PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Collin Morikawa withdrew from the 2026 Players Championship on Thursday with an apparent back injury, according to PGA Tour Live announcers.
Morikawa teed off on No. 10 at 8:40 a.m. ET, but by the 11th hole, he was experiencing enough pain that he was seen stretching behind the tee and soon thereafter elected to pull out of the Tour’s flagship event. Morikawa gave bro hugs to fellow competitors Ludvig Aberg and Si Woo Kim and their caddies. He was carted back to the clubhouse and his week is over prematurely.
Morikawa entered the week as the FedEx Cup leader following his fifth-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month and was considered one of the favorites this week. The world No. 4 was making his sixth Players appearance, having collected his first top-10 finish in 2025 (T-10). He entered the week on a roll with 13 consecutive rounds under par, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour.
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