Even though there was no official confirmation on Tiger Woods playing this week’s PGA Championship, the presence of his caddie, Joe LaCava, charting Valhalla was being seen as an encouraging sign that the former world No1 may still tee up.
LaCava could not shed any light on the status of injury of Woods, who was expected to have MRI done on Sunday night itself and then consult with the doctor who performed the surgery on him yesterday.
Woods had planned to reach Valhalla yesterday and play a practice round, but he headed home to Jupiter Island in Florida.
However, the withdrawal meant his chances of qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs are now extremely slim, something that US captain Tom Watson wanted him to do before picking him up as one of his three wildcards for September’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
Speaking on PGA Tour Radio, Watson said Woods’ latest injury “doesn’t bode well right now” as far as the Ryder Cup is concerned.
Watson said: “Tiger would be a great addition. 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.”
Woods, who started the day with a birdie, hit some bad shots after the incident on the second hole fairway bunker, which triggered the recurrence of the injury. That included hitting the water on the third hole and hitting his tee shot 65 yards short on the par-3 fifth hole.
“I watched him play the entire front nine,” Watson said. “And the shot he had at five … I said, ‘something’s wrong with Tiger’. You don’t hit that terrible a shot ever… ever.
“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.”
