Collin Morikawa addressed the media at The Players Championship, and much of it revolved around his most recent performance.
Collin Morikawa was in no mood to talk to anyone after his gut-wrenching loss to Russell Henley at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He watched a three-shot lead slip away on the back nine, which extended his winless drought to 18 months. But winning has become hard for the former California Golden Bear over the past four years. Morikawa has won only one event — the 2023 ZOZO Championship — since winning the Claret Jug at Royal St. George’s in 2021. He has come close to returning to the winner’s circle countless times, with no better opportunity than last week at Bay Hill. But trophies have passed him by, ending up in someone else’s hands, leaving Morikawa frustrated and asking, “Why?”
“Just heated. Just pissed,” Morikawa said about how he felt after the final round and why he did not speak to media at Bay Hill.
“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.”
An enraged Morikawa added that he would have spoken to the media had it been an hour after his round, after he had cooled off somewhat. Yet, he had already driven halfway to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for this week’s Players Championship. He needed to get out of Orlando as soon as possible, hoping the fresh wounds of his loss would heal quickly.
“I just felt like I put everything I did into the, let’s call it, seven hours of my time being there a few hours before showing up, physio, workout. Look, my entire routine, right? I was just drained,” Morikawa added.
“I get it. Like you guys are there to figure out how we played and how things went, but in my perspective, like I just didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I think that’s fair to myself, you know.”
Rory McIlroy did the same thing after his heartbreaking finish at Pinehurst No. 2 last summer.
But competing in golf tournaments and playing professionally are not life or death situations. These players make more money than ever — Morikawa even alluded to that earlier Tuesday — all while entertaining fans from around the world. Sure, they do not owe the media anything, but players owe the fans something since they have invested their time and money to watch the best golfers compete. The media, of course, serves as a conduit to the fans, which makes it essential for players to face the music in both victory and defeat. Phil Mickelson did so at the 2006 U.S. Open. Greg Norman, who perhaps suffered more heartbreaks than any other player in golf history, always spoke to the media afterward, answering every question.
You have to do it, even during hostile and agitating moments.
“Sunday night was a lot of frustration. Just looking back over the past year and kind of how I went about my fall was to figure out how to play better in final rounds, and when you don’t play well and you don’t close it out, you’re like, how do we go back to the drawing board,” Morikawa further explained.
“It’s not really rip everything off and start over, but there’s just little things, right? Obviously I wasn’t hitting it as well, I wasn’t putting as well, but I still had my chances to close it out, and [Henley] obviously played some great golf. I mean, to make birdie on 14, eagle on 16 and finish out with two pars is great golf out there. So props to him.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
