Ahead of the Truist Championship that begins Thursday at Quail Hollow Club, Collin Morikawa has withdrawn from the tournament Monday morning and he will be replaced in the field by Andrew Putnam. The Truist Championship is one of the PGA TOUR’s eight Signature Events this season, meaning it features the PGA TOUR’s best players competing for a $20 million purse.
No reason for Morikawa’s withdrawal has been announced, but he has been dealing with a nagging back injury this season that forced him to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship in March and then take nearly a month off afterwards. Morikawa did look great following the absence, finishing T-7 at the Masters and T-4 at the RBC Heritage, but then he hit a wall last week at the Cadillac Championship, finishing T-62 of the 72-man field for the Signature Event.
It’s possible Morikawa re-aggravated his back injury at the Blue Monster Course, forcing him to withdraw from the Truist Championship. It is also possible Morikawa is healthy and he is opting to skip the Truist Championship to get some rest ahead of next week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
This is a very busy stretch of the season. Jammed between the Masters and the PGA Championship, the PGA TOUR has three Signature Events on the schedule. Some players have complained about this congested stretch of the season and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more players withdraw from the Truist Championship this week.
Morikawa has carded five top-10 finishes in nine starts this season – including a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – and he carries +2200 odds to win next week’s PGA Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook.
