AUGUSTA, Ga. – Collin Morikawa said Monday that he is “taking it day by day” as he continues to recover from a back injury that ended his THE PLAYERS Championship and threatens to jeopardize this week’s Masters.

Morikawa has not played since pulling out of THE PLAYERS after the first hole of his first round with a back injury. He was in the field for last week’s Valero Texas Open but withdrew before the event began. That left his Masters status uncertain.

“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,” said Morikawa, who played a nine-hole practice round alongside Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young on Monday. “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.”

Morikawa didn’t elaborate on the parts of his body that he struggled with. Still, he alluded to there being a connection between the back spasms he experienced at TPC Sawgrass and his current issues. The biggest offshoot of his current struggles has been the lack of trust with his body, he said.

“I had hurt myself before and never had to worry about swinging on the golf course because a lot of the stuff I had done -- I hurt myself in the gym,” Morikawa explained. “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 (issue).”

Morikawa has changed his preparation and game plan accordingly. He admitted Monday that there are certain shots he’s hit in previous years that he won’t be able to hit given his physical and mental restrictions.

A limited Morikawa could still be a dangerous Morikawa. He boasts an impressive Masters history, with four straight top 15s at Augusta National. His best finish was a tie for third in 2024. He also won earlier this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and continued that strong play over the next month. He finished in a tie for seventh at The Genesis Invitational and fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. That was his last complete start, however, derailing his momentum ahead of the year’s first major.

“It's a work in progress,” Morikawa said. “But each day just staying positive, trying to get through it.”