Woods unlikely to play in PGA
FORMER world No1 Tiger Woods looks destined to miss the US PGA Championship at Valhalla this week as his long-term back injury shows little sign of relenting.
Playing in only his third event since undergoing surgery in March, Woods re-injured his lower back and was forced to withdraw from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods, who has 14 major titles to his name, now appears set to be absent from the final Major of the year which begins on Thursday.
The 38-year-old may well face a period away from the game to allow his back problem, which first surfaced in the latter half of last year, to heal properly.
Injury further calls into question the likelihood of Woods featuring in September’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles – he is unlikely to command an automatic spot for the USA but had hoped to be in contention for a captain’s pick.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, is eyeing more success following his victory at Akron and will this week bid to regain the title he won in 2012, a year in which he finished top of the money list on both sides of the Atlantic.
“My goal now until the end of the year is just to try and win as many golf tournaments as I can,” he said. “It’s not to finish world No1. It’s just to get as many titles as possible.”