Collin Morikawa suffered a crushing loss on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Afterward, he chose not to sit down for a post-round press conference, which did not sit well with six-time PGA Tour winner and golf cult hero Rocco Mediate.
On SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, Mediate detailed why he was incensed with Morikawa’s explanation, calling it “the biggest bunch of horsesh—.”
Morikawa’s explanation at Players
Morikawa looked to be on his way to victory at Bay Hill with three holes to play. But then Russell Henley chipped in for eagle on 16 to steal the trophy from Morikawa’s grasp.
Though he did take to Instagram to reflect on the loss (“this one stings”), he didn’t explain himself to the media on Sunday. That finally happened on Tuesday during his Players Championship press conference.
‘This one stings’: Collin Morikawa breaks silence after crushing Bay hill loss
At the Players, Morikawa vigorously defended his decision to leave Bay Hill without talking to reporters, saying he doesn’t “owe anyone anything.”
“Yeah, just heated. Just pissed,” Morikawa said of his feelings following his loss. “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.”
Morikawa then claimed that if the timing had been different he may have acted differently, but he was feeling “drained” after a busy day that included a pre-round workout.
“Honestly, if it was an hour later I would have talked to you guys, but an hour later I was on my way out to here, because I didn’t want to be in Orlando anymore,” Morikawa said on Tuesday. “But I just felt like I put everything I did into the, let’s call it, seven hours of my time being there, right, a few hours before showing up, physio, workout. Look, my entire routine, right. I was just drained.
“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.”
Rocco Mediate fires back
Mediate, who won six PGA Tour and five PGA Tour Champions titles in his long career, heard the recording of Morikawa’s explanation at the Players. And to say he disagreed would be a massive understatement.
On the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show Tuesday night, he unloaded on the two-time major champion over his actions at Bay Hill.
“Biggest bunch of horsesh– you could ever say, period. I mean, that is the dumbest, most selfish garbage you could ever say,” Mediate said.
Then he shared advice he received from late tournament host Arnold Palmer that directly conflicts with Morikawa’s thinking.
‘100 percent serious’: U.S. Open legend offers major hot take
“Mr. Palmer told me one thing that stuck with me. [He said,] ‘You know what, Roc, it’s real easy to go in and talk to somebody when you won or when you’ve played well, but can you do it when you don’t? That’s the key.'” Mediate shared. “Obviously [Morikawa] can’t, okay, so stop talking to me about, ‘I didn’t wanna talk to anybody.'”
He continued, “Your job is to tell people what happened. I don’t give a sh– about your workout in the morning and all that other crap. Tell me what happened. You lost? You lost. You got beat? That’s what happens. Guess what? Golf’s hard.”
Mediate also refuted Morikawa’s statement that he has no responsibility to talk with the media after rounds.
“He said, ‘I don’t owe anybody anything.’ Actually, he does. The people that are watching. The reporters that bust their ass to write stories about our sorry asses. And I get this sh–? No, pathetic. You can say it. You can put it all, I don’t care. Come to me, Collin. We’ll talk about it.”
Palmer, who died in 2016, traditionally shook the hand of the Arnold Palmer Invitational winner on the 18th green after the final putt dropped. Mediate argued that had Palmer been there this Sunday for Morikawa’s loss, he would have “hunted him down.”
“I mean, if Mr. Palmer was there, he’d have grabbed, I’m telling you, it wouldn’t have been pretty, it would’ve been public, too. You don’t need to act that way. The Tour does not need that garbage at all,” Mediate said. “I’m not sure if I was clear. Was I clear or was that a little ambiguous? Man up, talk about it and be done.”
Mediate’s lessons from Arnold Palmer
Mediate is best known for his duel with Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open. He endeared himself to golf fans forever when he went toe-to-toe with Tiger over 91 holes at Torrey Pines, eventually losing on the 19th hole of the Monday playoff.
This was not the first time Mediate has shown reverence for Palmer, one of the greatest and most-beloved players of all time.
In an appearance of GOLF’s Subpar podcast earlier this year, Mediate shared another valuable lesson Palmer taught him about behaving as a pro golfer. It specifically pertained to treating fans the right way.
“Mr. Palmer taught me one thing I would sit in his office, a zillion times, and he would say, ‘You look people in the eye.’ He said, ‘if they are dumb enough to come out and watch you play golf, you better give them something for their money.’ He busted my ass. And he’s like, ‘Look at them. Say hello. What’s going on? Talk to them. I don’t care where you are. Say hi. Just give them something,'” Mediate said on Supbar. “So I learned to do that. He taught me how to be.”
