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By Andrew McCarty
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Collin Morikawa entered The Players Championship weekend as a favorite to hoist the trophy on Sunday afternoon.
Instead, the California native saw his tournament come to an abrupt end on just the second hole of his first round on Thursday morning. Morikawa stepped onto the tee at No. 11 after carding a par on his first hole – No. 10, after starting on the back nine – laid down his tee and ball and stepped back for a practice swing where he immediately twinged in pain, grabbing at the lower left side of his back.
The two-time major champion abruptly walked off the tee and withdrew from the tournament before he took his fifth shot of the morning.
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Morikawa spoke with reporters after his decision to withdraw and made it abundantly clear he wouldn't have been able to play through the injury.
“I felt fine in warm-up. 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," he admitted.
Morikawa said he "immediately" knew his day was done.
“I've had this stuff before, and been healthy all throughout the year, been moving weight and pushing, going fast. I don't know, like, before I even took my practice swing, it's like you had, like a weird, like deja vu thing," he said.
"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."
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