Palm Harbor, FL …
Tiger Woods has confirmed, and as many observers expected, he will not return to competition at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and on the occasion of the PGA Tour returning to Bay Hill since the passing last last year of ‘The King’.
Woods, who won a remarkable eight Arnold Palmer Invitationals between 2000 and 2013, released a statement and again via his website just a day before the cut-off point for entries into the Arnold Palmer.
“Unfortunately, due to ongoing rest and rehabilitation on my back, I won’t be able to play in this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational,” he said.
“I’m especially disappointed because I wanted to be at Bay Hill to help honor Arnold. This is one event I didn’t want to skip. Arnold has meant so much to me and my family; I thought of him as a close friend, and Sam and Charlie were both born in the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.
“He will be greatly missed and can never truly be replaced”.
Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods
Woods then added a sentence that surely must also rule out the 14-time Major Champion teeing-up also in the April 6th commencing Masters.
“Presently, I have no timetable for my return to golf, but my treatments are continuing and going well,” he said.
Woods has played just seven rounds of formal competition in the past 19 months since finishing T10th in the 2015 Wyndham Championship and with the most recent in posting a 77 in round one of the Dubai Desert Classic before withdrawing with back spasms.
Woods was hoping by teeing-up at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open his game would then continue to be good enough to tee-up at Augusta National.
However in withdrawing from Dubai Woods also pulled the plug on competing in the Genesis Open, the Honda Classic and now the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As such, there is just two PGA Tour tournaments Woods could now contest ahead of the Masters and that is next fortnight’s Puerto Rico Open and the following week’s Shell Houston Open being staged in the week prior the year’s first Major.
If Woods should not contest the Masters he is certain, as was the scenario last year, in being present for the Tuesday night ‘Former Champions Dinner’ that also will take on extra meaning given Palmer won four Augusta green jackets.
