Tiger Woods Announces Leave of Absence from Golf

By Cheri Cheng - 12 Feb '15 09:43AM

Tiger Woods is officially taking a break from golf until his game returns.

The 39-year-old veteran withdrew from the first round of last week's event at Torrey Pines, citing a tight back. The 14-time major champion and former world number one also had an early departure in round two of the Phoenix Open where he shot a career-worst 82.

These performances, Woods deemed were "unacceptable for tournament play."

"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," Woods said. "I need a lot of work on my game and to spend time with people that are important to me...I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back."

On Woods' website, he clarified that the injury he sustained at Torrey Pines was not related to the back surgery he had last year. He is currently getting daily physical therapy and is "feeling better every day."

"My glutes keep shutting off and that causes me pain in my back," Woods told reporters in regards to his injury at Torrey Pines. "It got worse as we stood waiting on the putting green during the delay and I tried warming up my glutes, but it just wasn't working for me. When we went back out, it just got progressively worse."

Woods plans on practicing all of next week at home and at Medalist. He will make a return at the PGA Tour's Honda Classic, which starts on Feb. 26, only if he feels good about his game.

He said, "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."

Woods has undergone four surgeries on his left knee and had back surgery last March. As of Wednesday, Woods is ranked 62nd in the world, which is his lowest ranking since he started playing professionally in 1996.