Rocket Mortgage Classic: Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama highlight injury plagued field

Some big names are on the injured list ahead of the PGA Tour’s annual event in Detroit.

Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, and Tom Kim are all battling injuries ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, per Golf Injury Report on Twitter.

Earlier this month, Morikawa withdrew from the Memorial Tournament, citing a back injury. His withdrawal came as a surprise, but he later said at the U.S. Open that it was precautionary.

Morikawa tweaked his back doing a warmup exercise ahead of the final round at Muirfield Village. However, despite playing at both the Los Angeles Country Club and at the Travelers Championship, his back issues still linger.

Despite this, Morikawa will likely tee it up this week at the Detroit Golf Club.

Meanwhile, Matsuyama has felt pain in his neck, back, wrist, and ankle.

His neck has bothered him the most, and it has sidelined him from two elevated events this season. He also withdrew from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March because of that neck injury.

Yet, all signs point to Matsuyama playing in the Motor City this week.

Then Kim, who has had a breakthrough season, is listed as probable with a wrist injury.

He, too, will likely play, despite the Rocket Mortgage Classic being his third straight tournament.

Kim tied for 38th at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. Despite the modest finish, he played well in three out of four rounds. He shot rounds of 68, 65, and 65, but his 2-over 72 during Saturday’s third round set him farther back than he had hoped.

The week before, he finished tied for 8th at the U.S. Open. Kim shot a historic 29 on the opening nine during his third round, which vaulted him up the leaderboard.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.