Tiger Woods will not resume his third round at Augusta National Sunday after the five-time Masters champion withdrew from the tournament because of a foot injury.
Posting on Twitter, Woods said: “I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”
The golf great had endured an awful start to his third round and the sound of the klaxon, which brought the third day of The Masters to an early end Saturday, may have been music to his ears.
On a cold and damp Saturday, with the rain pummeling down, Woods could be seen limping on the 17th hole. When organizers deemed that the persistent rain made the course unplayable, Woods was nine-over for the tournament and six-over for the round.
Before play was set to begin Sunday, tournament organizers announced Woods had withdrawn due to injury. Woods later revealed it was plantar fasciitis – a tissue inflammation that causes pain in the heel.
Woods suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash and has over the years undergone multiple surgeries on his back.
The 15-time major winner has only played competitively once this season and in the build up to the tournament told reporters that he doesn’t play or practice much anymore.
“I don’t play as many tournaments, and I don’t practice as much. I’m limited in what I can do,” he said, according to Reuters.
But he had displayed his usual grit and resilience to continue Saturday, even though hopes of winning a sixth green jacket had long since faded.
Questions will now be asked as to whether Woods will ever play at the prestigious event again after he had suggested last week that this could be his final appearance at Augusta and admitted that he was in “constant” pain during the opening round on Thursday.
“I don’t know how many more (Masters) I have in me,” he said before the tournament started.
Bottom of the leaderboard
Starting on the 10th hole, as organizers tried to get as much of the play completed as possible after the second round was suspended on Friday because of bad weather, Woods began his third round with a bogey.
Neither the conditions nor his form improved much after that. Another bogey on the 14th and double bogeys on the 15th and 16th left the 47-year-old bottom of the leaderboard with the worst score of the day.
He had had little time to enjoy making the cut at Augusta for a record-equaling 23rd consecutive time, starting his third round a few hours after completing the second round.