Collin Morikawa still has trust issues heading into PGA Championship

Collin Morikawa is still uncomfortable.

It's an issue he has never encountered in his golf career until the last month: not trusting his back when he's making a swing. Since injuring his back on the second hole of the Players Championship, Morikawa has dealt with trust issues every time he swings the club, something that ailed him at the Masters and continues to be a nuisance as he prepared for the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink.

"I wish I was 100 percent healthy," Morikawa said Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference. "The body doesn't feel bad, just it's uncomfortable."

Uncomfortable in golf is never a good place to be. At a major championship, it can make someone feel on an island.

Morikawa somehow grinded his way to a T-7 finish at Augusta National last month and then placed T-4 at Hilton Head the next week. A stellar start to the season wasn't hampered by the lack of trust, but Morikawa was nowhere near the headspace he wanted to be in.

"I've never had to deal with it," he continued. "I 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."

The 2020 PGA champion talked about how much his approach has had to change the last month and change due to his back problems. He's not able to swing as freely as he would like to, but it hasn't led to troublesome play. He struggled at the Cadillac Championship, but his season has been a success so far.

Collin Morikawa plays a shot on the ninth hole during a practice round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club.

What Morikawa is most proud of is how he has handled the setback mentally, even when he didn't want to trust himself.

"I've got great physios at home, I've got a great physio on the road," Morikawa said. "Rick Sessinghaus and I have been working for quite some time and talking about the mental game and finding ways to feel comfortable out there. He's a big, big proponent and component of me being able to play out here, so I owe a lot to him. But I owe a lot of credit to Mark Urbanek, my caddie. At the Masters we were doing things that just didn't make sense from simply, like him handing me my water bottle. I think it's ridiculous for him to hand me my water bottle, but if it was going to save me one extra bend that was going to make me uncomfortable, he's going to do it. So I give him a lot of credit over the last few months of sticking with me through the chaotic things I'm asking for."