PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Collin Morikawa, one of golf's brightest young stars and a leading contender at this week's Players Championship, was forced to withdraw from the tournament early Thursday morning after suffering a sudden back injury.
The 29-year-old Californian, who had just begun his opening round at TPC Sawgrass, stepped away from the 11th tee after a single practice swing. Morikawa, a two-time major champion with victories at the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship, reached for his lower back and grimaced in pain before summoning a trainer. He spent several minutes evaluating his condition on the tee box before being carted off the course and officially announcing his withdrawal.
"I felt fine in warm-up. Like no signs of back problems. And teed it up on 11, and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone," Morikawa said in a statement released by the PGA Tour. "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 abrupt exit came as a shock to fans and fellow competitors alike, given Morikawa's strong start to the 2024 season. He entered the Players Championship as one of the top favorites, riding a wave of momentum that included a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and a fifth-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the previous week at Bay Hill. Those results had propelled him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings after just a handful of events.
Morikawa's performance this year has been marked by consistency, with three top-10 finishes already in his bag. His iron play, long a hallmark of his game, has been sharper than ever, and he had been experimenting with subtle swing adjustments during the offseason to maintain his edge. The Players Championship, often dubbed golf's unofficial fifth major, represented a prime opportunity for Morikawa to build on his early success and challenge for another signature victory on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
According to reports from ESPN, Morikawa showed no outward signs of discomfort during his pre-round warm-up routine. It was only after addressing his ball on the par-4 11th hole—a demanding tee shot over water—that the injury struck. He backed away immediately, alerting his caddie and playing partners to the issue. Tournament officials confirmed the withdrawal shortly after 8 a.m. ET, allowing his group to proceed without him.
This isn't the first time Morikawa has dealt with back troubles derailing his schedule. In 2021, during the Tokyo Olympics, he experienced lingering issues that hampered his performance and led to an early exit from contention. More recently, in 2023, a similar flare-up forced him to pull out of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday in Dublin, Ohio, just as he was rounding into form for the summer majors.
Those past episodes have made Morikawa particularly cautious about his physical preparation. Earlier this week, in interviews leading into the Players, he discussed how he had dedicated much of his offseason to building resilience. "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 strong, get fitter."
That regimen appeared to pay dividends, as evidenced by his Pebble Beach triumph, where he held off a star-studded field including Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Åberg to claim his sixth PGA Tour title. At Bay Hill last week, Morikawa carded rounds of 68-70-69-68 to finish at 11-under par, just four shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler. His ball-striking stats ranked among the best on tour, with an average proximity to the hole of less than 30 feet from approach shots over 150 yards.
The Players Championship, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday, draws the strongest field in golf outside the majors, with a $25 million purse and 196 of the top 200 players in the Official World Golf Ranking participating. TPC Sawgrass's infamous 17th hole, the island-green par-3, and the tight, wind-exposed layout test every facet of a golfer's game. Morikawa's withdrawal opens the door for others in the FedEx Cup race, including Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, and Xander Schauffele, who have been nipping at his heels.
PGA Tour officials expressed sympathy for Morikawa's situation in a brief statement. "We wish Collin a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on course soon," said a Tour spokesperson. No immediate timeline for Morikawa's return has been announced, but sources close to the player indicated he would undergo evaluation with medical staff in Florida before heading home to California.
Morikawa's early-season dominance had positioned him as a frontrunner not just for individual titles but for the overall FedEx Cup championship, which awards a $25 million bonus to the points leader at the Tour Championship in August. His lead, built on 1,200 points from Pebble Beach and consistent scoring elsewhere, now faces a test. While a single withdrawal won't erase his advantage—players like Scheffler and Rory McIlroy trail by several hundred points—it underscores the fragility of professional golf, where physical setbacks can upend even the most meticulously planned campaigns.
Looking back, Morikawa's rise has been meteoric. After turning pro in 2019 following a stellar amateur career at the University of California, Berkeley, he wasted little time making his mark. His first major win came just nine starts into his PGA Tour career, and he followed it with the Claret Jug at Royal St. George's in 2021. Off the course, Morikawa has become known for his analytical approach, often consulting with sports scientists and using data analytics to refine his swing.
The back injury raises questions about how Morikawa will manage his schedule moving forward. The next major event on the calendar is the Masters Tournament in early April at Augusta National, where Morikawa has finished in the top 10 in each of his last three appearances. His team is reportedly prioritizing rest and targeted therapy to prevent a recurrence, drawing lessons from previous recoveries.
In the broader context of the PGA Tour, Morikawa's absence highlights the physical toll of the grind. With a compressed schedule leading into the majors and the ongoing negotiations between the Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, players like Morikawa represent the next generation whose health and longevity could influence the sport's future direction. For now, though, the focus remains on his rehabilitation.
As the first round unfolded without him, the golf world sent well-wishes via social media, with peers like Justin Thomas tweeting, "Speedy recovery, Collin—get back out there soon." Morikawa's setback serves as a reminder that even in a game of precision and preparation, the body can impose its own unpredictable rules.