Tiger Woods had made the cut and played eight holes in Round 3 before his WD.
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Golf fans are in for a marathon of golf on Sunday at the 2023 Masters, but Tiger Woods won’t be among the players competing for a green jacket on the final day at Augusta National.
On Sunday morning, the tournament announced that Woods had withdrawn from the Masters after completing seven holes in his third round.
Woods later tweeted out confirmation of the news, writing, “I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”
Woods has struggled with plantar fasciitis since at least last fall, a condition that forced him to skip playing his own Hero World Challenge event in December.
Woods came into Masters week hoping to latch on to some of the old magic that saw him win this tournament in 2019, just four years ago, for the fifth time in his career. He struggled in Thursday’s opening round, making five bogeys over his first nine holes, but recovered to shoot a two-over 74.
He had a solid start to Round 2 on Friday, but when the round resumed Saturday morning in stormy conditions he closed with back-to-back bogeys to shoot 73 and finish the first two rounds at three over. At the time, it seemed like Woods would miss the cut for the first time ever at the Masters, but late bogeys by Justin Thomas moved the cutline to three over, earning Tiger tee times for the third and final rounds.
The made cut also earned Tiger a share of the record for all-time consecutive made cuts at the Masters, tying him with Fred Couples and Gary Player with 23.
After completing his second round Saturday morning in cold temperatures and heavy rain, Woods, who is recovering from several devastating injuries to his legs, had to suit up again and head out to start Round 3 at 1:06 p.m. ET. He struggled mightily over the first seven holes of the third round in driving rain, making multiple bogeys before play was called for the day at approximately 3:15 p.m. ET.
At the time of his withdrawal, Woods had 29 holes left to play on Sunday at hilly Augusta National, what would have been a difficult test for his surgically-repaired body.
The WD comes in Tiger’s second start of the year. He played the Genesis Invitational, which he hosts, in February, finishing T45.
Last year, in his initial return from a devastating car crash in early 2021, Tiger played in only three events, and completed all four rounds only at the Masters, where he made the cut and place 47th. At the PGA in May, Woods made the cut and then withdrew after Round 3. He skipped the 2022 U.S. Open, and then missed the cut after two rounds at the Open Championship at St. Andrews in July.
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