Tiger Woods Injures Back and Withdraws From Bridgestone Invitational
AKRON, Ohio - Tiger Woods 's switchback comeback trail is at an impasse after he was forced to withdraw midway through Sunday's final round of the Bridgestone Invitational, the World Golf Championships event at Firestone Country Club.
Woods, making his third start since returning from back surgery, reinjured his lower back on the second hole after hitting his second shot from an awkward stance in the grass near a bunker. With his weight almost entirely on his right leg and his left leg above the bunker's lip, Woods got the ball out with a swing that made him bend his left knee into the air on the follow-through. He lost his balance and fell into the bunker, jarring his back.
'It's been spasming ever since,' Woods said, adding: 'It's just the whole lower back. I don't know what happened.'
Woods was one minute from teeing off in steady rain when play was suspended because of water pooling on the course. After warming up, he faced a 75-minute delay before hitting his opening tee shot - not ideal for anyone with a back problem. He opened his round with a birdie and made par at the second hole, a par five, but shortly thereafter started playing loose shots punctuated by grimaces. After his drive on the par-4 ninth, Woods had a hard time reaching down to retrieve his tee.
At that point, Woods, who was three over on the day through eight holes, signaled for a cart, which whisked him to his tournament-issued sport-utility vehicle in the players' parking lot.
Woods, the defending champion, was grimacing as the cart came to a stop next to the car's hatchback. He grabbed his right buttock as he slowly stood up, and he struggled to raise each leg onto the bumper to remove his golf shoes.
After slipping his feet into his sneakers, Woods did not bother trying to tie them. He gingerly walked to the side of the car and folded himself into the passenger seat. His caddie, Joe LaCava, drove him away, to an uncertain future.
Woods, 38, was scheduled to play this week at the P.G.A. Championship in Louisville, Ky. He would be returning as the defending champion of sorts, having won the event when it was last held at Valhalla Country Club, in 2000. He needs a victory in the tournament, the year's final men's major, to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs and improve his standing for a United States Ryder Cup berth.
But the playoffs and the Ryder Cup, which Woods had been asked about incessantly the first three days of the Bridgestone, took a back seat to the image of Woods being driven away.
Asked about his playing status for the P.G.A. Championship, Woods said: 'I don't know. Just trying to get out of here.'
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