Collin Morikawa received significant backlash from fans and journalists alike due to some of his behavior on the PGA Tour in 2025.

Morikawa endured real struggles throughout the 2025 PGA Tour season, and only recorded one top-10 finish after The Players Championship way back in March.

During the season, it was Morikawa’s putting on the PGA Tour that really let him down, and he needs to find a way to improve his performances on the greens if he is to rediscover his best form.

Worryingly, his form continued to regress throughout the season.

Morikawa was said to be not in a good spot during The Open in July as he missed his second consecutive cut on the PGA Tour.

However, it was back in March when he was actually playing quite well when he came close to receiving a fine from the PGA Tour.

Collin Morikawa says how close he came to being fined by the PGA Tour

Morikawa received a huge backlash in March, when he decided not to speak to the media after his final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 28-year-old seemed like he was set to win his first PGA Tour event since October 2023 at Bay Hill, only to lose out by one shot to Russell Henley.

And he was in no mood to speak to the press after his round, choosing to drive away from the property after his round instead.

Morikawa received huge criticism from fans for his actions, but now he has opened up on the incident, when speaking to the Fore Play Plus Podcast.

He said: “The things I would have said, I know I would have been fined, like in the heat of the moment. We would all be.

“I know some people want to hear that, but I don’t want to pay a fine! A lot of NBA guys, they know they are going to get fined, it’s fine, they’re going to pay it.

“That’s part of the nature of going off at an ump (umpire or referee), or whatever.

“For us, that’s not what golf has been. Doesn’t mean it won’t. Doesn’t mean you won’t get guys who just go out and say stuff, but I don’t need that extra.“

He was then asked what he would have said, had he spoke to the press after the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I would have started off with, ‘I’m f–––––g pi–––d, well I just f–––––g blew that’. I want to go in my car and drive away.“

Perhaps Morikawa made the right decision by missing out on the post-round interviews after his final round at Bay Hill.

He certainly saved himself some money by not speaking to the media back in March!

Rory McIlroy followed Collin Morikawa’s lead in 2025

During the 2025 season, Rory McIlroy received his fair share of criticism from fans for doing exactly what Morikawa did.

McIlroy was embroiled in real controversy at Quail Hollow during the PGA Championship in May.

McIlroy’s driver was deemed to be non-conforming before the PGA Championship began and he proceeded to avoid media duties thereafter for the entire week.

When speaking to reporters for the first time after that incident a month later during the US Open, he admitted that the reason why he avoided media duties was because he felt hard done by.

Certain players’ names whose drivers failed to meet the testing criteria at the PGA Championship were kept anonymous, while his was released to the press.

The thing is, as things stand right now, golfers are not obligated to speak to the media after playing their rounds, and until that changes, players will continue to speak to the press as and when they want to.