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Now two months since the initial injury, Collin Morikawa remains inhibited by a back injury. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cI wish I was 100 percent healthy,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cThe body doesn’t feel bad, just it’s uncomfortable, and there’s a trust factor I’m kind of having to deal with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Morikawa sustained the injury while taking a practice swing on the 11th tee box at TPC Sawgrass during the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship. He was forced to withdraw, then missed the next month rehabbing the issue. He returned at the Masters, clearly hobbled by the injury, but fought through it. And while the pain has largely subsided, Morikawa has not yet been able to overcome the mental block, fearing he could injure it again with any swing. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Collin Morikawa on lingering back injury heading into PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI’ve never had to deal with it,\u201d Morikawa said. \u201cI can’t imagine wanting anyone to deal with it because it’s just a very weird feeling of not trusting the body and yet knowing that things are going to be okay. So it’s just taking it day by day, doing what I need to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Morikawa still managed to finish tied for seventh at the Masters and tied for fourth the next week at RBC Heritage. After a week off, he struggled in Miami, finishing T62 at the Cadillac Championship. He was initially in the Truist Championship, but withdrew before the tournament started. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Morikawa gave no indication he was worried about teeing it up this week, meaning a less-than-100% Morikawa will give it another go.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was a rare omission from a professional athlete, but Xander Schauffele is nothing if not blunt. Asked if he feels a similar level of confidence now compared to when he won the PGA Championship in 2024, Schauffele said, \u201cIt’s significantly lower, obviously. I finished close to last place last week.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Indeed, Schauffele finished in a tie for 60th at Quail Hollow Club, a course he\u2019s historically played very well. It was his first poor result in months, though. Prior to last week, Schauffele had five top 10s in his last six starts.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Xander Schauffele on confidence ahead of PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cConfidence is a tricky thing,\u201d Schauffele said. \u201cI didn’t have a whole lot last week, was a little bit in my head on what I was capable of doing. I actually did a few things pretty decent last week, surprisingly. Hopefully I can kind of drag a little bit of that into this week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Scheffler has become a fascinating listen when you throw him good questions about golf courses. That was true again on Tuesday. Asked about the test of Aronimink Golf Club, Scheffler said it could go one of two ways. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cIf you look at this golf course specifically, between it being soft and firm, I think it’s two totally different tests,\u201d Scheffler said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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If the golf course is soft, as it was for the 2018 BMW Championship won by Keegan Bradley, Scheffler said, \u201cThere’s a lot of stuff you can kind of get away with in terms of like you can hit it pretty far offline.\u201d Scheffler\u2019s rationale is that without trees, which Aronimink is nearly devoid of, misses off the tee won\u2019t be punished as severely because players can recover and hit into soft greens. That\u2019s what leads to the \u201cbomb-and-gouge-type strategy,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cBut if you look at this golf course when it’s firm, the fairways are hard to hit,\u201d Scheffler added. \u201cThen if you want to get the ball close to a lot of these pins, you have to control your spin and control your distance really well, which is not that easy to do out of the rough. It’s easy to take off spin, but it’s not easy to control the spin, if that makes sense. There’s certain spots on this golf course where I think it can get really challenging if it’s firm and fast. A lot of it depends on conditions and golf course setup. If they decide to water the greens, it’s going to be a completely different setup than it is if the greens are quite firm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Scottie Scheffler on three straight runner-up finishes heading into PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There\u2019s some <\/span>rain in the forecast for Wednesday night<\/a>, but as of Tuesday afternoon, it had cleared up considerably from the initial forecast. If that remains the case, the firm and fast conditions that many crave might still be achievable. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Justin Rose said Tuesday he has full confidence that he can win in just his third start with new McLaren Golf irons in the bag. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Rose spent the last 18 months working with the Formula One powerhouse to create the company\u2019s first set of clubs in its new golf equipment venture. Though the swap, and the midseason timing, has left Rose facing some criticism, particularly with how well Rose was playing prior to the change. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cI’ve played so many different sets of irons in the last five years that I just don’t think that it’s a big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cI’ve been working hard on this project for 18 months now, and it’s kind of like it’s a full wish list of all of the things I would like to see in a set of irons. So from that point of view I’m really enjoying — I’ve enjoyed the process of getting to this point. Yeah, I would love to play great this week with them. I can play great this week with them. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Rose has not played particularly well since making the change, though he said, \u201cthe fact I haven’t played great the last two weeks has got nothing to do with the irons either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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In Rose\u2019s eyes, if you aren\u2019t constantly on the edge of reinvention in this game, then you are falling behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cIt’s about always pushing myself to be better. \u2026That’s why I’m here at 45. \u2026 Because I’m always doing something different, I’m always pushing myself, I’m always finding one percents,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThat’s what makes it exciting. That’s the only reason I’m sitting here talking to you is because I’ve done a good job of grinding and finding improvement. Because obviously everyone out here is getting better. These young guys, the level on TOUR has just I think really gone so much stronger in the last 10 years. So if you’re staying the same, you are going backwards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Justin Rose on sustained success throughout his PGA TOUR career<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Rose should be one of the favorites this week. He is one of a few players with extensive experience at Aronimink. He has played in all three of the modern men\u2019s professional events at the course, one of only two people to do so (Rickie Fowler is the other). In those three starts, Rose has won, lost in a playoff and finished in a tie for 15th. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cIt’s just a beautiful old school track. It’s clearly been modernized a bit in the recent years, but still has great character and it’s going to be a lot of fun to play this week,\u201d Rose said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The last man to win at Aronimink was fittingly the first to the podium this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bradley, who captured the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink, reflected Monday on the significance of that victory in the arc of his career, admitting the win proved even more meaningful to his journey than his rookie-season PGA Championship triumph in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cI was in a really, really dark place with my putter, and this was the first glimmer of hope that I had,\u201d Bradley said Monday. \u201c\u2026I remember coming down the stretch and thinking in my head, I can\u2019t believe how calm you are in this moment. And you know, that\u2019s not something I say to myself very often.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Keegan Bradley on what sets PGA Championship apart from other majors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The victory was Keegan Bradley\u2019s first in six years and helped spark a resurgence that would unfold over the next decade, leading to four additional PGA TOUR wins.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bradley also offered a thought-provoking perspective on what distinguishes the PGA Championship from golf\u2019s other majors.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n