Tiger Woods cancels PGA Championship press conference but may still play Valhalla
Things don’t bode well for a Tiger sighting at the PGA this week, but agent Mark Steinberg says it’s “too early” to determine if Woods will be healthy enough to compete at Valhalla.
Trying to determine if and when Tiger Woods will make his latest comeback from yet another injury has become something of a parlor game. So when word broke Monday evening that Woods had cancelled his Tuesday morning press conference, it seemed probable Tiger would be a no-show at the final major of the season.
Tiger Woods #PGAChamp news conference, originally scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, will not be held tomorrow
— PGA of America (@pgaofamerica) August 4, 2014 Maybe yes, maybe no, but don’t go reading too much into the called-off presser.
“Way too early [to know if Woods will play Valhalla],” Tiger’s agent said in an e-mail to ESPN’s Bob Harig on Monday. “He has to rest and get treatment and then assess later. Pointless to make that decision now without proper time to give him best chance. Nothing further today, maybe [not] even tomorrow.”
Woods’ back went into spasms Sunday during the final round at Firestone, forcing him to withdraw from his second PGA Tour event in an abbreviated, forlorn season that will likely end sometime during the PGA Championship if not before. The 14-time major champion, who won the PGA in 2000 at Valhalla, needs a win in Kentucky — or at the Wyndham Championship a week later, should he be well enough and willing to add another event to his schedule — to make it to the post-season.
To Play or Not to Play
Ranked just 69th in Ryder Cup points, and with U.S. captain Tom Watson keeping a close eye on Woods’ health, Woods also needs a strong performance in the men’s final major of the season to earn an invitation to Gleneagles in September.
Prior to the PGA tweet, Watson told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio that the latest setback for the formerly top-ranked golfer in the world, who flew home to Florida after his WD rather than to the venue for this week’s major, “doesn’t bode well right now” for Woods’ chances to make the team.
Woods was playing in just his third competition since undergoing back surgery on March 31. He said he “jarred” his back when he jumped down into a bunker after hitting a shot from an awkward lie on the edge of the sand.
He persevered but some of his play was atrocious, including a tee shot that came up some 65 yards short of the pin on the 200-yard par-3 fifth hole. He retired for the day after grabbing his back and bending down gingerly to pick up his tee following a 300-yard drive on No. 9. He was in obvious pain as a golf cart transported him to the parking lot and caddie Joe LaCava whisked him away from Firestone, where Woods was going for a record ninth tour win.
Watson watched the proceedings with keen interest.
“Tiger would be a great addition to our team,” Watson said. “As I’ve said all along, I would pick Tiger Woods if he’s healthy and playing well. This doesn’t bode well right now. I just hope that maybe it’s just an isolated problem that he can turn around and possibly play this week at the PGA.”
Some of the shots Watson saw Woods hit were astounding.
”I watched him play almost the entire front nine. And the shot he had at five ... I said, ‘Something’s wrong with Tiger.’ You don’t hit that terrible a shot ever – ever … And then, of course, No. 9, he just couldn’t go any farther.
“It concerns me because that’s an injury that seems like he tried to address before and he’s come back from that particular injury,” said Watson, who added he sent Woods a “get well soon” text.
