Weeks after he had to withdraw from the first round of The Players Championship due to an injury, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is once again removing himself from a competition – putting his participation in The Masters in doubt.
The PGA Tour announced on Tuesday that Morikawa has withdrawn from this week’s Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.
This comes after he played just one hole in the first round of The Players at TPC Sawgrass before hurting his back on a practice swing.
‘I felt fine in warmup,’ Morikawa said at The Players. ‘Like no 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.’
Morikawa wasn’t competing for the Los Angeles Golf Club in last week’s TGL SoFi Cup finals. Instead, he watched on from home as his team won the title over Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club.
Collin Morikawa has withdrawn from the Valero Texas Open due to a lingering injury
The withdrawal now casts doubt on his availability to play in The Masters next week
Morikawa hurt himself after playing just one hole at The Players Championship this month
Morikawa told ESPN’s Marty Smith that his back was feeling ‘positive’ and that he planned to play in San Antonio this week.
But the former PGA Championship and Open Championship winner pulled out of competing shortly before his Tuesday morning tee-time in the tournament’s pro-am.
His withdrawal now puts his participation in next week’s Masters in serious doubt.
Morikawa, the eighth-ranked golfer in the world, won his first tournament in 28 months when he took victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 15.
He’s also finished tied for seventh at the Genesis Invitational and was solo fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As of Tuesday morning, the betting markets gave Morikawa the ninth-best odds to win the green jacket this year.
