Tiger Woods entered the weekend looking to finally win the $9.25 million purse at THE NORTHERN TRUST golf tournament. Unfortunately, his time at Liberty National Golf Course in New Jersey has come to an early end. Woods withdrew from the tournament on Friday morning due to an injury.
Tiger Woods has officially withdrawn from THE NORTHERN TRUST. pic.twitter.com/SoyXmWRmm8
— THE NORTHERN TRUST (@TheNTGolf) August 9, 2019
Woods announced on Twitter that the reason for his withdrawal was an oblique strain. He had attempted to play through the pain and finished Thursday +4, placing him 13 strokes behind the leader. Instead of continuing to struggle, he will simply try to get ready for his next competition.
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“Due to a mild oblique strain that led to pain and stiffness, I have to withdraw from THE NORTHERN TRUST,” Woods said in a statement. “I went for treatment early Friday morning, but unfortunately, I’m still unable to compete.
“I’d like to thank the New Jersey and New York fans for their support and remain hopeful I can compete next week at the BMW Championship.”
The next tournament on his docket will be the BMW Championship, which will be held at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois. Woods has been triumphant in this tournament twice in his career (2007, 2009), and he will be looking for a third victory on Aug. 13-18.
While he has hopes of participating in the BMW Championship, it does seem to be on the outskirts of possibility. An oblique strain can keep an athlete out of commission for weeks on end, but Woods has mere days to prepare for the next tournament. Will he be ready?
After winning the Masters in April, Woods has been fairly quiet in the golf world. He has participated in only 10 tournaments since April, including one non-major — the Memorial Tournament. The purpose was to preserve his health. In fact, Woods skipped the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis in order to prepare for these upcoming tournaments.
Unfortunately, the precautions did not help Woods during THE NORTHERN TRUST as he ultimately failed to complete the tournament due to the mild oblique strain. It remains to be seen how he will perform in the BMW Championship, but the early withdrawal certainly affects his prospects of finishing among the top 30 golfers in the FedEx tournament. Woods needs a strong finish to earn a return trip to the Tour Championship, which he won for the 80th time last last season.
