Charles Barkley getting ‘pissed off’ at golfers snubbing media

Charles Barkley might not need Rory McIlroy and other high-profile golfers to be role models, but he needs them to at least be available to the media.

The PGA Tour has reportedly expressed concern over golfers skipping media sessions as McIlroy and others opt out of speaking to reporters. And Barkley recently made it clear that he shares the Tour’s concern.

Barkley joined the latest episode of Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take with hosts Dan “Big Cat” Katz and PFT Commenter (Eric Sollenberger). During the episode, he spoke about athletes and coaches attempting to have a one-sided relationship with the media, specifically calling out professional golfers for not being available when things aren’t going well.

“These guys annoy me,” Barkley ranted. “You can treat the media how you want to when you win. But you got to understand, when you’re losing, they gonna come for you. It’s like these golfers now, ‘Well I don’t have to talk to the media.’ I’m like, you run to them when you do well. We’re in a business relationship with the media. I tell these guys, there’s a reason we make all this money, the media pays it. You have to understand something, when you want to sell a product, you go to the media. When you play great, you run to the media. When you play like s***, you can’t avoid the media.

“That’s why I’m starting to get pissed off at some of these golfers now. When you got a new product, you go on TV and hype it and talk about it, but when you play bad, they’re going to write bad things about you. That’s the way it is. This is a business relationship. When you do good, they’re gonna write good stuff about you. When you do bad, they’re gonna talk bad about you. If you don’t understand the business relationship, you need to get a real job.”

In defense of McIlroy, his media availability doesn’t appear to be solely based on performance. He opted not to speak with the media at the PGA Championship when he was just one month removed from completing the career grand slam. But he did speak with the media following what was a disappointing missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open.

Even if it’s not always based on performance, golfers skipping media sessions for whatever reason has become commonplace, and that’s a problem. The PGA Tour does not have a mandate requiring golfers to speak with the media after every round of a tournament the way other sports mandate media availability after games. But if the goal is to grow the sport and the PGA Tour, consistent and better media access will undoubtedly help.