HOLD THAT TIGER

Tiger’s back has all kinds of meaning.

Sometimes it means Tiger Woods has returned to the PGA Tour. Sometimes it means Tiger Woods’ back won’t let him play competitive golf.

The once fearsome Woods has withdrawn from tournaments six times since 2010 due to injury, and the nagging back injuries of the last year reared up again on Thursday. After 11 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, Woods pulled out because of a tight back. He put the blame on a delay of more than two hours due to fog that kept him from starting his round.

“It just never loosened back up again,” Woods said.

He was erratic at the start, with bogeys on two of his first three holes sandwiched around a nice chip for par on the second (he started on the back nine of the Torrey Pines North course). He fought through the spasms as long as he could before he’d had enough. He was 2-over par for the holes he played.

This follows a missed cut at the Phoenix Open, where his second-round 82 was the worst of his career. He missed the cut by 12 strokes. He was ranked 56^th in the world – 56^th!!! – going into the Farmers Insurance Open, a far cry from the No. 1 ranking he used to own.

Woods was trying to get his game together to make a run at the Masters in April. Now that is an open question, as is his health and the general state of his once-wondrous game.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .