To panic seems extreme, but that and any and all emotions surrounding Tiger Woods and his decision Friday to skip the Players Championship are certainly valid at this point.
Pull your hair out. Fret and fuss. Spew doom and gloom. Go dark. It’s all fair when the subject is Tiger’s back and his inability to play tournament golf.
He has been down this road too many times, with too many potholes along the way, to think of it as anything but worrisome.
Skipping the Arnold Palmer Invitational here at Bay Hill is one thing, even though he has won the tournament eight times. The idea of playing consecutive weeks, at age 44 with a fused back and four surgeries, is one he is willing to entertain less and less.
That, of course, assumed he’d be ready in time for the Players, the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament, the next-best thing to a major championship and a tournament Woods has won twice.
Missing that one, too?
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, offered nothing more than a text that read: “Back just not ready. Not concerning long term, just not ready.”
Given the chance to ask — a simple question: How could this not be concerning?
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