DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods withdrew from the U.S. Open on Wednesday as he recovers from back surgery that has kept him out of golf for nearly three months.
It will be the second U.S. Open, and sixth major, he has missed because of injury over the last six years.
The U.S. Open is June 12-15 at Pinehurst No. 2, where Woods tied for third in 1999 and was runner-up in 2005. The announcement on his website was not surprising. A week ago at a promotional event for the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, Woods said he still had not taken a full swing with a golf club and did not know when he could.
He had microdiscetomy surgery to relieve a pinched nerve on March 31.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be there because I’m not yet physically able to play competitive golf,” Woods said. “I’d like to convey my regrets to the USGA leadership, the volunteers and the fans that I won’t be at Pinehurst. The U.S. Open is very important to me, and I know it’s going to be a great week.”
Woods last played on March 9 at Doral, where he closed with a 78 while suffering what he called back spasms. He withdrew in the middle of the final round at the Honda Classic with back pain a week earlier.
Woods is a three-time U.S. Open champion, one short of the record shared by Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson. His most recent U.S. Open victory was in 2008 at Torrey Pines, where he won in a playoff over Rocco Mediate a week before he had season-ending knee surgery.
That was his 14th victory in 46 majors, a winning rate of 30 percent as a pro. He has not won a major since Torrey Pines, leaving him four short of Nicklaus’ record.
Woods missed the British Open and PGA Championship after knee surgery in 2008. He missed the U.S. Open and British Open while allowing leg injuries to heal in 2011. He missed the Masters for the first time in April because of back surgery.
Nicklaus said earlier Wednesday that Woods’ health would be the biggest obstacle in breaking his record in the majors. Woods called Nicklaus earlier Wednesday to express regrets about missing the Memorial, and Nicklaus said that Woods indicated he was making progress.
“If he’s healthy, I think Tiger has got 10-plus years to play top quality tournament golf,” Nicklaus said. “And I’ve said many times, he’s got a little over 40 tournaments to play the major championships; he’s only got to win five to pass my record. As good a player as he is, I don’t think that should be a big deal. But then again, he’s got to do it. Plus, he’s also got to be healthy to be able to do it.”
Woods has not indicated when he might be able to return to competition, saying that would be up to his doctors and how he recovers from the surgery.
“Despite missing the first two majors, and several other important tournaments, I remain very optimistic about this year and my future,” he said.
Wie back on top of her game
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Michelle Wie is only 24 years old, yet has been a focus of the golf world for almost half of her life starting with her attempt in 2003 to qualify for the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in her home state of Hawaii.
Tall with a powerful swing, Wie appeared destined to become the LPGA’s answer to Tiger Woods. But she experienced her share of ups and downs. She juggled her career and being a student at Stanford quite admirably but slumped after she graduated in 2012. One year ago, she was ranked 100th in the world.
This week, she returns to the ShopRite LPGA Classic at the Jersey Shore in the middle of her best year in quite some time. She is second on the tour’s money list, ranked 10th in the world and owns seven top-10 finishes in her 10 tournaments in 2014, including her third career victory.
Wie has traveled quite a road, most of it in full view of the public.
“I definitely think I grew up a lot faster,” Wie said Wednesday. “I kind of had two sides of me. When I was at school, I was a completely immature 13-year-old, and when I was out here, you learn to speak in front of the press and to be around older players and pro-am partners. So I definitely felt like I grew up.
“It was tough at times. It wasn’t all easy. But at the same time, I think being at such a young age, it definitely gave me a lot of opportunities and I’m forever grateful for that.”
Wie received a sponsor’s exemption to this event in 2003. That same year, she became the youngest player to make the cut at an LPGA tournament, won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne.
But she also attracted criticism for competing in tournaments against men, which she did 14 times on various tours while making one cut. She gave that up in 2009 when she joined the LPGA Tour.
“I’m not saying that every decision I made was perfect and I made no mistakes,” she said. “But I’m glad I made those mistakes because I learned so much from them. I think that I appreciate everything so much more just because I went through such a big low. So I’m not taking anything for granted.
“Just playing well, being healthy, everything, I’m so much more grateful for it.”