How Ready Is Collin Morikawa's Back for the 2026 Masters?

Before that fateful lone practice swing on his second hole of the entire PLAYERS Championship, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was shaping into a trendy pick for the 2026 Masters. Then, he felt a pain in his back during that brief rehearsal, withdrew from the PLAYERS, and followed that WD by doing the same thing at last week's Valero Texas Open.

Now, his physical health in the early days leading up to the Masters remains uncertain. Here's everything we're hearing about Morikawa's game heading into the year's first major.

Speaking to the press on Monday from Augusta, Morikawa spoke about his back, explaining that he's not pushing himself in ways that might not be comfortable.

“The honest truth is that I'm taking it day by day. It's not exactly where I wanna be, and it's unfortunate, but that's just the body,” he explained, before adding: "I can't push it. It's been a little bit of a mental battle, just trying to trust with where it's at."

He also revealed that it's not necessarily his back that's causing the problems at this point in time. "The back actually feels fine, it's just other parts of the body not cooperating how I want."

Morikawa also revealed that he's been able to hit balls for the past week, but according to PGATOUR.com's Paul Hodowanic, he wasn't a full participant in his Monday practice round. He wrote: "...he played the back nine with Scottie, Cam Young and Sam Burns...Morikawa was really just chipping and putting. Didn’t even hit a tee ball on the 16th, for example."

Hodowanic also revealed some information about where Morikawa's driver is at post-injury. According to data from Monday's range session, he hit just 54 balls and his longest drive went 284 yards with a ball speed of 171 MPH. For comparison, his average ball speed on tour so far this year is 173.76 MPH.

We'll see what kind of game Morikawa will be bringing to his Thursday and Friday tee times with Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley. For anyone looking to wager on the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner, you might want to think twice. Here's an ominous addendum he included during Monday's brief media session: "Sometimes you gotta find other ways to get around the golf course. So, I'm kinda making a different game plan than I think I've come [with] in the past."