Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa has withdrawn from this week's Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club, leaving a Signature Event field already short on depth and casting fresh doubt over his preparation for the PGA Championship at Aronimink seven days later.
The withdrawal was confirmed by the PGA Tour on May 4, with Andrew Putnam moving up from the alternate list to take Morikawa's place in Charlotte. The Tour cited ongoing back concerns as the reason, with sources close to Morikawa describing his current approach as 'day by day' as he works to manage what is now becoming a recurring issue.
It is the second consecutive PGA Tour Signature Event Morikawa has withdrawn from. The 28-year-old also pulled out of the Cadillac Championship at Doral the week before last, again with the same back issue. He has not played a competitive round since the Masters, where he finished outside the top 30 and was visibly struggling with his rotation in the closing rounds at Augusta National.
The Truist Championship's elevated $20 million purse and 700 FedEx Cup points for the winner make it one of the most consequential events outside of the majors, and Morikawa's absence is a meaningful blow to a field already being headlined by Rory McIlroy in his first start since the Masters. Cameron Young, fresh off his wire-to-wire victory at Doral, also features prominently. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is sitting the week out by choice, framing his absence as PGA Championship preparation.
The broader concern for Morikawa is the timing. Aronimink is the kind of golf course where his iron play would, in normal health, give him a real chance. The Donald Ross routing demands precision approach work into elevated greens, and Morikawa's ball-striking metrics over the past three seasons rank among the best on Tour at exactly that requirement. Tee-it-forward simulations from analyst tools have him as a top-15 betting pick at full health, but the longer he goes without competitive rounds, the harder it becomes to back him in earnest.
Morikawa has not made a public statement about the withdrawal beyond what his management has offered to tournament officials. His coach Rick Sessinghaus has previously told media that managing rotation through Morikawa's swing is 'the timing of it,' a phrase that took on new weight during a recent stretch in which both Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau publicly discussed the difficulty of synchronising body movement with club delivery at high speed.
The Truist Championship begins Thursday at Quail Hollow, with Putnam slotting into Morikawa's tee time. Whether Morikawa is on the range at Aronimink next week remains the bigger question. The PGA of America's official entry list still includes him among the field, and a withdrawal that close to a major would be significant — but no decision has yet been announced.
For a player who once seemed destined to add to his Open Championship and PGA Championship trophies on a near-yearly basis, the back issue arriving in his prime years is the most concerning storyline of his 2026 season.
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*Originally published on [Golf News Global](https://golfnews.global/article/collin-morikawa-withdraws-2026-truist-championship-quail-hollow-back). Visit for full coverage.*
