Nearly a week after Collin Morikawa skipped his media session following a tough loss, the war of words between him and members of the golf media — specifically Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley — continued.
For most of the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it looked as though Morikawa would cruise to a relatively safe win. But some late mistakes from Morikawa, coupled with a late charge from Russell Henley, knocked Morikawa into a second-place finish. Morikawa subsequently skipped his media session, later saying, “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.” While later acknowledging that his wording “might have been a little bit harsh,” he defended his decision, specifically calling out Chamblee, McGinley and Rocco Mediate, who had also been critical.
During Friday night’s episode of Live from The Players on The Golf Channel, Chamblee and McGinley responded.
“It’s interesting that he called myself and Paul and Rocco about it. It wasn’t us. He didn’t say no to us. He said no to the fans. He said no to the sponsors. Saying no to the PGA Tour. He’s saying no to his fellow players who do these interviews,” Chamblee said, H/T Nick Piastowski, Golf.com.
Chamblee continued, saying that he didn’t think this was a problem limited to just Morikawa.
“Everybody’s tuned in and engaged,” he said. “Golf’s never been better. We’re all in. The purses are ungodly high and there’s a sense that there’s an entitlement, that they don’t owe anybody anything. And he voiced what a lot of people suspected too many Tour players felt.
“It’s not true of all of them,” Chamblee clarified. “A lot of them are great with the media and give us these interviews afterwards. But it sets a dangerous precedent. And if he really does feel that way, that’s fine, it’s his opinion. I have mine. He has his. But I think he’ll regret it if he carries on turning down the media after he loses because he’s so good, he’s going to have many more painful losses. He’s going to have many more wins, too, but it’s just part of the game.”
McGinley then opined that Morikawa should choose his words more carefully. Specifically, he noted that the fans are paying more money to get into events that, due to the ongoing divide in golf, rarely include all of the world’s best players.
With that in mind, he suggested that Morikawa saying “I don’t owe anyone anything” may not be taken particularly well.
“So it’s a word of caution to the players more than anything else that, you know, don’t come out and say something like, I don’t owe anybody anything because that does not sound good,” McGinley said. “Maybe it was a wrong choice of words, but don’t say anything like that. It doesn’t sound right and it’s not what the public want to hear because ultimately, at the end of the day, the public are the ones paying higher prices to come to events. The public are the ones being denied all the best players coming together more regularly in terms of the top events as the product of golf has become diluted. And the media is a prism for all of that.”