The Collin Morikawa vs. the Media feud has resurfaced, this time over his recent caddie change and Golfweek‘s Alan Schupak unintentionally upsetting the golfer with his reporting. In his original piece on caddie exchange, Schupak noted, “Morikawa, who is scheduled to compete this week at the Rocket Classic, confirmed as much [caddie split] before teeing off in Wednesday’s ProAm.” Morikawa didn’t take this lightly and responded that he didn’t understand why Schupak “would make me sound bad because you put out my quote that I was playing with pro-am partner.” Although this exchange has reignited Morikawa’s media debate feud, a former PGA Tour pro believes Morikawa was right to do so.

Recently, Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme sat down for an episode on The Smylie Show. Taking note of the aforementioned quote from Schupak’s article, Kaufman said of the situation, “All right, so I’ll start from Collin’s standpoint. He’s absolutely right.” Sure, Kaufman agrees that asking questions, such as about the firing of a caddie, is “fine,” but it shouldn’t be done ahead of a pro-am. Kaufman adds, “Of course, it’s been confirmed that Joe Greiner is not working that week, but there’s a time and a place to ask, and it’s definitely not on the first tee of the pro-am.” The former Tour pro elucidates his point by repeating, “The timing of that is really poor.”

And Collin Morikawa’s clipped but respectable reply ahead of the pro-am made that pretty obvious. “Ask me anything you want in my press conference later. I’m with my pro-am partners now.” When he returned from the pro-am and sat down for the press conference, Schupak posed the caddie split question again. Although Morikawa confirmed the split, he also said, “And I read your article that you wrote.” Kaufman still had Morikawa’s back and said, “[I stand] with Colin on this. I’m not saying that Schupak was in the wrong in all this; he’s just doing his job reporting the news.”

Following Morikawa’s clipped response, Schupak defended himself and said, “I thought I was actually giving you credit that you were playing, you were focused on your pro-am partners.” Morikawa dismissed it and replied, “Okay, we can all read it very differently. That’s not how I read it.” Notably, Schupak is a respectable journalist in the golf industry; however, it would be interesting to see how this heated exchange affects his career (if it does at all).

However, this isn’t the first Collin Morikawa vs the Media clash this year. Earlier this year, after losing his three-stroke lead on Sunday at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Morikawa dismissed his media duties and said, “I don’t owe anyone anything.” Perhaps it is also because of his history with the media that his exchange with Schupak is making headlines.

On the other hand, when it comes to his recent caddie split, Morikawa announced that he is parting ways with caddie Joe Greiner after only five tournaments. He will replace him with KK Limbhasut for this week’s 2025 Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club. Regardless, Morikawa’s behavior was, however, not as much understood by everyone, especially when it came to other journalists in golf.

Kyle Porter does not understand why Collin Morikawa blew up at all

We all know what happened ahead of the 2025 Rocket Classic: At the 2025 Rocket Classic, Morikawa expressed his frustration with reporter Adam Schupak over a quote that Schupak included in his article about Morikawa’s caddie change. And like how Morikawa pulled out one particular section of Schupak’s piece, reporter Kyle Porter and Christopher Powers did the same.

Kyle Porter reacted to the situation by sharing a screenshot of Schupak’s article on social media, questioning Morikawa’s sensitivity to the quote. He remarked, “Here it is. Morikawa thinks this … makes him look bad?” This response highlights the general sentiment that Morikawa’s concerns may be overblown, especially considering the nature of the quote in question. Powers pulled another screenshot of the original Schupak article and said, “I beg everyone to read this article and try your very hardest to figure out what the FUCK Collin Morikawa is even talking about.” 

Undoubtedly, more people seem to agree with Schupak’s intent than with Morikawa’s understanding of it. As fans and the golf community suggest, Morikawa needs to develop a thicker skin when facing media scrutiny. The pressures of being a two-time major champion come with heightened visibility and expectations, and the media landscape can be unforgiving. While he may feel that this particular instance was unfair, he should recognize that coverage can become much harsher.