Woods leaves Torrey Pines with back pain
FORMER world No1 Tiger Woods was last night forced to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California due to apparent back pain, the PGA Tour announced.
The 14-time Major champion was two over par when forced to withdraw after 11 holes of his first round yesterday, which follows the disappointment of carding a career-worst 82 in the second round at Phoenix last week.
The 39-year-old was playing only his second tournament of the season after returning from surgery on a pinched nerve, which forced him to miss last year’s Masters and US Open.
Woods looked to injure his back after striking his tee shot at the 12th, his third hole of the day, but persevered for eight further holes before departing the North Course.
“It tightened up during the suspensions and it never loosened back up again,” said Woods, referring to fog delays before the round began. “It just got progressively tighter.
“It’s frustrating that it started shutting down like that. I was ready to go. I had a good warn-up session.”