Tiger Woods Withdraws from PGA Championship: Comments, Reaction
For the first time in his illustrious career, Tiger Woods will miss a full calendar year of major championships. The PGA announced Woods' withdrawal from the 2016 PGA Championship on Tuesday due to ongoing recovery from back surgery.
Per the PGA Championship's official Twitter account, Woods withdrew from the field and will be replaced by Harold Varner III for the July 28-31 event.
The 40-year-old has not played a competitive round of golf since last August's Wyndham Championship. He underwent a microdiscectomy on his back last September—his second such surgery—and an additional procedure to relieve pain in October.
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"I am making progress, but I'm not yet ready for tournament competition," Woods said when withdrawing from June's U.S. Open.
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, emailed Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel about his client's road back: "Continuing to make progress, but simply not ready for PGA. Will not play in the '15/'16 season and will continue to rehab and work hard to then assess when he starts play for the '16/'17 season."
ESPN's Jason Sobel used this moment to redefine a famous phrase used to describe Woods' dominance in 2000-01:
Woods has not won a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open. He does not have a top-10 finish in a major since the 2013 Open Championship.
The last three PGA seasons have been almost completely lost, with Woods dealing with perpetual pain. He missed the first two majors of 2014 after his first back surgery and returned a shell of himself. In the six subsequent majors, Woods has finished 17th (2015 Masters), 69th (2014 Open Championship) and missed the cut four times.
Perhaps the greatest golfer who has ever lived, Woods is nearly three full years removed from his last win on tour.
"People have written me off," Woods said in May, per Lindsey Foltin of Fox Sports.com. "I'm not fertilizer. ... I'm excited to return and win tournaments again."
It's become increasingly apparent that won't be happening until at least 2017. If ever.
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