The PGA Championship announced via Twitter on Tuesday that Tiger Woods has withdrawn from next week’s final major of 2016, and shortly afterwards, his long-time agent revealed that the former world No. 1 would not return to competition this season.
Woods’ manager, Mark Steinberg, told the Golf Channel in an email that his client was ‘continuing to make progress, but simply not ready for PGA.’ He went on to write that Woods would “continue to rehab and work hard to then assess when he starts play for the ’16/’17 season.”
Woods had three back surgeries in a 20-month period between April 2014-October 2015, including two last fall, and has not played since he finished 10th at the 2015 Wyndham Championship. He had the second microdiscectomy surgery three weeks later.
Woods announced at the time that he expected to return to the TOUR early this year. But that timetable went out the window when he had to have a follow-up procedure in late October.
Woods was replaced in the PGA Championship field by Harold Varner III. This marks the first year in his career that Woods has failed to compete in all four majors.
The former world No. 1 is a four-time PGA champ and is four shy of equaling Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 professional major victories.
He has not won one of golf’s crown jewels since the 2008, when he captured the U.S. Open, which he played basically on one leg, in an 18-hole playoff. Eight days later doctors used a tendon from his right thigh to repair the torn ACL in his left knee.
From pgatour.com
