Collin Morikawa on why he skipped out on media after brutal loss in Arnold Palmer tourney: Pissed

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.— Collin Morikawa is one of the most engaging and thoughtful players in golf.That’s what made his hasty exit from the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday at Bay Hill after a crushing loss to winner Russell Henley somewhat stunning.On Tuesday, in advance of this week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Morikawa spoke publicly for the first time since he lost a three-shot lead with five holes to play and explained his salty exit.“Just heated, just pissed,’’ he said.

“No offense to you guys (reporters), but for me in the moment of that time, I didn’t want to be around anyone.I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

You’re just pissed.I was just drained.

I just didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I think that’s fair to myself.I don’t owe anyone anything.’’That last statement is debatable, since players do have an unwritten responsibility to make themselves available to the media, but based on the way Morikawa usually operates, he surely deserves a pass for Sunday.In reality, he didn’t blow the tournament as much as Henley won it.

Morikawa, who shot even par in the final round, simply didn’t seize the moment when the moment was there to be seized.And that hurt a little more because he hasn’t won a tournament since 2023 and that’s gnawing at him.“Sunday night was a lot of frustration,’’ Morikawa said.

“Just looking back over the past year and kind of how I went about my fall was to figure out how to play better in final rounds, and when you don’t play well and you don’t close it out, you’re like, ‘How do we go back to the drawing board?’“Obviously, I wasn’t hitting it as well, I wasn’t putting as well, but I still had my chances to close it out, and Russ obviously played some great golf.’’Morikawa hasn’t made a career of failing to finish in final rounds.He’s won two major championships — a PGA and a British Open.“I love being in that position,’’ he said.

“But it was f...