The Players Championship is happening this week, and it is the last big tournament before the majors get started with The Masters in April. It is a crowded field, but the biggest storyline after the first day of the tournament is what happened with Collin Morikawa. He is dealing with a back injury, and he is the second high-profile player to do so recently, following Rory McIlroy, who withdrew last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
After withdrawing, Morikawa explained his back injury and the reasons for his withdrawal. He said he felt completely fine during warm-ups, but after one practice swing before teeing off, he knew he could not continue. He said it sucks because it was so unexpected, and he wanted to continue if he could.
“I felt fine in warm-up,” Morikawa said. “Like, nothing's shown any signs of back problems. And teed it up on 11, and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone. Like I just had the feeling before when it happened. And I, I can't swing through it. Trust me, I would play if I could. It's just the worst thing in the world.”
It is a big blow for Morikawa because he entered the week as one of the big favorites at the Players Championship. He had a great start to the season after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, and all eyes were on him in this tournament.
It is also worth noting that Morikawa had some lingering back issues in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics and in 2023, forcing him to withdraw from the Memorial tournament that year. So this has been an issue for him before and has lingered previously.
Earlier this week, Morikawa had spoken about how his recent play has been anchored by an offseason spent focusing on his body.
“Honestly, coming into this year, I had a lot of confidence,” Morikawa said. “I put a lot of work into my body just to get stronger in general, get healthier, get stronger, get fitter.”
