The case of Collin Morikawa v. The Media is still alive and well.
During a press conference ahead of this week’s Rocket Classic, Morikawa got into it with Golfweek reporter Adam Schupak over a seemingly innocuous quote the writer included in a piece about the golfer’s recent caddie change. In his original report filed early on Wednesday, Schupak included the following quote (which was later removed and replaced with remarks Morikawa gave Wednesday afternoon during his press conference).
“Ask me anything you want in my press conference later, I’m with my pro-am partners now,” Morikawa was quoted in Schupak’s original report.
— Brian Kirschner (@BrianKirschner_) June 25, 2025
For whatever reason, Morikawa took exception to the inclusion of that in the piece. And he took it out on Schupak during his press conference later in the day.
Collin Morikawa had a tense exchange with a reporter at today’s press conference over reports about his most recent caddie switch. pic.twitter.com/kJIuYSqLhs
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) June 25, 2025
“Do you know who is going to caddie for you at the British Open?” Schupak asked.
“I don’t,” Morikawa began. “And 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. 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. But don’t put me down like that because it’s two and a half hours, Adam,” Morikawa said, ripping into the Golfweek writer.
“I thought I was actually giving you credit that you were playing, you were focused on your pro-am partners,” Schupak responded.
“Okay, we can all read it very differently. That’s not how I read it,” Morikawa snapped back. “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.”
When it comes to all the things the media could conceivably write about you as a public figure, especially when you’re a two-time major-winning golfer, having a quote about how you’re currently busy and will answer questions about a topic later included in an article seems to be incredibly minor. Most would probably agree that Schupak’s inclusion of that quote was completely innocuous.
But Morikawa took it personally, continuing a trend of contentious back-and-forth exchanges with the media. The star golfer has taken heat this season for skipping media availabilities, suggesting he doesn’t “owe anyone anything.” PGA Tour golfers are not required to meet with the media, and some of the sport’s biggest names have taken full advantage of this policy this season.
Assuming this was actually the quote Morikawa was upset over, which it appears to be, he might be better off not reading any media coverage about himself, because it can get way, way worse than that.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.