Tiger Woods Injury Update: Golf Star Withdraws from 2016 Open Championship

The long wait for Tiger Woods' return to the PGA Tour continues, as the 14-time major champion will not take part in this year's British Open that begins on July 14.   

Per SportsCenter, Woods officially withdrew from the tournament Friday. Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel added that Australia's Marcus Fraser will take Woods' spot in the field. 

Woods has not played in a tournament since finishing 10th at the Wyndham Championship in August. 

The 40-year-old announced on his official website he had back surgery in September "to remove a small disc fragment that was pinching his nerve." 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Woods' withdrawal from the British Open will mark the first time in his PGA Tour career that he will miss three majors in a year. ESPN's Jason Sobel noted that Woods has two top-10 finishes, two missed cuts and did not play three times at the British Open in the 10 years since his last Open title in 2006.

There was some buzz at the end of April that Woods would be able to return for the Memorial Tournament in June, per Tim Rosaforte of the Golf Channel. He did not enter the field before the deadline passed and has not provided any timetable to return. 

In his announcement on his official website that he wouldn't be taking part in the U.S. Open and Quicken Loans National, Woods simply said he's "not physically ready to play" before adding that he is "making progress."

Woods' presence does add a level of intrigue to every tournament that no other golfer can match, even at this phase of his career, but there's no reason for him to make a comeback just for the sake of it. He's done that before, and it didn't go well. 

There will come a point when Woods does return, and hopefully it will be when he's able to compete for titles.