(Los Angeles) Tiger Woods, who had surgery on his right ankle last month, has withdrawn from the PGA Championship, the second Grand Slam lifter of the season, his name not appearing on the entry list published Wednesday by the organizers.
The American with fifteen Major titles had undergone a fusion to treat his post-traumatic arthritis from a fractured talar, which resulted from his serious car accident suffered in February 2021.
The subtalar joint is located just below the ankle joint and a fusion may relieve pain, but its rehabilitation is not complete. He had suffered physically during the last Augusta Masters, played in early April, to the point of giving up in the third round.
It was in Georgia that he had made his astonishing return to the greens, a year earlier, fourteen months after his terrible road trip near Los Angeles, where the SUV he was driving had chained several barrels. He had suffered several open fractures in his legs, especially the right, the most damaged, which gave little hope for the continuation of his career.
Since then, he has only participated in five tournaments, finishing all four rounds only twice. And no timetable has been set for his return.
He will be the big absentee from the PGA Championship in Oak Hill, New York, scheduled for May 18-21, where a field of 156 players has been announced, with the usual favorites, first and foremost the Spaniard World No. 1 Jon Rahm, crowned in Augusta a month ago, as well as 18 players from LIV Golf, the dissident PGA Tour financially supported by Saudi Arabia, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.