Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Dubai Desert Classic, which is only the second tournament he was set to appear in so far this season.
Woods withdrew from the tournament on Friday after suffering from back spasms following dinner Thursday night, The Associated Press reported.
“Tiger Woods went into a spasm in his lower back fairly late last night…got treatment done early this morning for 3 1-2 hours, but can’t get it out,” said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ manager, according to the AP. “He says it’s not the nerve, but back spasm, and he can’t get the spasms to calm down. He can move around, but he can’t make a full rotation in his swing.”
This comes after Woods shot a high opening-round of 77 on Thursday.
The European Tour announced the withdrawal before Woods was set to tee off on Friday.
The announcement likely came as a surprise to those who heard Woods address the media after his frustrating first-round performance.
“I wasn’t in pain at all…I was just trying to hit shots and I wasn’t doing a very good job,” Woods said after his opening round, according to the AP.
Despite Woods’ past issues with nerve pain in his back, which led to three surgeries, Steinberg says Thursday’s spasms aren’t related, CBS Sports noted.
“Spasms are a funny thing, I’m certainly no doctor but they come and go,” Steinberg said, according to CBS Sports. “And again, the fact that he feels as though it’s not the nerve pain, that’s very encouraging for him. He’s had spasms before. He’s got to get the spasm to calm down from what I gather. He has his trainer here, which is good, and that’s who has been working on him for the past several hours.”
The withdrawal highlights something Woods alluded to before he traveled to Dubai for this week’s tournament.
“The only concern is I have a long flight ahead of me,” Woods said after missing the cut at Torrey Pines last week, which was just his second time back on the course since his 17-month layoff, according to CBS Sports. “How is my body going to handle flights? Flying out here is something I hadn’t done in a while. Now we have a pretty good jaunt, 17 hours. It will be good. It is a long process in the mornings. Trying to get ready and warmed up.”
The next tournament on Woods’ schedule – if he is healthy enough – is the Genesis Open at Riviera, which is set to take place Feb. 16-19, according to The Big Lead.
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