TIGER WOODS arrived at Valhalla Golf Club yesterday to begin his preparations for the US PGA Championship. There is a serious doubt over whether he will play after he withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational during Sunday’s final round with a back injury.
The 38-year-old, who had back surgery on March 31, was scheduled to play a practice round at 2PM local time (7pm BST).
Woods won the US PGA the last time it was staged at Valhalla in 2000 but did not play there in the Ryder Cup in 2008 and the course has since undergone extensive renovation, led by the designer Jack Nicklaus.
Woods is scheduled to tee off at 8:35AM local time on Thursday alongside Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington, but could still decide to withdraw and miss three of the year’s four majors for the first time in his career. He has until 10 minutes before his scheduled start to decide.
Asked on Sunday if he had suffered the same injury which led to the operation in March, Woods said: “It’s just the whole lower back. It happened on the second hole when I hit my second shot. I fell back into the bunker. Just jarred it. It’s been spasming ever since.” — The Guardian



