Collin Morikawa is going to give it a shot this week at Augusta National.
Morikawa arrived at the course on Monday ahead of the Masters and practiced amid a lingering back injury that has kept him off the PGA Tour for weeks now. He withdrew from the Valero Texas Open last week because of it, and had to pull out of The Players Championship last month after just a single hole due to back spasms.
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“The honest truth is I’m taking it day by day,” Morikawa said. “It’s not exactly where I want to be, and it’s unfortunate, but that’s just the body, and I can’t push it.
“It’s been a little bit of a mental battle, I think, just trying to trust where it’s at. The back actually feels fine, it’s just other parts of the body not cooperating a little bit how I want.”
Morikawa lasted just a single hole at The Players Championship last month, and ended up withdrawing after a practice swing left him clutching at his lower back. He was going to try and make it back for last week’s Tour stop in San Antonio, but Morikawa decided to withdraw in an effort to preserve his back for the Masters.
Morikawa revealed Monday that he’s undergone MRIs and has “gotten things done” on his back, and that it’s “nothing worse than what it’s been.” The injury, though, is something Morikawa admittedly has never experienced before in his career.
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“When you hurt yourself swinging, it’s a completely different beast of itself because you just don’t know,” Morikawa said. “There’s a little bit of a commitment, trust. The mind is a very strong thing, though, and a very strong part of your body. Positive mindset, the right thoughts, be able to get through and figure it out.”
Morikawa has won seven times on Tour in his career, including earlier this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’ll enter the Masters this week at No. 7 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Assuming he’s able to tee off on Thursday, it will mark Morikawa’s sixth start at the major championship. He finished T14 last season, and has three top 10 finishes at Augusta National to his name.
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Even though Morikawa hasn’t played in quite some time now while trying to recover from his back injury, he said he’s been hitting balls pretty successfully over the past week or so. And his short game, he said, is still in a great place.
“It’s frustrating, but at the same time, I can’t do anything stupid and push my body in a way it doesn’t want to do,” Morikawa said. “What’s amazing is chipping and putting still feel great. The putter feels amazing. Just got to be able to get the ball there, which like the opposite of how I’ve been, I think, my entire career.
“It’s just part of it. I think however and whenever I get out of this little back stuff and body stuff, just go out and trust the things that I’ve been doing, and hopefully they click again.”
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