Collin Morikawa had to withdraw from the Players Championship after just one hole of the first round. While practicing a swing on the 11th hole, he experienced discomfort in his back and decided to pull out immediately.
Now, almost two months after the injury, Morikawa did not have any encouraging news.
“Still kind of dealing with some back stuff honestly, like I wish I was 100% healthy,” he said on Tuesday. “The body doesn’t feel bad. It’s just uncomfortable and there’s a trust factor that I’m kind of having to deal with. I’ve never had to deal with it. It’s just a very weird feeling of not trusting the body yet knowing that things are going to be okay.”
With the PGA Championship teeing off in just two days, the update certainly sounds concerning. Morikawa is unsure whether his body will allow him to get through four straight days of golf.
“It’s just taking it day by day, just doing what I need to do. Four days of golf one at a time and I’m going to find a way to hopefully play some great golf starting Thursday,” he added.
Collin Morikawa Pushed Through the Masters Feeling Uncomfortable
GettyCollin Morikawa was dealing with pain while participating in the Masters.
After the injury during the Players Championship, he took weeks off before returning to play at Augusta. He finished tied for seventh with a score of 9-under par, which is really commendable coming off an injury. He teed off again at both the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship. But all those times, he felt really uncomfortable.
“We always talk about it in golf, that the mental game is a big aspect of it, it truly is. And sometimes you’re able to push yourself that much farther,” Morikawa revealed. “Trust me, it was very, very uncomfortable to play during the Masters. It was uncomfortable to play the week after at Hilton Head, but you just have to keep pushing.”
Collin Morikawa revealed that his team has really helped him over the last month and a half. Even during Masters week, his caddie, Mark Urbanek, helped him with the smallest things.
“I owe a lot of credit to Mark Urbanik, my caddy,” he expressed. “At the Masters, we were doing things that just didn’t make sense. Simply like him handing me my water bottle. I think it’s ridiculous for him to hand me my water bottle. But if it was going to save me one extra bend that was going to make me uncomfortable, he was willing to do it.”
Collin Morikawa on His Game Plan for the PGA Championship
GettyCollin Morikawa talks about his health and mentality before the PGA Championship.
This upcoming event will be Morikawa’s seventh appearance. He started the season very strongly. In the 7 events he completed, he recorded three top-10 finishes, which also include a win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“It’ll be interesting to see whether I get frustrated or not, considering that the body feels a little bit better,” The 2020 PGA Championship winner said. “I hope to take that mentality I had at Augusta and just continue that into the rest of the year because that’s a mentality I think the best have. That’s how, for me at least, I feel like I’m going to play great golf.”
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