The timing only sharpened the point. Rory McIlroy arrived at TPC Sawgrass this week calling himself a “game-time decision” after hurting his back while warming up for the third round at Bay Hill, where he withdrew before his Saturday tee time. Jake Knapp’s Arnold Palmer Invitational withdrawal also became part of the same conversation, because while some initial reports labeled it an illness, later reporting indicated the issue was actually a slight back tweak tied to his heavy early-season workload.
In other words, in one week alone, three notable PGA TOUR players found themselves dealing with some version of the same problem.
This Story Didn’t Start Last Week
Of course, this isn’t new. Tiger Woods’ back history has been one of the defining physical storylines of modern golf. Reuters reported that Woods underwent surgery for a nerve impingement in September 2024 and later had lumbar disc replacement surgery in October 2025. Justin Thomas, meanwhile, spent months away from competition after back surgery in November before returning this season.
Modern medicine can get players back on the course. It just cannot erase what the golf swing asks of the body.
The One Thing That Actually Helps
That leads to the question every golfer should care about, from a Tour player to the guy rushing from the parking lot to the first tee on Saturday morning: can this be avoided?
Not completely. Golf is rotational, asymmetrical and repetitive, and at elite speed it puts serious force through the body. But if you are looking for the single best way to avoid tweaking your back, the best practical answer is this: do not make a hard golf swing with a cold body.
According to OrthoInfo, the patient-education arm of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, golfers should warm up before every round, get blood flowing, stretch key areas and hit balls progressively rather than jumping straight into max-effort swings.
That advice may sound almost too simple, but the injury data says the lower back is where golfers most often pay the price.
What the Research Actually Shows
A review published in the NIH’s PubMed Central reported that low back pain accounts for between 18% and 54% of all documented golf ailments, making it the most common golf injury in many studies. Another review found the prevalence of lower-back injuries has been estimated at roughly 15% to 35% in amateurs and up to 55% in professionals.
So while golfers love to obsess over elbows, wrists and shoulders, the lower back remains the game’s most common trouble spot.
That is why a real warm-up matters so much. Not a lazy bend-and-reach. Not two shoulder turns with a driver in hand. A real one.
The best warm-up raises body temperature first, then opens the hips, then gets the thoracic spine moving, then wakes up the glutes and trunk, and only then builds gradually into golf swings. According to OrthoInfo, golfers should work from shorter clubs to longer ones rather than launching into driver swings right away. According to Hospital for Special Surgery, pre-round mobility work should focus on the hips and upper spine because those areas help reduce strain on the lower back.
That is not fluff. That is load management.
Weekend Golfers Need This Even More
This may be even more relevant for recreational golfers than for elite players. Tour pros create more speed and endure more repetition, but they also tend to have better routines, better body awareness and more access to treatment.
The average golfer is the one more likely to go straight from sitting in the car to trying to smash driver. Research has also suggested that amateurs can expose their spines to substantial load, especially when mobility and sequencing are poor.
That is the hidden danger in the “I’m not swinging that hard” mindset. Plenty of weekend players are not powerful enough to be efficient, but they are absolutely forceful enough to get hurt.
The Bigger Picture
None of this means warm-up is a cure-all. Swing mechanics matter. Strength matters. Recovery matters. Training volume matters. If you practice too much, sit too much, move poorly and ignore warning signs, the back is going to collect that debt eventually.
The reviews in the medical literature consistently point to low back pain in golf as a multifactor issue, involving technique, mobility, strength, overuse and swing-specific loading patterns. But among all the preventive ideas golfers chase, the simplest one is still the best place to start because it addresses several of those variables at once.
So Morikawa’s withdrawal should resonate beyond this week’s leaderboard. McIlroy’s flare-up should, too. Woods’ surgeries. Thomas’ recovery. Knapp’s precautionary exit.
They all point to the same larger truth: golf is hard on the back, and the body does not always care how pretty the swing looks on video. But the best defense is also the most accessible one.
Before worrying about launch angle, swing speed or the latest recovery gadget, prepare the body to move. Warm up dynamically. Free up the hips. Get the upper back turning. Wake up the core. Build into speed.
For Tour stars and Saturday morning hackers alike, that remains the smartest way to keep one bad swing from becoming a bad month.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.