Collin Morikawa Battles Through 'Toughest Round I've Ever Played' to Open Masters

The two-time major winner teed it up for the first time since he withdrew from the Players Championship with a back injury, and was unsure if he could hold up for a full 18 holes.

Collin Morikawa shot a first-round 74 in his first start since suffering a back injury. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Augusta — Waking up this morning, Collin Morikawa had never felt more nervous in his life. And not just because he wants to win a green jacket. He was just hoping to complete 18 holes. 

And he would. But it was a dogfight, both mentally and physically. 

“Honestly, it’s probably the toughest round I've ever played,” Morikawa said after a first-round 2-over 74 that left him T50. “I don’t know. I kind of want to watch my swings, and I kind of don’t … I’m just fighting. It’s a battle.”

This was the first competitive round for Morikawa since he withdrew from the Players Championship after tweaking his back during a practice swing on the second hole of the tournament. The two-time major champion had planned to play last week’s Valero Texas Open, but ultimately delayed his return. 

So when he teed it up on Thursday at Augusta National, his mind was full of doubt. 

“I've been hitting balls for the past week and a half, but not comfortably,” the 29-year-old said. “By that, it’s just more like my head gets in the way, and the head can stop so much. When I teed it up on Tuesday [in a practice round] on [hole] one, I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make contact. Warmup felt fine, everything.”

Yet here he was, two days later. And there was some rust. After a wayward tee shot on the par-4 7th, his second shot from the pine straw landed in the greenside bunker, and he failed to get up-and-down, leading to a bogey. He also bogeyed the 9th hole and then add two more on the back, the last of which came after his approach rolled off the green on the par-4 14th. 

There were some highlights, though, including two birdies. One on the par-4 10th, where he rolled in a long putt, and the other at the par-5 13th. 

How did he feel? 

“Physically, there’s no pain,” he said. “It’s just a trust thing. My legs don’t want to trust that it’s going to hold up the back and the rest of the body. When that’s feeling wobbly, plus you add the adrenaline and the nerves, it’s just not—it’s not easy, but thankfully this course is firm. Can hit some drives and kind of I’m calling it a little dink-it-out-there-and-find-it and move on.”

Instead, Morikawa’s mind was his biggest combatant today. 

“It's unfortunate, but I've got to find a way to battle through it,” he said of his mentality. “I’m proud of myself the way it kind of played out today. I mean, I had no clue what I was going to shoot today.”

But after that final putt on 18 dropped, there were, at least, some lessons to take away.

“The mind is a powerful, powerful thing. It can lead any the wrong direction sometimes, and it can lead you in the right direction,” he said. “Trust me, [nerves] started immediately when I woke up. I’ve been nervous here and there throughout the practice rounds, but you never know what to expect. I slept great, and you wake up, and you are just—like, I can feel just the mind racing. 

“You have to just be able to calm yourself down. It was a long day out there. I don’t know how long we were out there, but I was out there twice the amount of time just because of the things I had to keep telling myself throughout the round.” 

And Morikawa will do it all again tomorrow, while fighting to make the cut. It’s anyone’s best guess how he’ll feel, though.

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