Skin, thinned

 Hey, I'm as appreciative as the next guy that pro golfer Collin Morikawa has given folks like me permission to write whatever we want. It means I can write the following about Collin Morikawa:

The man seems a trifle touchy these days.

Which is to say, his skin is thin enough to see through. At least where the media is concerned.

His discontent with the people who cover his and his fellow golfers' tournaments (and thereby help publicize them) has become a thing now, dating back to earlier in the year when he said he didn't owe anyone anything and the media duly, and accurately, quoted him. Now he's gotten into it with Adam Schupak of Golfweek, who approached Morikawa to ask about a recent caddie change during the pro-am for the Rocket Classic.

"Ask me anything you want in my press conference later, I'm with my pro-am partners now," said.

A reasonable response. Which Schupak quoted in his report.

And which Morikawa took issue with in the ensuing presser.

"I read the article you wrote," he told Schupak. "Look, I'm not here to tell people how to do their jobs, but I don't get why you would make me sound bad because you put out my quote that (I was) playing with pro-am partners out front."

Now, I wasn't there, so I don't know how Schupak reacted. But I can guess what he was thinking, and I'm betting it was what several other people said out loud on social media: "What the hell are you talking about, Collin?"

They said that because ... well, because what the hell was he talking about? Nothing about what Morikawa was quoted as saying -- a reasonable request reasonably made -- could possibly be construed as making him look bad in any known universe. Except, apparently, the one in which Morikawa resides.

No, what made Collin Morikawa look bad everywhere outside the Morikawa multiverse was Morikawa himself making a whole thing about it. He launched into this whole spiel about how people pay a lot of money to play in the pro-ams and that's important for the tournament and how dare Schupak put out a quote that not only "put me down" but belittled the importance of the pro-am. 

Or so his implication seemed to be.

Fun fact to know and tell: There is no indication Schupak was remotely peeved about being asked to wait until the presser to ask his caddie question.

Second fun fact to know and tell: Therefore, he had no reason to try to make Morikawa look bad, assuming Morikawa's theory was right.

Third fun fact to know and tell: It wasn't.

No, it was just another instance of a professional athlete trying to tell people (i.e., the media) how to do their jobs. Which is what every professional athlete is doing when he says he's not trying to tell people how to do their jobs.

"You can write whatever you want, this is America, but don't put me down like that ..." Morikawa said.

In other words: You can write whatever you want. Just not that.

Got it, Collin.

OK. So not really.