Sport
Tiger Woods pulls out of AT&T National citing injury to left elbow
McLaughlin said Woods is to be at Congressional at least on Wednesday to take part in the opening ceremonies.
Woods was not specific about when or how the latest injury happened. He first showed signs of being hurt after hitting shots in the rough during the rain-delayed opening round at Merion, though he told a USGA official it was “fine” when he left the course Thursday evening.
After finishing the first round Friday morning, he said only that the reason he grimaced after shots out of the rough was because of “pain” and that he felt it on a few shots. That afternoon, he revealed that he first hurt his elbow at The Players Championship, but he declined to say which round or on what kind of shot. Woods won The Players Championship on May 12 for the first time in 12 years. It was his fourth PGA Tour win of the season.
At the Memorial, where Woods was a five-time winner and the defending champion, he had the worst nine-hole score of his career with a 44 on the back nine that led to a 79 in the third round. He tied for 65th and finished 20 shots behind, his largest deficit for a full-field event. At Merion, he wound up with a 13-over 293, his highest score ever for the U.S. Open and tied for his highest 72-hole score in any major.
Even so, the announcement Wednesday was surprising. Woods had said Friday at Merion that he would not have withdrawn even if it were not the U.S. Open. He was not asked about his elbow the rest of the week.
It will be the 10th time Woods is unable to defend a title in official PGA Tour events, with six of those related to reconstructive surgery on his left knee after he won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The last time he failed to defend was in 2010 at Bay Hill.
His website said he felt minor discomfort before going to Merion and aggravated the area last week.
