The Truist Championship, to be held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, from May 7-10, has taken a late hit. Collin Morikawa has abruptly withdrawn from the field, with Andrew Putnam named as his replacement. The announcement is definitely unsettling, given the timing of the $20 million event.

The championship sits directly in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the very major where Morikawa won in 2020. He played at Blue Monster this past week and finished 62nd, so maybe he needed to take ample rest before teeing it up at the second major of the season. Though no official statement has explained his withdrawal, a back injury has followed him since March.

He entered the 2026 season in outstanding form, winning at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But at the PLAYERS Championship on March 12, after a clean par on the 10th, he stepped onto the 11th tee and took a practice swing with the driver and immediately grabbed the lower portion of his back. He was forced to call for his trainer and caddie immediately and was unable to continue in the tournament.

He also withdrew from the Valero Texas Open before it started, meaning he went nearly a month without competitive golf ahead of the Masters. When he played at Augusta, he managed a T7. A week later at the RBC Heritage, he finished fourth. Both results came at a cost, as he described himself as “very scared,” consciously holding back from swinging at full speed to avoid a recurrence.

Andrew Putnam, from Tacoma, holds one PGA Tour win, the 18th Barracuda Championship, and has four runner-up finishes across his career. His most recent near miss came at the 2026 American Express earlier this season, where he shot a career-low 60 and finished second. However, he arrives at Quail Hollow off a fifth-place finish at the Valero Texas Open in April, which likely kept him near the top of the alternatives list.

With that said, Morikawa’s name is not an isolated one on the withdrawal list. The 2026 season has seen a string of prominent golfers missing, which has raised a broader question about the Tour’s schedule.

Is the PGA Tour’s congested calendar pushing players to the edge?

The question standing is, are players being asked too much, too close together?

Five of the top 15 players in the world skipped the Cadillac Championship last week at Trump National Doral, the highest number of top players to miss a signature event since the format was introduced. Rory McIlroy, Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, and Robert McIntyre all sat out. The reason, as several players have pointed out, is the cluster of events leading to the PGA Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, among other players, has been vocal about it. He shared that having three of the biggest events back-to-back, with the major in the end, creates a different kind of pressure on the mind and body.

“I’m like, physically and mentally, I can’t do this for two weeks in a row.”

He also referenced playing at the Memorial and U.S. Open in consecutive weeks in a previous year and described that it took a toll on his body and mind.

So the injuries and the lag are real, but so is the quiet calculation happening in every player’s camp right now. Given how 2026 has unfolded for Collin Morikawa, and with the PGA Championship set to take place at Aronimink Golf Club from May 11–17, his schedule beyond Quail Hollow Club remains uncertain. For now, the focus shifts to his recovery.