Collin Morikawa is a man under real pressure right now, and the scrutiny surrounding him ramped up this week before the start of the Rocket Classic.
Morikawa stunned the golfing world by splitting with his caddie – Joe Greiner – after just one month together. It was only at the start of May when Morikawa and his former caddie – J.J. Jakovac – went their separate ways.
The 28-year-old from California quickly moved on to Greiner – Max Homa’s former caddie. And things seemed to be going along really smoothly.
In fact, Morikawa labelled Greiner as ‘amazing’ after day one of the Truist Championship last month. So with that in mind, it came as a real shock when their split was announced.
The two-time major champion has a friend caddying for him at Detroit Golf Club this week, as he desperately searches for the spark to fire his season back into life.
Smylie Kaufman on what Joe Greiner told him about Collin Morikawa at the US Open
Morikawa cut a hugely frustrated figure during his press conference before the Rocket Classic began.
And his mood didn’t improve after his first round on Thursday.
The 28-year-old insisted that he has the right to stand up for himself, after he believed that journalist Adam Schupak made him look bad.
First up, Kaufman was asked about whether he thinks Morikawa was right to respond to Schupak’s piece about him.
He said: “I’ll start from Collin’s standpoint, he’s absolutely right.
“That’s a time in which is supposed to be spent getting ready for the golf tournament, spending time with the Pro-Am partners. And we don’t mind, like when I was playing, I didn’t mind whether a reporter or somebody with the network that was covering it that week, a journalist, if they came up and just wanted to talk, that’s fine. But especially after a firing like that, that’s kind of still in this grey area.
“Of course, it’s been confirmed that Joe Greiner’s not working that week, but there’s a time and a place to ask. And it’s definitely not on the first tee of the Pro-Am. That’s one where you’ve got to catch them on the parking lot, either heading into the golf course or just…the timing of that is really poor.
“I would say from a player standpoint, I would be totally fine if he asked me, again, at the clubhouse, leaving the range, you know, anytime I’m not working. And it would probably be a, hey, thanks for asking. Let’s talk about it at the media or the press center when I’m going to have my media obligations.
“So I thought Collin, the way he handled it, which he’s been a topic of a lot of media scrutiny as far as just his lack of wanting to do a whole lot from a media perspective after whether it’s close losses or just times he doesn’t want to speak with the media. And it’s been criticized rightfully or wrongfully. I don’t have much of an opinion.
“He can do whatever he wants after a round until the PGA Tour tells him he has to. So I could care less. I know he’s been scrutinized for that.
“So I think that aspect of Collin and his willingness to do media or not do media is being tied in too much to this little snip bit of this conversation where I think some people think he comes across as snippy and however you want to describe it. I personally like the directness of how he handled it. It wasn’t necessarily too rude.
“It seemed pretty fair because if I would have read the same thing, I would have been probably pretty fired up too. I don’t know when he read it. So if he was with this Pro-Am Partners, it sounds like he was reading news articles while he was out there, which I don’t know.
“Yeah, I would probably say that I would very much side with Collin on this. I’m not saying that Schupak was in the wrong in all this. He’s just doing his job reporting the news.“
Kaufman then opened up on what Greiner told him about Morikawa at the US Open two weeks ago.
He said: “I was curious because at the beginning of the week, I was wondering, well, that’s kind of weird that Joe Greiner is not working this week. They must have had that pre-planned thing when he got hired on Collin’s bag, because it seems like all was well. I talked to Joe Greiner at the US Open.
“I said, hey, how’s Collin doing? He’s good. I feel like I’ll learn something every week working for the guy.”
Collin Morikawa needs to be accountable for his golf
Morikawa’s struggles over the past 18 months or so have been down to himself, and himself alone.
His poor form isn’t the fault of his caddies, nor is it down to overzealous journalists.
His stats have regressed badly this season, especially in the putting department.
So for Morikawa to improve, it will very much be a case of more time spent on the putting green.
If truth be known, he needs to get back to his best with his irons as well, if he is to ever rediscover the major-winning form he displayed four or five years ago.
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