Collin Morikawa Forced Out Of Players Championship with Injury

Collin Morikawa was forced to pull out of The Players Championship early in the first round with a back injury.

The World No.4 managed to complete just one hole of his first round at TPC Sawgrass before tweaking his back.

After starting on the 10th, Morikawa seemed to hurt himself taking a practice swing on the 11th tee box, as he instantly grabbed at his lower back.

The 29-year-old tried stretching it out on the tee box but he looked in some discomfort and eventually had to call it a day and withdraw.

"I felt fine in warm-up, nothing's been any signs of back problems," said Morikawa.

"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."

The two-time Major champion was playing alongside Ludvig Aberg and Si Woo Kim and showed no signs of injury when making a par four on his opening hole - the 10th at Sawgrass.

Already a winner this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Morikawa was hoping to continue his fine form with a big run at The Players.

He'd follwed up his win at Pebble Beach with a T7 at the Genesis Invitational and a solo fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill last week.

Back injuries are becoming a bit of a theme on the PGA Tour with Rory McIlroy pulling out of Bay Hill last week with a similar back problem, but hoping to make a decent defence of his Players Championship title this week.

Ironically, Morikawa had spoken about his fitness before the tournament and some lower back issues he was having.

"I've had this stuff before, and been healthy all throughout the year, been moving weight and pushing, going fast," Morikawa added.

"I don't know, like, before I even took my practice swing, it's like you had, like a weird, like deja vu thing. I took the practice swing and immediately knew, like, I just couldn't get through impact. So at that point called over my trainer, and talked about it with my caddie Mark, and it just sucks. I don't know how to put it in words."

Morikawa insists there was no signs of injury during his warm-up, and added that this back problem hasn't been an issue for some time.

"Warm-up, prep, nothing. I was ready to go swing even harder this week if I had to, right. Honestly, first hole felt great.

"Teed it up, nothing felt bad. Honestly, it was like, it's like a deja vu. Like it all hit me at one second, where I was like, something doesn't feel right. I took a practice swing, there it was, like not being able to swing.

"Yeah, it's been a while. Like I said, like I've been really, really good with the body so far throughout the fall, and it's been a little while. It's just frustrating, because I don't know what caused it.

"Maybe something wasn't activated enough or what, but I went through all the warmups, felt fine. Just, yeah, it's awful. I feel terrible."