Tiger Woods withdrew from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament early Friday morning because of back spasms.
Woods agent, Mark Steinberg, told reporters the golfer withdrew after suffering back spasms Thursday night. Steinberg emphasized that the spasms were unrelated to the nerve pain in his back which forced him to have three surgeries – his last surgery was in August – and kept him from playing on the PGA Tour since 2015.
“He says it’s not the nerve pain that’s kept him out for so long,” Steinberg told reporters. “And again, the fact that he feels as though it’s not the nerve pain, that’s very encouraging for him.
Woods, looking and playing tentative, shot a 77 in the first round of the tournament Thursday, his worst round ever at the course. Woods said he wasn’t in pain and didn’t play well.
“No, I wasn’t in pain at all,” he reporters after the round. “I was just trying to hit shots and I wasn’t doing a very good job.”
The withdrawal is the only the ninth time Woods has pulled out of tournament during his professional career. However, he has withdrew from a tournament four times in the last four years and it’s his seventh withdrawal since 2010.
Steinberg said Woods hopes to play in the Genesis Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles in two weeks.
“Spasms are a funny thing. I’m certainly no doctor, but they come and go. He’s had spasms before. He’s got to get the spasm to calm down, from what I gather,” Steinberg said. “The short-term prognosis, he thinks hopefully will be strong based on the fact that it’s not that nerve pain.”
— Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold
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