The golfing future of Tiger Woods has again been plunged into doubt after the 14-times major winner re-injured his back and withdrew midway through the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.
Woods was playing in only his third event since undergoing surgery on a nerve in his back in late March. He damaged his lower back when playing a shot from an awkward stance on the edge of a bunker on the 2nd hole in round four at Akron. On the 9th, Woods was again in clear trouble after swinging at his tee shot and this time halted his involvement in a tournament for the second time this year.
There must now be a genuine possibility of Woods being advised by his medical team to rest for several months to allow his back problem to fully clear. His Ryder Cup participation at Gleneagles in September, which was already doubtful, is suddenly in more jeopardy than ever.
“It happened on the second hole when I hit my second shot,” Woods explained to reporters in the car park, where even removing his golf shoes looked to be causing discomfort. “I fell back into the bunker, just jarred it. It’s been spasming ever since. It’s just the whole lower back. I don’t know what happened.”
Woods appears certain to miss the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship, which begins at Valhalla on Thursday. When asked about his prospects for that event, the former world No1 replied: “I don’t know. I’m just trying to get out of here.”
At a WGC venue where he has routinely succeeded in the past – having won there eight times – Woods had started the final day at one over par and more than 10 shots adrift of the tournament’s leading lights. He dropped another three strokes during the opening stretch on Sunday before deciding enough was enough.
It is Woods’s injury situation which is far more pertinent than his poor form. After previous ailments relating to his left knee, left elbow and achilles on the same side, a back injury first surfaced in the latter half of last year.
In March, Woods withdrew from the Honda Classic whilst in obvious back pain; that proved the precursor to the surgery which forced him to miss both the Masters – for the first time in his professional career – and the US Open.
Woods re-appeared at the Quicken Loans National Championship, where he missed the cut. He has gone six years since winning a major, with the Open last month providing a platform for his latest struggles on the big stage.
Akron was intended as a buildup event for Woods before the US PGA but it now appears to have been complicit in ruling him out of the event and, potentially, the rest of the golfing year.
The European Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley, speaking on Sky Sports during the Akron event, said: “He looks like he’s maybe come back too early. I saw him hit shots on the front nine there that I’ve never seen him in his life come close to hitting. There’s obviously something going on.”
Woods already had a battle on his hands to qualify or receive a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup.
Both he and the United States captain, Tom Watson, had identified the WGC-Bridgestone, Valhalla and the upcoming FedEx play-offs as opportunities for the 38-year-old to state his case. As things stand, he would not even qualify for the play-off series and that will not change unless he makes a dramatic appearance at Valhalla.
Watson and Woods have endured a difficult relationship over the years but the captain’s options have been limited by Dustin Johnson’s announcement last week that he will not play competitively for the foreseeable future.
Johnson held an automatic berth in the US team; his withdrawal from the event offered hope to those further down the pecking order such as Woods.
Early last week, Woods had claimed he was working his way gradually towards full power and fitness. “I feel really good, I feel energetic,” Woods had said.
“I have always healed fast. The speed is developing. The speed is coming back, I continue to get stronger. I’ve gotten stronger, but we’re just now introducing explosive training, into any regime, which is nice. I’m excited about that.”
Suddenly, Woods is back to square one.
Woods is scheduled to be paired with Phil Mickelson in the first two rounds at the PGA, if he plays.
"I hope it's just a muscle or something and nothing serious. I'm really looking forward to playing with him,'' Mickelson said. "As much as I love playing with him, playing against him, trying to beat him, we all want him in the field. We all want him back. I just hope he's OK.''
Sources:
http://www.cleveland.com/golf/index.ssf/2014/08/tiger_woods_withdraws_from_2014_wgc-bridgestone_invitational.html
http://www.cleveland.com/golf/index.ssf/2014/08/tiger_woods_withdraws_from_2014_wgc-bridgestone_invitational.html
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/03/tiger-woods-withdrawal-back-injury-us-pga
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/sports/golf/tiger-woods-injures-back-and-withdraws-from-bridgestone-invitational.html?_r=0
No comments:
Post a Comment