Mark Schlabach
Multiple Authors
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Collin Morikawa has received two main championships and completed within the high 5 in 5 others, so he has performed loads of golf with excessive stakes on the road.
That’s why Morikawa was so shocked by his anxiousness stage earlier than Thursday’s opening spherical of the ninetieth Masters.
“I mean, it all started when I woke up,” Morikawa mentioned. “I’ve never felt this nervous, like, in my life. I’ve played in majors. I’ve played in other events.”
But apart from two nine-hole apply rounds earlier this week at Augusta National Golf Club, Morikawa hadn’t performed since injuring his again after just one gap of play within the first spherical of the Players on March 12.
“I think it’s a trust factor, right?” Morikawa mentioned. “I think when it happened out on the course at the Players, there’s a certain doubt factor of, like, is this going to happen [or] is this not?”
The 29-year-old gutted by means of the primary 18 holes Thursday, posting a 2-over 74. He had 4 bogeys and two birdies and described it because the “toughest round I’ve ever played.”
“I’m just fighting,” Morikawa mentioned. “It’s a battle. I don’t think I’ve been able to get comfortable out there and [trust] the entire body. It’s not painful, but it’s not easy. I think walking has been the hardest part.”
Morikawa mentioned he has been hitting balls for the previous week and a half, however not comfortably.
“It’s just more like my head gets in the way, and the head can stop so much,” Morikawa mentioned. “When I teed it up on Tuesday on [the first hole], I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make contact. Warmup felt fine, everything.”
Although Morikawa’s again is now not in ache, his legs “just don’t feel comfortable right now. … They don’t feel strong like they’re underneath me.”
Morikawa joked that he is most likely the slowest-playing golfer within the subject due to his ongoing anxiousness.
“I’m just trying to put one foot in front of the other and kind of see how it all plays out,” Morikawa mentioned.
Morikawa, who received the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship, has been trying to find one other main championship since. He gave the impression to be in a great place to contend for a inexperienced jacket after profitable the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Feb. 15. He tied for seventh within the Genesis Invitational and was solo fifth within the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The seven-time PGA Tour winner was first in strokes gained: strategy (1.066) and third in tee-to-green (1.646) coming into the week.
“I’m proud of the way things kind of played out,” Morikawa mentioned. “The expectations are kind of thrown out the window right now.”
