Tiger Woods' start to the 2014-2015 PGA season took another blow on Thursday. Last Friday he missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open after shooting an 82, but this week at the Farmers Insurance Open he didn't even make it through the first round.
Woods withdrew from the tournament after 11 holes at Torrey Pines North Course because of a back injury. After shooting a career-worst 82 as a professional, Woods told reporters last week that he had no back issues since returning to competitive golf in December. The 14-time major winner took a few months off from golf and vowed to focus on his physical health.
After missing the cut at the 2014 PGA Championship, Woods' back was clearly bothering him, which was no surprise since he withdrew from the Honda Classic and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational earlier that season due to back issues. He underwent surgery last March to repair a pinched nerve and perhaps returned prematurely in June, during which he missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National tournament. Thursday marked the third withdrawal in his last nine events.
The Farmers Insurance Open was subject to a long fog delay, which Woods attributed to his ailing back.
"It just never loosened back up again,'' Woods said, via Bob Harig of ESPN. "And when we went back out, it just got progressively tighter ... It's frustrating that it started shutting down like that. I was ready to go. I had a good warm-up session the first time around. Then we stood out here and I got cold, and everything started deactivating again."
Woods was two-over par through 11 holes before he made the decision to exit. After teeing off at the Par 3 12th hole, he grimaced in pain as his pushed his shot, but the 15th hole perhaps provided the best portrayal of his pain when he grabbed the lower right side of his back for a moment before making his way down the fairway to his ball. He still struggled with his short game and eventually called it quits on the third hole.
"It's just my glutes are shutting off," said Woods, via Kyle Porter of CBS Sports. "Then they don't activate and then ... it goes into my lower back. So, I tried to activate my glutes as best I could, in between, but they just never stayed activated."
Woods will continue to work with swing consultant, Chris Como, who specializes in "sport injury mechanism," to get his game, swing and health back on track.