Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa withdrew from The Players Championship on Thursday after playing one hole.
Morikawa, the world’s fourth-ranked golfer, exited due to a back injury.
Morikawa began the opening round at TPC Sawgrass on Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on the 10th hole and made a par. In taking some practice swings on the 11th hole, he appeared to be in discomfort. After talking with his trainer, Morikawa withdrew.
“I felt fine in warm-up,” Morikawa said. “Like nothing’s been 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’s happened. And I just, I can’t swing through it. Trust me, I would play if I could. It’s just the worst thing in the world.”
The back issue has ailed him in the past.
“I’ve had this stuff before, and been healthy all throughout the year, been moving weight and pushing, going fast. I don’t know, like, before I even took my practice swing, it’s like you had, like a weird, like deja vu thing. I took the practice swing and immediately knew, like, I just couldn’t get through impact,” Morikawa said. “So at that point called over my trainer, and talked about it with my caddie Mark (Urbanek), and it just (stinks). I don’t know how to put it in words.”
His playing partners, Ludvig Aberg and Si Woo Kim, will finish the round and play together Friday as a twosome.
In five events so far this season, Morikawa has a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and two top-10 finishes — a tie for seventh at The Genesis Invitational and fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Also on Thursday, Ryan Fox withdrew prior to the start of the tournament due to illness. David Ford will replace Fox in the field.
–Field Level Media
