Collin Morikawa has an affinity for Augusta National Golf Club, and he wants nothing more than to play in the Masters. However, he is going to be doing it at less than full strength.
Morikawa is returning from a back injury that took him out of The Players on the second hole in the first round. At this point, though, Morikawa doesn't find his back to be as much of a problem.
"The honest truth is I'm taking it day by day," Morikawa said Monday at Augusta National. "It's not exactly where I want to be, and it's unfortunate, but that's just the body, and I can't push it. It's been a little bit of a mental battle, I think, just trying to trust with where it's at. The back actually feels fine. It's just other parts of the body not cooperating a little bit how I want."
The two-time major winner looked to play in last week's final PGA Tour event before the Masters, the Valero Texas Open, before withdrawing as a precaution.
"I've been hitting balls for the past week, so I ended up pulling out of last week and was able to hit balls and continue to play," he said. "But there's a comfort level, and this isn't a place where you want to be uncomfortable, but sometimes you've got to find other ways to get around a golf course."
Morikawa said he's approaching this year's Masters with a different game plan than previous years, in which he has become a staple on the first page of the leaderboard.
"Some shots that you might be able to hit in the past, you might not be able to hit right now," he explained, chalking the new approach to his physical limitations. "But yeah, it's a work in progress. But each day just staying positive, trying to get through it."
The winner at Pebble Beach this year, Morikawa said this is the first time in his career that he's suffered an injury while swinging the golf club. Trying to re-establish trust in his swing has been a challenge.
"When you hurt yourself swinging, it's a completely different beast of itself because you just don't know. There's a little bit of a commitment, trust," he said. "The mind is a very strong thing, though, and a very strong part of your body. Positive mindset, the right thoughts, be able to get through and figure it out."
The bright side for Morikawa, though, is that he feels his short game is in a good place heading into the first major of the year -- which is a bit of a 180-degree turn from how he's typically approached tournament golf.
"What's amazing is chipping and putting still feel great," he said. "The putter feels amazing. Just got to be able to get the ball there, which like the opposite of how I've been, I think, my entire career."
