PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Collin Morikawa withdrew from the Players Championship early Thursday morning with a back injury.
The two-time main winner and winner of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this season had performed just one gap in his opening spherical when he took a full-speed apply swing on the eleventh tee and backed off.
Morikawa, who was one of many favorites at TPC Sawgrass this week, reached for his back and grimaced earlier than calling for a coach. He spent a while assessing his standing earlier than being carted off the golf course and formally withdrawing from the event.
Morikawa additionally had some lingering back points in 2021 on the Tokyo Olympics and in 2023, forcing him to withdraw from the Memorial event that 12 months.
Earlier this week, Morikawa spoke about how his latest play has been anchored by an offseason the place he centered on his physique.
“Honestly, coming into this year I had a lot of confidence,” Morikawa stated. “I put a lot of work into my body just to get stronger in general, get healthier, get strong, get fitter.”
Morikawa, 29, who leads the FedEx Cup within the early going, has three top-10 finishes this season and had been displaying among the finest kind he had in recent times. Aside from the win at Pebble Beach earlier this 12 months, he completed in fifth place on the Arnold Palmer Invitational final week.
