Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the 2022 The Players Championship field on Thursday before the tournament started at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
According to the PGA Tour, he withdrew from the event citing a nagging back injury that has been troubling him for weeks.
Hideki Matsuyama is a WD from THE PLAYERS Championship due to a back injury.
Patrick Rodgers replaces Matsuyama in the field.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 10, 2022
Matsuyama spoke with Japanese media this week and said that he's closer to being completely ready to play at 100 percent strength. However, he did preface that by saying he's not quite fully healthy ahead of the PGA Tour's flagship event.
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Matsuyama said he is confident he'll be ready to defend his Masters title next month in April at full health.
The 2021 Masters champion speaks with a traveling brigade of Japanese media, as he's a huge star in his home country and effectively has his own media coverage. However, that doesn't always translate to American media asking questions of one of two multi-time PGA Tour winners this season.
Patrick Rodgers replaces Matsuyama in the field.