The 15-time Major winner looked anguished as he limped around Augusta on Saturday, before retiring before the third round resumed on Sunday.
Sir Nick Faldo has wondered how long Tiger Woods can continue playing despite the pain after the American superstar pulled out of the Masters.
The 15-time Major winner looked dying as he limped around Augusta National on Saturday before the game was abandoned in the rain. And Woods, 47, withdrew before the third round resumed on Sunday “due to my worsening plantar fasciitis”.
The former world No. 1 added: “Thank you to the fans and the Masters who have shown me so much love and support.” Before starting in only his fifth event since a horrific car crash in February 2021, Woods admitted his 25th Masters could be his last.
“I don’t know how much I still have in me,” he said. And after his first round, the world No. 1001 said he was in “pain” and in “constant pain”.
Woods had made back-to-back double bogeys on his final two holes in abysmal conditions on Saturday to sink to the bottom of the 54-man field to make the cut on the par nine.
Faldo tweeted, “The amount of rehab each day is brutal. It’s even worse if you don’t shoot a decent score! How long can he keep putting himself through this?
Woods had only planned to play the Majors and other select events this year after only playing three times last year.
The US PGA is at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York next month while The Open returns to Royal Liverpool in July. Woods won the Claret Jug there in 2006.
His friend Jason Day said: “He looked like he was working pretty hard yesterday. It was obviously hard to watch. It was just the weather that got it. These were not the ideal conditions for him to at least pass the race.
“It was good to see him play well and make the cut in these conditions, especially to equal the all-time record for consecutive cuts.
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“It’s amazing. Another thing he has to put on the trophy cabinet, I’m sure. It’s disappointing, but it’s just, I think, where we are with the way his body is right now. it just sucks that he’s not here playing.
The Australian, who said Woods’ ‘short game looked great’ when he watched him during a practice round, added: ‘I was talking to him at the end of the year last, then he was saying the reason he pulled out of the PGA was a screw that went through skin on Saturday or whatever.
“I don’t know how bad it is this time.”
The five-time Masters champion still managed to equal the Masters record of 23 consecutive cups already held by Gary Player and Freddie Couples.
Golf Channel pundit Brad Faxon said: “It’s not just since his car accident. I played with him in 2018 after his back problems. He told me he was in so much pain he had to crawl out of bed to go to the bathroom.
“What he did to make this cup is nothing short of heroic. Hats off to him. He did something else that we didn’t think was possible.”
Before the Masters, his caddie Joe LaCava had confessed: “He is quite stoned. If it wasn’t Augusta, he probably wouldn’t be playing. He still has the power, swing speed, shots and length to contend with. injury is devastating, but if he could take a cart he could fight tomorrow.”
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