Collin Morikawa made headlines in the week leading up to the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York, stating that the atmosphere was a little muted compared to what he expected when he appeared in a pre-tournament press conference and calling for “chaos” to be unleashed on the opening day.
“I’ll be honest, I think it’s kind of tame so far,” Morikawa told the press at Bethpage on the Wednesday. “I hope Friday is just absolute chaos. I’m all for it. I think it feeds into who we are, as American players and the American team. We want it. We want to use that to our advantage.”
Now, in the wake of the torrents of abuse suffered by several European players and Rory McIlroy in particular, the two-time major winner has suggested that his words weren’t meant in the literal sense and that it was loud support for the home side rather than abuse for the away side that he was calling on.
“I think we’ve taken what I said a little out of context,” Morikawa said at the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan. “I think Ryder Cups are meant to have a lot of energy, right, and I think me saying the word “chaos,” I didn’t mean for them to be rude, right? So, like, that’s not on me, I believe for me to take credit for people being rude.
“I think what I meant was like I wanted energy, right? You wanted people to be proud of the country, the countries they’re rooting for. So I don’t think, you know, me saying one word, everyone listened and then — I don’t think I have the power to do that amongst people. I think fans can do and say what they want sometimes.”
Despite playing against McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in foursomes on both Friday and Saturday, Morikawa said that he didn’t witness anything that was particularly out of order, but did admit that he believed that it had gone too far based on what he’d been told.
“It probably crossed a line out there,” he said. “It wasn’t in my groups, but definitely what people were hearing. So I would say yeah, there’s a line that needs to be drawn, I believe. But I think that’s what’s so different and unique about golf is that we hear nearly everything that people say because people have access to be so close to us.
“You look at a lot of other sports, you don’t really hear much. Things are said, but golf has that different aspect to it. So I think you have to learn how to find that division of what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
