Woods pulls out of Players
● Two-time winner withdraws from Sawgrass as his back is ‘just not ready’
Tiger Woods last night withdrew from next week’s Players Championship at Sawgrass to protect his ongoing back injury. The 15-time major champion, who won the prestigious event in 2001 and 2013, informed PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan he would not be participating.
In a statement to ESPN and Golf Digest, Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg said: “Back just not ready. Nothing concerning, just not ready.”
Woods, 44, cited “back stiffness” when announcing he would miss this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. He has had four operations on his back since 2014 and his latest setback comes just 34 days before he is due to start the defence of his Masters title at Augusta National.
Meanwhile, Englishman Andy Sullivan and Spaniard Jorge Campillo share the lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha. Sullivan took advantage of low winds in the morning to fire a second consecutive 66 for a 10-under total.
Campillo was bogey-free in also posting a 66, with the duo a shot ahead of Swedish pair Alexander Björk and Marcus Kinhult, England’s Oliver Fisher, Frenchman Romain Langasque and Dutchman Joost Luiten.
Sullivan, a three-time European Tour winner in 2015, has slipped to 135th in the world but, at 32, he believes he is starting to mature as a golfer.
“I feel like I have grown up a little bit now on the course,” he said.
“I think that having a laugh on the golf course is all well and good, and I still enjoy it. But I have really had to knuckle down the past two days to keep myself in check.”
Scott Jamieson is three shots off the lead in joint eighth, having finished birdie-birdie for his 68, with David Drysdale one further back following a 69.
Stephen Gallacher (68) and Bob Macintyre (72) are both on two-under, with Richie Ramsay (71) completing the Scottish contingent through to the weekend on one-under.
Next week’s Magical Kenya Open has become the third European Tour event to be called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The decision was taken after the Government of Kenya announced that it was postponing all meetings and conferences in the country of an “international nature”.
Keith Pelley, the European Tour’s chief executive, said: “We understand and totally respect the decision made by the Government of Kenya in these difficult times.
“We are looking into the possibility
of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the season, but that remains simply a possibility right now – we have no definitive plans at this stage.”
The event, which was due to be held at Karen Country Club in Nairobi, joins the Maybank Championship and Volvo China Open on the circuit’s casualty list due to the spread of COVID-19.
It leaves the Hero Indian Open in a fortnight’s time as the only regular event on the schedule until the Andalucia Masters at the end of April.
Three forthcoming events in Egypt were also postponed yesterday on the Alps Tour, one of the third-tier circuits.
The Allegria Open, the Dreamland Pyramids Open and the New Giza Open are all being rescheduled for September.
The MENA Tour, another third-tier circuit based in the Middle East and North Africa, announced on Thursday that it was cancelling six forthcoming events on its schedule.
Other events to have been cancelled in recent weeks include the HSBC Women’s Champions in Shanghai and the Women’s Amateur Asiapacific Championship.
On Tuesday, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said it was all systems go at the moment for next month’s Masters, the opening men’s major of the season, though the ongoing situation is being closely monitored.
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