Two-time Dubai Desert Classic champion Tiger Woods has been forced to withdraw from his participation prior to teeing off in today’s second round due to a bad back. Woods insisted he was in no pain after shooting a 77 yesterday but his agent Mark Steinberg confirmed he began to feel discomfort late last night.
“He felt okay coming off the course yesterday, so he wasn’t in pain,” said Steinberg. “I didn’t see him at dinner but he said went into spasm in his lower back, fairy late last night after dinner.
“He tried to work it out last night, didn’t really get it worked out. He had treatment starting pretty early this morning for probably the past three, three and a half hours.
Range is inevitably abuzz with Tiger Woods WD. Playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick came on to range with hands on head. Feel for the fans here
— James Corrigan (@jcorrigangolf) February 3, 2017
“He says it’s not the nerve pain that’s kept him out for so long. He says it’s a back spasm and he just can’t get the spasm to calm down. So that’s where we are.
“He feels terrible, talked to Matthew (Fitzpatrick) and Danny (Willett), he feels awful and he feels terrible for the tournament. He wanted to be here. He wants to be here. He just feels terrible that he can’t, you know, finish it out today.
“He can move around, he can’t make a full rotation on the swing. But the fact that he feels as though it’s not the nerve pain, that’s very encouraging for him.”
