Tiger Woods decided not to tee it up at the Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, next week.
The world’s most famous golfer cited on a blog post that “My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf.”
Apparently, Woods doesn’t like embarrassing himself as he did at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, where he shot the worst round of his PGA career by carding an 82 and missing the cut. Woods further posted, “Like I’ve said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
Things didn’t get any better for Woods after the Waste Management debacle the following week at the Farmers Open. The worlds #62 ranked golfer yanked himself from the tournament after completing just 11 holes at Torrey Pines, complaining of “deactivated glutes.”
Woods explained that he is “caught between patterns—an old pattern and a new pattern,” when discussing his game at a post tournament presser after the Waste Management. Woods’s departure from the list of players a the Honda proves that his swing remains in limbo and his chances of being ready for the Masters in April becomes more daunting.
Only a win at the Honda would have qualified Woods to play in the World Golf Championship at Doral in two weeks, so now his next tournament most likely is Bay Hill, which leaves just three weeks after that for Augusta.
Golf.com reported that Woods continues to work with swing coach Chris Como. Tiger’s latest guru has been reconstructing his swing to his earlier form of a more upright swing plane, more club speed, and straighter shots.
Woods’s most shocking deterioration remains his short game. Breitbart News reported earlier in the month that Brandel Chamblee of Golf Channel said after the Phoenix Open that it’s “the worst I’ve ever seen a tour pro around the greens and it is a long way from there to playing competitive golf again.”