AUGUSTA, Ga. – Collin Morikawa called it the toughest round he’s ever played.
It wasn’t because of the score, a 2-over 74.
It wasn’t because of the conditions, which were hard but fair.
It was because of how he felt.
Nervous. Uneasy. Uncomfortable.
“I’m just fighting,” he said Thursday. “It’s a battle.”
Morikawa is making his first start in a month, since he withdrew after just one hole at The Players Championship because of a back issue. The suddenness of that injury – one hard practice swing, then boom! – has shaken him to his core.
He’s not in pain. Mentally, he just can’t trust his body. He’s worried it might betray him again.
“It’s just a trust thing,” he said. “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 not easy.”
Morikawa said he was more nervous Thursday than at any major in his career. This week he played 18 practice holes (nine each day, after just chipping and putting on Monday) and decided to gut it out, taking each step on the firm course carefully. He was satisfied with his 74, given how he felt before the round, and how he never believed he could “fire” through the shot. A long night of treatment and physical therapy was ahead, as he attempted to settle down his nervous system.
“I’m proud of the way things played out,” he said. “Expectations are kind of thrown out the window right now.”