(Tulsa) Too much pain and last place: it was too much for Tiger Woods on Saturday at the PGA Championship, where he decided to give up after a 3and nightmarish round, at the end of which he surrendered one of his worst cards in a major tournament.
Posted at 2:48 p.m.
Updated at 9:10 p.m.
“We admire the effort and courage Tiger showed to enter the tournament. We wish him the best as he continues to recover from his injuries,” said PGA of America President Jim Richerson.
The announcement made on Twitter by the organizers was expected. A few hours earlier, Woods had left a doubt that already spoke volumes.
Asked if he was going to play the last round this Sunday, the 46-year-old American replied: “Well, it hurts. It is a fact. We’re gonna do some work [avec les kinés] and see how it goes. »
His second return, five weeks after the striking successful one at the Masters where he had gone after 72, despite fatigue and pain there too, therefore ended in abandonment. The second of his Grand Slam career, after the one that occurred at the 1995 US Open, when, a young 19-year-old amateur, on his debut in this tournament, he injured his wrist trying to get the ball out of thick, tall grass.
Worst close score
A rarity therefore, but which cannot minimize the current obstacle course of the winner of 15 Grand Slams.
Fifteen months ago, he was thought lost for golf, after his serious car accident which nearly cost him his right leg and required the insertion of a rod in his tibia and screws to consolidate the bones of the foot and the peg.
If the relief of Southern Hills (Oklahoma) was less difficult to survey than that of Augusta, the climatic conditions certainly complicated the life of Woods, between the humid heat of Friday and the cold and windy humidity which settled on Saturday , necessarily trying for his joints.
He appeared exhausted after this third round, his steel mind having taken a hit, affected by a rather rare abyssal performance on his part, since he returned a card of 79, nine strokes over par. . One unit away from his worst Major score, set in 2002 at 3and round of the British Open and repeated in the first round of the 2015 US Open.
“I didn’t do anything good. I didn’t hit a lot of good shots. Therefore, I ended up with a pretty high score. I just didn’t play well,” he agreed.
St. Andrews Goal
The Tiger was already struggling for the past 48 hours. Back to the wall at the end of the first round with a card of 74, four strokes over par, he fought Friday to stay in the cut, set at + 4 at the end of the day. His encouraging score of 69 kept him in the tournament at 53and rank (+ 3).
On Saturday, to begin with, his ball made a “splash” in the water twice, on 2and and 6and holes, with bogey and triple-bogey at the end. After another bogey on 7, he conceded five more in a row between 9 and 13. A first for him in a major tournament…
He nevertheless managed to save the honor, by birdie at noh 15 on a superb putt from 11 meters. And even smiled, when his superb shot made the spectators exult behind the cords.
In the end, his fall was dizzying in the standings, as he ranked 79andwith a total of +12. A position invalidated due to its abandonment.
It remains to be seen what Woods intends to do in the coming weeks. The US Open will take place in a month. If he did not really mention this meeting, he did however make the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland, his goal.