Collin Morikawa is in no mood to back down after another feud with the media is making headlines. And if you ask him, why should he? After Adam Schupak shared the news about Morikawa’s latest caddie split, stating, “Morikawa, who is scheduled to compete this week at the Rocket Classic, confirmed to Golfweek that they had split before teeing off in Wednesday’s pro-am,” Morikawa felt the report misrepresented him and painted him in a negative light for playing “with pro-am partners out front.” And his recent comments suggest he has not changed his stance.

Ahead of the opening round of the 2025 Rocket Classic, Collin Morikawa again shared his stance on his feud with Schupak following the question, “why was it important for you to stand up for yourself the way you did in the media center yesterday?” Though lengthy, Morikawa’s response signified his no-BS stance when it comes to these matters, “Well, because I think everyone should, and that’s a trait that you should learn how to do. At a point you can only follow so much and you have to stand up for yourself.” 

Citing his recent feud with Schupak, Morikawa continued, “A lot of other reporters, media, I respect everyone.” But, Morikawa still feels “I have to stand up for myself because I’m not going to let someone throw little jabs at me and just make me into someone I’m not because I know who I am and that’s all that matters.” He agreed that he knows “my people” and “my family know who I am,” and that is enough. During these times, the “outside perception,” as per Morikawa, feels a “little ridiculous.” 

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Adam Schupak has reported on Morikawa’s team shift (nearly) ahead of everyone. After securing his 3rd place finish at the 2024 Masters, Morikawa admitted to Schupak that “I’m in transition,” following parting ways with his golf coach, Mark Blackburn. Interestingly, it was under Blackburn’s guidance that Morikawa won the 2023 ZOZO Championship, his last win to date.

However, one of the reasons why Collin Morikawa’s media feud is gaining traction once again is because of Morikawa’s behavior following his close loss after he lost a three-stroke lead on Sunday at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational. After he skipped his media duties that day, Morikawa stated he “didn’t want to talk to anyone” and “Like I don’t owe anyone anything.” And although a lot could be said about that, Morikawa’s comment, he has already gained a supporter amid his feud with Adam Schupak.

Collin Morikawa’s stance on the recent media feud gains support from Smylie Kaufman

“All right, I’ll start from Collin’s standpoint. He’s absolutely right,” Smylie Kaufman said on a recent episode of The Smylie Show that while he agrees asking questions about caddie changes is “fine,” it shouldn’t be brought up ahead of Wednesday’s pro-am. This, of course, referenced Collin Morikawa’s comment before his first tee shot in the pro-am when he pointed to Schupak and said, “Ask me anything you want in my press conference later. I’m with my pro-am partners now.”

As of now, with Joe Greiner out of his bag, Collin Morikawa will have his former college golf teammate, KK Limbhasut, on his bag for the entire 2025 Rocket Classic. Sure, the world already knew that Morikawa was going to change his caddie for the week and that Schupak was “just doing his job reporting the news,” but, as per Kaufman, “the timing of that is really poor.” 

And perhaps that’s why this feud works in Collin Morikawa’s favor, or at least that’s what Smylie Kaufman repeated. Following his comments on the “poor timing” of the reporting and the questions, Kaufman reiterated on The Smylie Show, “[I stand] with Collin on this. I’m not saying that Schupak was in the wrong in all this; he’s just doing his job reporting the news.” 

For now, no other current or former PGA Tour pro has weighed in on the recent Collin Morikawa-media feud, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of discussions unfold and how the golf world reacts.