Collin Morikawa, a leading contender at The Players Championship, withdrew after completing just one hole due to a back injury. The incident occurred during a practice swing on the 11th tee at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on March 12, 2026. Morikawa expressed frustration, noting he felt fine during warm-up but recognized the familiar pain immediately.
The Players Championship, often called golf's unofficial fifth major, began on March 12, 2026, at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. World No. 4 Collin Morikawa, the FedExCup leader and a two-time major champion, teed off at 8:40 a.m. ET alongside Ludvig Åberg and Si Woo Kim. He started with a two-putt par on the par-four 10th hole but encountered trouble on the par-five 11th.
Morikawa experienced discomfort during a practice swing on the 11th tee. After consulting a trainer and attempting a few more swings, he officially withdrew. "I felt fine in warm-up," Morikawa said. "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."
This marks only the second mid-round withdrawal of Morikawa's PGA Tour career, the first since The Memorial in 2023. He had entered the tournament in strong form, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 15, 2026, finished tied for seventh at The Genesis Invitational, and placed fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the previous week. Morikawa has seven career PGA Tour victories and finished second in the 2024 FedEx Cup standings.
The back issue, which Morikawa said he had experienced before, came without prior warning this week. "Honestly, it's like a déjà vu," he added. "It all hit me at one second... I've been really, really good with the body so far throughout the fall. It's just frustrating."
Åberg and Si Woo Kim continued as a twosome for the remainder of the first round and the second round on Friday. Earlier, New Zealand's Ryan Fox withdrew before his round due to kidney stones, which required surgical treatment. "Not exactly the week I had planned here at the Players," Fox posted on Instagram. "Unfortunately some kidney stones took me down on Tuesday night... Devastated to miss out."
In early first-round action, Tommy Fleetwood and Maverick McNealy led at 4-under par.