Tiger Woods Out Of Cadillac Championship
DORAL (CBSMiami) – Tiger Woods pulled out of the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Doral on Sunday due to some sort of injury to his left leg.
Woods was 3-over par in the final round at Doral, 10 shots out of the lead, when he saved par from a bunker on the 11th hole and then got in a cart and headed for the parking lot.
He then drove away in a black sedan.
"I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse. After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary," said Woods in a statement.
Woods is to play in two weeks at Bay Hill, his last tournament before the Masters. Woods is a four-time champion at Augusta National, and with an ordinary game, he still has tied for fourth the last two years.
Doral was his third straight tournament. He lost in the second round of the Match Play Championship, then shot 62 to tie for second a week ago at the Honda Classic. When asked after the third round Saturday at Doral how is body was holding up through this stretch, he replied, "It feels great."
Woods changed shoes at the turn and was limping noticeably, especially after he pulled his second shot on the par-5 10th, leading to bogey. The limp grew worse, and moments later, Woods was gone.
"I want to send my regrets to the World Golf Championships, Cadillac and the fans. The galleries were tremendous this week and I want to thank everyone for their support," said Woods. "I will get my Achilles evaluated sometime early next week."
It's the third time in three years that Woods has withdrawn from a tournament. The most recent was at The Players Championship last May, when he hobbled off the TPC Sawgrass after a 40 on the back nine.
He then took three months off to let his left leg fully heal, returning at the Bridgestone Invitational. Woods said he wanted to make sure he didn't come back until he knew there would be no more issues with his leg. Since then, he has been able to practice more and adjust to swing changes, and from tee-to-green his golf has looked solid.
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