up to the Players that he had no regrets.
And now, after finishing at seven under for his second round, Morikawa has issued a bit of a rant against a number of golf analysts.
Collin Morikawa picks out three golf analysts as he doubles down on media outcry
Speaking to the media in the mixed zone after his second round at Sawgrass, Collin Morikawa took it upon himself to have a rant about the treatment he’s had since the Arnold Palmer.
“I just want to add one more thing. I might bite my tongue after saying this…but to the Brandel Chamblee’s, the Rocco Mediate’s, the Paul McGinley’s, I don’t regret anything I said,” Morikawa said.
“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 grateful for them you know it makes me emotional but it hurts to hear people say this, especially you guys [the media].
“I finished the round and I went to go and sign for ten or 15 minutes afterwards. Not a single person from media went to follow me, because I don’t know, that’s me. So for people calling me out, it’s interesting. It doesn’t show anything. I get what you guys are saying but I was signing for every person after the round. I had finished second, they couldn’t care less. So yeah, I’m going to leave it at that.”
What golf analysts said about Collin Morikawa’s behaviour at Bay Hill
The best sports-people in the world are right there to be criticised and we saw it with Rory McIlroy last year when he lost the US Open to Bryson DeChambeau.
This week, Morikawa has been heavily criticised for his media refusals, with a number of golf analysts calling him out.
Rocco Mediate called Morikawa ‘selfish’, while the ever outspoken Brandel Chamblee labelled the American’s behaviour as disrespectful to sponsors and fans alike.
Furthermore, Paul McGinley called out Morikawa and players of his generation in general with a wide-reaching generalisation.
“The public are not really behind them,” he said. “There’s a sense of greed and a sense of entitlement that the public has a perception of them. I don’t know if history is going to reflect back on this generation of players as being good for the game.”
If Morikawa wins out this week at The Players, it will be very interesting indeed to see how both he and the media react.
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