Tiger Woods announced Tuesday that he will not be playing in the 2016 U.S. Open or the Quicken Loans National as he continues to recover from his latest back injury.
“While I continue to work hard on getting healthy, I am not physically ready to play in this year’s U.S. Open and the Quicken Loans National,” Woods wrote, via his website. “I am making progress, but I’m not yet ready for tournament competition.”
Clearly, this is the smart move. Woods hasn’t played competitive golf since withdrawing from the Masters due to back complications.
Not only would Woods risk further setbacks to his health, which has been tenuous of late, but he would not be playing at his best if he were to try coming back too early.
Most golf fans would love to see Woods make a successful comeback. He’s been stuck at 14 major championship wins since 2008 when he gutted out a playoff win over Rocco Mediate. Even the great Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record at 18, has often stated his desire to see Woods return to form.
Coming back early would only make things worse as he attempts to get himself back.
Perhaps we’ll see Woods make an appearance at the 2016 Open Championship in July. He’s always loved playing the links courses at Great Britain, and Royal Troon would be a terrific venue to welcome him back to competitive golf.