Golf Gambling Community In Absolute Shambles After Collin Morikawa Withdraws From The Players

And just like that, Collin Morikawa is out of The Players, sending the golf gambling world into an absolute frenzy.

After beginning his opening round on the 10th hole and carding a routine par on the Par 4, Morikawa began his pre-shot routine on the 11th tee box. After taking a practice swing with driver in hand, the two-time major winner immediately grabbed his lower back before walking to the back of the tee box in pain.

Moments after calling a physio, Morikawa was shaking hands with his playing partners and leaving the golf course, having decided to withdraw from the golf tournament.

Injuries, even fluke injuries as Morikawa's appears to be, consistently happen on the PGA Tour, but his is extremely significant from a sports betting perspective, as he was the most-tipped player in the entire field. Morikawa was also the highest-owned player in Daily Fantasy Sports for the week, and the most-popular pick in one-and-done contests.

In the 145-person one-and-done contest I'm a part of – where you select one golfer per week and can not select them again for the rest of the season – Morikawa was selected by more than 24 percent of the contestants.

It wasn't difficult to see why Morikawa was the most-popular pick heading into The Players. Beyond his playing style being a great fit for TPC Sawgrass, he entered the week in great form, having won at Pebble Beach in mid-February and backing that up with back-to-back Top 7 finishes in his two starts before The Players.

Golf Fans React To Collin Morikawa's Injury, Withdrawal From The Players

Morikawa carried the third-best odds of winning The Players at the start of Thursday's opening round. He finished T-10 at TPC Sawgrass a year ago.