{"id":821382,"date":"2026-03-12T19:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/821382\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:34:16","slug":"devastated-players-championship-contender-withdraws-after-one-hole-to-spark-masters-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/821382\/","title":{"rendered":"Devastated Players Championship contender withdraws after one hole to spark Masters fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collin Morikawa dramatically withdrew from The Players Championship on his second hole.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The in-form American was taking a practice swing and winced in pain before walking away holding his back.<\/p>\n

\"Morikawa<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Morikawa looked to be in a great deal of painCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

He headed straight for a cart, looking devastated, and minutes later it was confirmed that he had pulled out of the tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeed it up on 11, and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone,” he said. “Like I just had the feeling before when it’s happened. <\/p>\n

“I can’t swing through it. Trust me, I would play if I could. It’s just the worst thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/a> is also struggling with a back injury and his status is up in the air<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MORE ON GOLF<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman has been unable to practice, but will attempt to play.<\/p>\n

“It’s better than it was,” McIlroy said of his back, ahead of his scheduled title defence.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got about 20 hours until I tee off, or until I’m supposed to tee off tomorrow, so we’ll see.<\/p>\n

“But it feels better. That’s all I can say. I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it’s obviously better than that.”<\/p>\n

With under a month to go until The Masters<\/a>, both players will be determined to get back in full health.<\/p>\n

Two-time major champion Morikawa, who has already won on the PGA Tour this season, had been installed as second-favourite for the Players after McIlroy’s injury problems. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The Players is one of the most prestigious events of the golfing year and features the iconic par-three 17thCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

World no.1 Scottie Scheffler is still the favourite despite a difficult start to the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Defending Players and Masters champion McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational<\/a> on Saturday before his third round after sustaining a muscle problem<\/a> in the gym.<\/p>\n

It was only the second time in the five-time-Major champion’s career that he withdrew from a PGA Tour<\/a> event mid-competition, with the first being the 2013 Honda Classic.<\/p>\n

Players Championship provides ideal Masters springboard<\/p>\n

Max Greyserman took an early lead at TPC Sawgrass after sinking four-straight birdies to go five-under through seven holes.<\/p>\n

McIlroy’s success at golf’s unofficial fifth major last March teed him up for a career-defining victory at Augusta a month later.<\/p>\n

A rollercoaster tournament<\/a> saw him claim a Green Jacket for the first time and complete a career Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

McIlroy is a true game-time decisionCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

As well as defending his title, McIlroy also has the honor of hosting the hosting the Champions Dinner,\u00a0<\/a>where he will get to choose the menu.<\/p>\n

The golfing great will hope to do a lot more than serve up a feast in Georgia and his fitness will be closely monitored if he does head out for the Players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collin Morikawa dramatically withdrew from The Players Championship on his second hole. The in-form American was taking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4106],"tags":[85442,236413,2826,236412,4366,4298,4287,236414,79,4297,19463,16,15],"class_list":["post-821382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-collin-morikawa","tag-collin-morikawa-injury","tag-golf","tag-golf-injury-news","tag-golf-news","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-rory-mcilroy-injury","tag-sports","tag-the-masters","tag-the-players-championship","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116217883602357424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}