Earlier this month Collin Morikawa was forced to withdraw from the Players Championship with a back injury suffered just two holes into his first round.
“I felt fine in warm-up. 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,” he admitted at the time.
Morikawa admitted he “immediately knew” he wouldn’t be able to play after suffering the injury on a practice swing.
“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,” he said.
Morikawa hasn’t played since suffering the back injury, missing both the Valspar Championship and Texas Children’s Houston Open last weekend. He was expected to tee it up at the Valero Texas Open this weekend, but abruptly withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday, March 31.
Morikawa would have ideally liked to play at least once before heading to Augusta National Golf Course next weekend for the first major tournament of the year.
As it stands now, he won’t have hit a golf shot in competition for nearly a month if he’s able to compete in the Masters, which tees off on April 9.