Collin Morikawa comes out swinging (!) to his critics: "I don't regret anything"

Collin Morikawa says he doesn't regret anything he said prior to the 2025 Players Championship. 

Morikawa looked to be cruising to his seventh PGA Tour title at Bay Hill last week but was pipped to the Arnold Palmer Invitational by Russell Henley.

In the immediate aftermath of the bitterly disappointing end to the signature event, Morikawa opted not to talk to the assembled media. 

The decision did not go down with the likes of Rocco Mediate, who said the late Mr Palmer would have 'hunted him down'. 

Morikawa told reporters before teeing it up at TPC Sawgrass this week that he was merely 'p---ed' in the moment and didn't want to talk to anyone. 

"I just want to add one more thing," Morikawa told reporters on Friday afternoon after discussing his 7-under 65. 

"I might bite my tongue after saying this, but to the Brandel Chamblees, to the Paul McGinleys, to the Rocco Mediates of the world, I don't regret anything I said. 

"You know, it might have been a little bit harsh [saying] that I don't owe anyone, but I don't owe anyone."

Morikawa added: "I respect the fans. I'm very thankful for them. I'm grateful."

The golfer said the criticism hurt more given he spent 10 to 15 minutes at Bay Hill signing autographs for the kids after he lost. 

"Not a single person from media went to go follow me," Morikawa said. "Because, I don't know. But that's me.

"So for people to be calling me out is -- it's interesting. It just, it doesn't show anything. I mean, look, I get what you guys are saying. 

"But I was there. I was signing for every single person right after the round, whether they wanted it or not. I finished second. They could care less. 

"But yeah, I'm going to leave it at that, all right? So thank you guys."

What did Rocco Mediate say?

Speaking his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show last week, Mediate launched a scathing attack on the two-time major winner. 

Mediate appeared to think Morikawa's decision not to speak to the media as risible. 

"Biggest bunch of horse---- you could ever say, period," Mediate said. "I mean, that is the dumbest, most selfish garbage you could ever say.

"Mr Palmer would've hunted him down. Trust me on that one because Mr Palmer told me one thing that stuck with me. 

"[He said] 'You know what, Rock, 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.' Obviously he cant."

Mediate wasn't the only former professional golfer to criticise Morikawa.

Speaking on 'Live From', former PGA Tour winner Brandel Chamblee said Morikawa's behaviour was 'disrespectful'. 

“When I found that he had refused to do the interview I was thinking about the players who had suffered far more devastating losses, far more momentous losses, who regained their equilibrium and with class gave the media – and it's not just giving the media, it is giving the fans and the sponsors and the entire ecosystem of the golf world an explanation of the humanity of losing," he said. 

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley suggested there is an 'air of entitlement' to top level players these days. 

"I don't know if history is going to reflect back on this generation of players as being good for the game," McGinley said.