Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy have not exactly made friends with the media this week ahead of Masters.
After a severe loss by Arnold Palmer Invitational, Morikawa chose not to talk to the media. Days later he said he didn’t “owe anyone anything.”
“No violation of you, but for me, at that moment of that time, I wouldn’t be around anyone. As if I wouldn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t need any sorries. I didn’t need any ‘good playing’. Like you’re just p — oath,” he said at the time.
CLICK HERE for more sports cover at Foxnews.com
Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa celebrate after McIlroy was hollowed out from a bunker on the 18th hole during the last round of Masters. (Michael Madrid/USA Today Sports)
The conversation returned to Augusta National on Tuesday and Morikawa defended his attitude.
“I could have said it differently, but I stand by what I said. I was at the moment,” Morikawa said Tuesday in Augusta. “We’re talking about giving people room to be who they are, and at that point it was for me to be who I was. And I didn’t want to be around anyone. I didn’t even want to be around my wife. Like, I said ‘hello’ to her after we embraced and went straight to the closet space.”
Morikawa then offered her takeover of the situation.
Collin Morikawa from the United States responds after making Birdie on the eighth green during the third round of 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club 13 April 2024, in Augusta, GA. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
“In this aspect there must be a balance and an ebb and flow between everything. I want to be here for you,” he said. “But here’s that thing: I’ve been in the top five in the world before and people don’t come up to me and ask me questions. In guys you can’t just ask me [questions] When I play well. Like, you have to ask the top 10 players every single week, every single day, and just document it.
“Then you get a sense of who we are, and you get a flow of how that comes to be. So, there’s a balance. If you guys don’t want to ask me, it’s not my job to go out and tell you my story. Sometime it is, but you do that through social media. Everyone’s Like That.
Rory McIlroy did the same as Morikawa after his collapse at the US Open last year and noticed on Tuesday that golfers are not required to talk to the media.
“Well, he’s right,” McIlroy said. “Look, any other athlete, whether in the NBA, NFL, they are obliged to talk to you after a game. We are not. Whether it is something that the PGA tour seems to put it into the rules and the rules. But as long as it is not the case and we have the opportunity to opt out of it when we want to expect to do it from time to time.”
Rory McIlroy puts a putt on the 17th green as Collin Morikawa looks at during the first round of the 150. Open championship at St. Andrews Old Course. (Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports)
Masters, like McIlroy and Morikawa both aim to win for the first time, tees off Thursday.
