WOODS WITHDRAWS
It’s the back again. Former world No.1 Tiger Woods has pulled out midway through the Omega Dubai Desert Classic because of back spasms, his manager Mark Steinberg said on Friday afternoon.
Woods, making his first appearance on the European Tour after an 18-month lay-off following a chronic back injury, had a testing time in the opening round of the Desert Classic on Thursday.
Woods, who underwent surgery for his troublesome back, had shot a five-over par round of 77 at the Majlis Course of the Emirates Golf Club, his first appearance in three years in Dubai. The five-over was Woods’ worst in 29 rounds in eight appearances in Dubai. Woods had won the tournament in 2006 and 2008 and finished in the top five on five occasions, in his previous seven appearances here.
The event was also the second on his comeback trail after he had played at the PGA Tour event — Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines last week.
Woods is the second high-profile to withdraw after world No.2 Rory McIlroy had pulled out in the run-up to the tournament because of a rib injury.
Organisers golf in DUBAi said while it was disappointing to see Woods pull out, they added that Woods’ health was of paramount importance.
“Obviously, losing Tiger from the tournament is a big blow, but what is most important is his health —as it was with Rory,” Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi, said on Friday. “We don’t want him playing and doing any lasting damage. We wish him a speedy recovery,” he added.
Although Woods had appeared a bit pensive on Thursday, the 41-year-old had said he wasn’t in any kind of pain. But following dinner on Thursday night, the back spasms came back to haunt him. And while he underwent treatment from his trainer, in a bid to play the second round on Friday afternoon, the back spasms just didn’t go away.
Woods, who was 12 shots off the leader Spaniard Sergio Garcia, was set to tee off from the par-4 first along with defending champion Danny Willett and DP World Tour Championship winner Matthew Fitzpatrick at 12.35 p.m.
Just before noon, Steinberg told the media that Woods had to withdraw and added that the 14-time Major champion was disappointed. “He wanted to be here. He wants to be here. He just feels terrible that he can’t, you know, finish it out today (Friday),” Steinberg said on Friday. “He felt okay coming off the golf course yesterday (Thursday). So, he wasn’t in pain. I didn’t see him at dinner but said he was okay. And he went into a spasm in his lower back, fairly late last night after dinner.
“He tried to work it out last night. He had treatment starting pretty early this morning, for probably the past three hours or so. “He says it’s not the nerve pain that’s kept him out for so long. He says it’s a back spasm and he just can’t get the spasm to calm down. So that’s where we are. He feels terrible. He talked to Matthew (Fitzpatrick) and Danny (Willett), feels awful, and he feels terrible for the tournament,” said Steinberg.
Steinberg revealed that although he can move, Woods can’t make a full rotation on the swing. He also confirmed that it was just the spasm and not the nerve pain Woods has had.
“I think spasms are a funny thing. I’m certainly no doctor but they come and go. And again, the fact that he feels as though it’s not the nerve pain, that’s very encouraging for him,” he said.
“He’s had some spasms before. No doubt about it. He’s got to get the spasm to calm down from what I gather. He has his trainer here, which is good, and that’s who has been working on him for the past several hours. “Look, he doesn’t have the strongest back in the world, right. So it’s probably easier to spasm because of the issues he’s had. So I’m sure there’s a variety of factors that can play into it,” he added.