Collin Morikawa was uncomfortable, he said.
He didn’t trust her.
He was afraid.
“And I’ve never been so scared in my life,” he said, “to go out and play.”
Morikawa’s comments on Thursday sound alarming. And yet, Morikawa is still sitting out the RBC Heritage event, a week after strolling through the Masters, and nearly a month after being forced to withdraw from the Players Championship. The latter looked shocking. Morikawa was practicing his swing on his second hole at TPC Sawgrass, caught his lower back and finished. Due to the injury, he missed three weeks.
At Augusta National, however, he played 11 under in his final three rounds and tied for seventh. And at Harbor Town Golf Links, he has been keeping things moving. On Thursday, he shot a 67-under, on Friday a 68, and will be in the mix for the weekend. Yes, the back is flexible, and you are careful. After his first round, he told reporters he was swinging about 50 percent.
“The body is probably a little better than that,” he said. “It’s hard to trust the body right now, it’s an uncomfortable feeling, I’ve never faced anything like this until last month.
“There is no trust, and that is a very difficult thing, to say that you go down when you try to play in the competition because for me I try to keep it all week.”
Worrying about what he can’t handle. Three years ago, he suffered from a back injury, but the problems started in the gym, not on the golf course.
But a few weeks ago, he said he needed to play in the Masters and that he would find a way to protect his back “little by little.”
“There was a point where it was like, OK, let’s stop pushing to see how far we can go,” Morikawa said, “and let’s see what I can just work with.”
The Masters, he said, was less successful.
“I said it last week: It was one of the best tournaments I could have asked for,” Morikawa said. “We rubbed it in, obviously I got some good runs on Saturday and Sunday at the end of the rounds.
“But yeah, this week hopefully we can put together rounds like this and see where we stack up on Sunday.”
On Thursday, he played bogey free. On Friday, he played 4-under golf on his last nine holes. He said “he feeds it here and there and slaps it.” He said he thought about not playing, but Harbor Town is “one of the flat courses here.”
The question, however, is what the coming weeks will look like. The Masters kicks off a six-week stretch that includes three signature events and two majors, and hope, he said, plays into everything. But you may need time at home. There, he can explore.
“I feel like I’m moving a little bit, at least, but I wouldn’t say I’m putting more effort into it because, like I said, I need to be home to say, OK, let’s step it up.” Morikawa said.
“If I feel uncomfortable, at least at home, I’m not trying to play a tournament where I need to play 72 holes.”
Thankfully, only 36 are left at RBC.
A win and a $3.6 million first-place check wouldn’t hurt.
“I want to have a good life,” said Morikawa. “I don’t want to limp because I’m afraid of putting a golf ball out of the hole or putting it together, unfortunately that’s where I’m at right now.
“I need to be free from these uncomfortable situations, and these past two weeks are helping me to overcome them little by little.”
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