Tiger Woods won’t play again until his back, and his golf game is ready

Tiger Woods may be out for weeks, or months while he gets his game and his back in good shape.

After withdrawing from the farmers Insurance Open last week, Tiger Woods has announced he will take a leave of absence from tournament golf while he recovers from a back injury and gets his game in decent shape.

Woods released a statement via his website at TigerWoods.com:

The last two weeks have been very disappointing to me, especially Torrey, because I never want to withdraw. Unfortunately, lately injuries have made that happen too often.

This latest injury is not related to my previous surgery. I am having daily physical therapy and I am feeling better every day.

Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me. My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. 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. Next week I will practice at Medalist and at home getting ready for the rest of the year. I am committed to getting back to the pinnacle of my game. I’d like to play The Honda Classic — it’s a tournament in my hometown and it’s important to me — but I won’t be there unless my game is tournament-ready. That’s not fair to anyone. I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon.

Can you ever full recover from a back injury? And is it possible to get your golf game back to being ‘tournament-ready’ if the your back isn’t fully compliant? Will soon find out. The game of golf is better when Woods is playing, let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. Or never.