‘Selfish garbage’: Tour veteran blasts Collin Morikawa for no-show after tough loss

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.

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.

“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.”