Tiger Woods has pulled out of the Masters for 2014 and now his schedule has a big hole in it, as the number one golfer will miss the PGA Tour event at Augusta National and a back injury and surgery will keep him out of the major golf event and continues his nightmare season.
Woods has struggled all year due in part to the injury to his back and now he is pulling out of the Masters after having backs surgery to get things corrected. According to ESPN.com, Woods is missing the tournament for the first time in 20 years and that came after numerous consultations and visits with doctors for the number one player in the world. The 38 year old will miss the tournament for the first time ever and now he has the chance to heal up and get right for the rest of the season.
Woods had a dream start last year on his way to getting his number one ranking back, as he won three times ahead of the Masters and five times on tour overall. This year has been a disaster and after flaming out to start the season at the Farmers, a tournament he won the year before, he continued his struggles at Dubai and then later had to withdraw from the Honda Open on the final day due to the back pain. Woods is looking to get back by July, which is when the British Open will be, but it still is unclear if he will be ready for that.
This comes after Woods had previously pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with back issues and that was a tournament he won last year. Woods has struggled all season with the injury and he hopes that surgery will keep him from missing any of the other majors on the schedule and this is a big hit for all involved, especially the TV networks and now he will go another year without a win at Augusta and that comes a year after his controversy there will the drop shot when he was in contention.
Woods also dealt with the pain at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and he ended up with a 78 there and now he is hoping that the time away can get him healed up for the rest of the season. Both Woods and his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn are on the recovery table and he is looking to end his major drought after missing out for a number of years.
"It's tough right now, but I'm absolutely optimistic about the future," Woods said in the statement. "There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I've said many times, Sam (Snead) and Jack (Nicklaus) reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine."
