FedExCup leader Collin Morikawa has withdrawn from The Players after just one hole of his opening round due to a back injury.
Morikawa was among the pre-tournament favourites to win the PGA Tour's flagship event, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month before adding top-seven finishes in his next two starts.
The two-time major champion had an 8.40am (12.40pm UK time) tee time alongside Ludvig Ă…berg and Si Woo Kim, with Morikawa opening with a two-putt par at the par-four 10th before experiencing discomfort ahead of the par-five next.
Morikawa immediately held his lower back after a practice swing on the tee, with the American receiving treatment next to the hole before leaving the course on a buggy.
"I felt fine in the warm-up," Morikawa told reporters. "Like nothing has been any signs of back problems. Teed it up on 11, took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone.
"Trust me, I would play if I could. It's just the worst thing in the world."
His mid-round withdrawal is just the second of his PGA Tour career and first since The Memorial in 2023, with Ă…berg and Si Woo Kim playing the rest of their round as a two-ball.
The world No 4 had no injury concerns ahead of the event but revealed after withdrawing that the back issue is something he had experienced before.
"I was ready to go swing even harder this week if I had to," Morikawa added. "Honestly, the first hole felt great. Hit two great shots, hit a great putt. Teed it up and nothing felt bad.
"Honestly, it's like a deja vu. It all hit me at one second, where I was like, 'something doesn't feel right'. I took a practice swing and there it was, not being able to swing.
"It has been a while [since a back issue]. I've been really, really good with the body so far throughout the fall. 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 warm-ups. It's awful. I feel terrible."
Morikawa was the second player of the opening morning to pull out of The Players, with New Zealand's Ryan Fox withdrawing ahead of his round due to kidney stones.
David Ford replaces Fox, with Chris Kirk and former Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley completing that threeball.
"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 and then had to be dealt with surgically this afternoon.
"Devastated to miss out on such an amazing event, hoping to have a quick recovery and be back at it soon."
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