"I just jarred it and it's been spasming ever since," Tiger Woods explained to PGA Tour officials, as he was constrained to pull out from the WGC-Bridgstone Invitational held in Ohio because of his back injury. He noticed the sensation early in the game but pushed through until midway through his final round when his shot was making the pain almost unbearable.
Woods continued explaining to PGA Tour, "It happened on the second hole when I hit my second shot." He said that he felt the pain in his back after a difficult slash at the ball and falling into the bunker. During his round, Woods subsequently made several poor shots before withdrawing after a tee shot on the ninth hole. "It's the whole lower back, I don't know what happened," added Woods.
Joe LaCava, Woods' caddie, said that Woods' back had been hurting all day, according to a tweet from PGA Tour. After the ninth hole stint, LaCava drove Woods onto the parking lot where the golfer was spotted in deep pain.
This injury could very well be the critical point to determine his participation for the remaining events for the year most specifically the upcoming U.S. PGA which will be held next week.
Prior to this week's tournament, Woods stayed away from various tournaments for two months to recover from a pinched nerve injury that he sustained last March. He returned only during the later part of June to participate at Quicken Loans National and has since played in three tournaments.
Woods is set to play with Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds at Valhalla for U.S. PGA next week. Woods will most likely miss this tournament. His participation for the Ryder Cup this coming September can only be certain if he is well enough by then.
The golfing community is apprehensive over how Woods' back injury could impact his career for 2014. Several of his supporters lamented on social media about the injury as "a big setback for Woods to potentially miss his opportunity to grab the major championship for this year."
