Collin Morikawa confronted a reporter face-to-face over a story about the golfer parting with his second caddie in as many months.
Morikawa, 28, spoke to the media on Wednesday, June 25, ahead of this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.
When Golfweek’s Adam Schupak asked whether Morikawa knew who would be caddying for him at the tournament, Morikawa got testy.
“I don’t,” Morikawa said. “I read your article that you wrote. Look, I’m not here to tell people how to do their jobs, but I don’t get why you would make me sound bad because you put out my quote that I was playing with pro-am partners out front.”
Morikawa appeared to take issue with Schupak’s reporting earlier in the day, which included a quote from Morikawa saying he would address the caddy issue after his round on Wednesday.
“I’m with my pro-am partners now,” Morikawa said of his pre-tournament round where professional golfers tee off with amateurs.
The line has since been replaced in Schupak’s original story and replaced with quotes from his press conference later in the day.
Morikawa continued at his Wednesday press conference, “Those guys are paying a lot of money, they’re very important to the community, they’re very important to the Rocket Classic, and for you to put out a quote like that to put me down and saying, ‘Hey, wait two and a half hours.’ I mean, you called me up on the first tee, you know? I’m not going to tell you how to do your job. You can write whatever you want.”
“This is America,” Morikawa added. “But don’t put me down like that because it’s two and a half hours, Adam.”
Schupak responded, saying he was “actually giving you credit that you were playing, you were focused on your pro-am partners.”
“OK, we can all read it very differently,” Morikawa said. “That’s not how I read it. But I’m just telling you, I think there’s a perspective where people can read it like that. So, I’m just going to leave it at that. We knew I was going to have media in two and a half hours. I’m on the first tee meeting my pro-am partners as they’re teeing off.”
Morikawa has had a contentious relationship with the media in recent months, arguing in March, “I don’t owe anyone anything.”
Rory McIlroy’s contentious relationship with the media has permeated another one of golf’s biggest tournaments. McIlroy, 36, spoke to reporters after his opening round at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on Thursday, June 19, where he addressed the way he has been written about in recent months. “I’m not a journalist. I don’t know,” […]
The golfer made the comments after skipping his media availability after a crushing defeat in his final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational days earlier.
“No offense to you guys, but for me in the moment of that time, 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. I didn’t need any ‘good playings.’ Like, you’re just pissed.”
It was later revealed that KK Limbhasut, a former college teammate of Morikawa’s at the University of California, Berkeley, would be caddying for him at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Morikawa announced his split from caddy Joe Greiner this week after Morikawa previously parted ways with his longtime caddy, J.J. Jakovac, in April.
