Sport
Back injury forces Tiger Woods to withdraw from Honda Classic
Tiger Woods at the Honda Classic before his withdrawal. PHOTO/Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press
Tiger Woods withdrew from the Honda Classic on the 13th hole Sunday, the result of a lower back injury with spasms.
Woods was 5 over for the final round, 12 shots behind Rory McIlroy, when he shook hands with Luke Guthrie on the 13th green. The tournament sent a van to collect Woods and his family.
“He just came over and said, ‘I can’t go anymore. It was a pleasure playing with you,'” said Luke Guthrie, paired with Woods the last 2 days. “I just said, ‘Take it easy. Feel better.’ Pretty uneventful.”
Woods said through spokesman Glenn Greenspan it was lower back problems that started Sunday morning as he was warming up.
He was to defend his title next week in the Cadillac Championship.
“Too early to tell,” Woods said in a statement about playing next week at Doral. “I’ll get every day to try to calm it down. Just don’t know yet. Wait until Thursday and see how it feels.”
Woods already has played a limited schedule this year — 10 rounds at portions of four tournaments. He was to play twice more before the Masters on April 10-13.
Woods said the spasms were similar to what he felt last August at The Barclays, where he dropped to his knees after hitting one shot. Woods finished that tournament in a tie for second, one shot behind Adam Scott.
It was the second time in two years that Woods has walked off the course in the middle of the final round. He quit after 11 holes at Doral when he was well out of contention, and then won Bay Hill 2 weeks later for his first PGA Tour title since his return.
Woods had said earlier this year in Dubai that he spent the majority of his offseason working on his physical strength, at the expense of neglecting his game. He opened the year by missing the 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines (where he is an eight-time winner), and then tying for 41st in the Dubai Desert Classic.
It was the second time the No. 1 player in the world walked out in the middle of the Honda Classic. A year ago, McIlroy quit after 26 holes because of what he said was a sore wisdom tooth. He later said the frustration of a poor start to the year got the best of him.
Source: Associated Press