It’s not every day that a pro withdraws from a PGA Tour event in the first round itself. Let alone doing so within the first couple of holes. But Collin Morikawa couldn’t hold back the pain soon after he completed the first hole of The PLAYERS Championship 2026 on Thursday.

Jeff Eisenband reported, “Collin Morikawa WD at @THEPLAYERS due to injury. Looked like he tweaked his back with a swing on the 11th tee (his 2nd hole of the day). Morikawa entered the week 1st in the FedExCup Standings and had the 3rd-shortest betting odds after Scottie and Rory. Now, out in Round 1.”

Morikawa twitched his back after he overextended the follow-through on his downward swing. Ironically, he wasn’t even trying to hit the ball when he went in hard on the swing. The 29-year-old was just practicing his swing before driving on the par-5 11th hole, which was his second for the day. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw after it.

Speaking about the injury, the seven-time PGA Tour champion told the reporters, “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 also added, “I was ready to go swing even harder this week if I had to, right. Honestly, the first hole felt great. Hit two great shots. Hit a great putt. Teed it up, nothing felt bad. It was like, it’s like a deja vu.”

Motivated by his excellent run of form, the pain felt too familiar to Morikawa. That’s because he has suffered through it before.

Collin Morikawa’s troubles with back injuries

We can only imagine how painful it must have been for Collin Morikawa to entirely withdraw from the PLAYERS Championship 2026. However, he has already encountered a couple of back injuries to know when to call it quits.

In 2023, Morikawa suffered through a back spasm while playing the third round of the Memorial Tournament. He was playing well, sitting at T9 after 36 holes of play. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old couldn’t push through for a couple of more rounds to finish with a positive result.

A similar incident occurred in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as well. In fact, it was quite similar to what Morikawa experienced at TPC Sawgrass. Morikawa injured his lower back in the first round of the Olympic golf tournament. He tried to hit the ball through the sticky rough and felt a jerk on contact. That forced him out of the event. However, he chose to continue playing back then and eventually finished T4 in the event. Perhaps the injury back then wasn’t as severe as it was today.