Tiger Woods pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to his bad back and he said it was too early to decide on the Masters.
Woods posted on his website that he personally called Palmer to tell him about the withdrawal and said he will work with his doctors and continue to be evaluated for the Masters. He has won the invitational eight times in his career. His back has been an issue for awhile and as he gets older his concentration is on the majors and last month admitted he was thinking about the Masters.
“Once the Florida Swing starts, we’re all just building toward that one week in April,” Woods said during a phone interview. “We’re all about building toward that. Don’t finish dead last. And if you win, great.”
He skipped a few majors, but never missed a Masters. He shot back into the limelight when he won the US Open with a bad leg, but a bad back is different an Woods knows it. It does make sense to pull out of minor tournaments and receive treatment for the bigger ones. The Masters begins on April 16 and if his back is not well he could pull out.
He was fine in his two starts, but everything went downhill at the Honda Classic. His movement was off and it was very obvious it was painful for him to even walk.
At one point during a final-round 78, Hunter Mahan’s caddie, John Wood, grabbed the ball out of the cup for Woods. The world’s No. 1-ranked player looked uncomfortable putting. He shot 78, his worst final-round score as a pro.
The Masters means the most to him and despite his turbulent personal history he is still a major draw at the tournament.
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