After battling through back problems in the PGA Championship last week, Tiger Woods is going to take a much-needed break from the game of golf to fully recover. A short while ago, Woods released the following statement on his website:
I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed. They’ve advised me not to play or practice now. I was fortunate that my recent back injury was not related to my surgery and was muscular only.
I have already spoken to Tom [Watson] about the Ryder Cup, and while I greatly appreciate his thinking about me for a possible captain’s pick, I took myself out of consideration. The U.S. team and the Ryder Cup mean too much to me not to be able to give it my best. I’ll be cheering for the U.S. team. I think we have an outstanding squad going into the matches.
I plan to return to competition at my World Challenge tournament at Isleworth in Orlando, Florida, Dec. 1-7. It’s an event that’s important to me and my foundation, and it will be exciting to be playing again.
After seeing the amount of pain Tiger went through following the swing which knocked him out of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational earlier this month, it's very clear that something isn't right. And it's hurting his play. Even though it is encouraging that his current back ailment has nothing to do with his procedure in March, Woods needs to make sure that he doesn't rush his recovery and comes back at 100 percent.
[via The Big Lead]
