While Tiger Woods made the cut at the Masters for the 23rd consecutive time Saturday, tying the record shared by Gary Player and Fred Couples, he was seen hobbling around the greens in obvious pain during the rainy third round. That prompted speculation he would be forced to withdraw. And Woods made that announcement on his Twitter account ahead of the resumption of third-round play Sunday, saying that he had reaggravated his plantar fasciitis:
I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 9, 2023
Saturday started with the resumption of second-round play, which was suspended Friday thanks to weather and to trees falling. Woods finished that round at one-over, putting him three-over for the tournament and letting him make the cut. But the ensuing third round proved tougher for him; through seven holes, he recorded two bogeys and two double bogeys, with the latter two coming on his final holes before the suspension of play. That left him nine over for the tournament, in last place.
Thus, Woods (seen above during that third round) wasn’t in contention for his sixth green jacket. But this did end his streak of completing the full 72 holes in every Masters he’d competed in as a professional. And his forced withdrawal had many feeling sad for him, but sympathizing:
Sad for us that Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Masters. Sad for him as well, of course … but honestly I’m happy for him too. He feels the pressure to play for us as much as for himself. Glad he could look out for himself here. Hard watching him in pain.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) April 9, 2023
Thank you Tiger. Thank you for the memories. Always loved what you did for the sport. Hope you can make it back stronger and give us more memories.
— Chandan Ganwani (@chandan_ganwani) April 9, 2023
Get some rest, champ! Recover quickly and thank you for being the legend you are. You have pushed me to be the best I could be. I hope to see you back on the course soon!
— Dragan Jakovljevic (@draganjakovlje) April 9, 2023
The greens are never the same without you 💔. Quick recovery 🙏
— Winnie Njuguna (@shikoWinnie) April 9, 2023
It’s generally understood that you’re as fierce a competitor as they come.
So it’s also understood how difficult this decision must be for you.
Get well, stay safe Champ. We’ll all be right here waiting.— Bob McGovern (@mcgovern_bob) April 9, 2023
Others pointed out that Woods’ withdrawal, which came after the videos of him limping around in pain Saturday, is likely to lead to a lot of Easter conversations about plantar fasciitis:
“You know, Peyton Manning had it too.”
— robmillertime (@robmillertime) April 9, 2023
I can’t wait for “plantar fasciitis” to start trending today. Golf fanatics will be frantically throwing it in the Google search engine then immediately act like they’ve always known what it means, some may even suggest they suffer from it too,
— Jenny Johnson (@JennyJohnsonHi5) April 9, 2023
tiger withdrawing because of plantar fasciitis means be prepared for your dad to talk about his bouts with plantar fasciitis during easter dinner tonight 😂
— Emerson Lotzia, Jr. (@EmersonLotzia) April 9, 2023
Others noted how serious that injury can be:
Many athletes have told me Plantar fasciitis feels like walking on broken glass. Peyton Manning dealt with it during his final season. As did many baseball players I covered. A difficult injury to navigate https://t.co/2iaBwllnIm
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) April 9, 2023
Our thoughts go out to Woods as he recovers.
[Tiger Woods on Twitter; photo from Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic, via USA Today Sports]
