Golf World Reacts to Tiger Woods’s Laborious Third Round, Withdrawal From PGA Championship

Woods’s withdrawal came shortly after the 46-year-old shot a nine-over-par 79 in Saturday’s third round at Southern Hills Country Club.

Tiger Woods withdrew from the first major of his career Saturday following a career-worst showing at the PGA Championship in Oklahoma.

The surprising news of Woods’s withdrawal came shortly after the 46-year-old shot a nine-over-par 79 in the third round at Southern Hills Country Club. Woods had never before withdrawn from a major. Woods’s agent Mark Steinberg later confirmed to Sports Illustrated he experienced “pain and discomfort” in his right foot throughout the day, which led to the decision.

Woods’s premature exit garnered responses from various figures throughout the golf world, including PGA president Jim Richerson, who released a statement sending Woods his well wishes.

“Tiger Woods has informed us that he is withdrawing from the 2022 PGA Championship. We admire Tiger’s valiant effort to compete here at Southern Hills and wish him the best as he continues to recover from his injuries,” Richerson wrote.

A statement from PGA of America President Jim Richerson, PGA on Tiger Woods. pic.twitter.com/1psYCC0qHT

— PGA of America (@PGA) May 22, 2022

Check out some other notable replies to Woods’s stunning withdrawal below:

Everyone was so mad at me when I tweeted this from Augusta. I'm glad Tiger is showing some prudence now by W/D'ing from the PGA. He's gotta play the long-game and let his leg continue to heal. https://t.co/9Rm1TlaaIO

— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) May 21, 2022

Can’t imagine how much pain Tiger is in to call it quits. He did not withdraw because he’s in second to last. It’s because he physically can’t do it.

He could so easily have just called it quits after the accident and saved himself all the pain. But he will never stop fighting.

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) May 21, 2022

Tiger is unlikely to make excuses. But this is absolutely the worst kind of day for him. Similar to Saturday at Masters. Cold, wet, early tee time. These days were not great for him pre leg injuries. Heat is his friend.

— Bob Harig (@BobHarig) May 21, 2022

Tiger officially WD's. It's the right call. Nothing to gain from playing tomorrow.

— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) May 21, 2022

Damn. 🐅

But the man did enough this week.#pgachampionship @PGAChampionship

— Jay Coffin ⚰️ (@JayCoffin) May 21, 2022

Tiger Woods withdraws from the PGA Championship. A little surprised, considering what it took for him to just make the cut yesterday, but at this point, he must've understood that the risk outweighed the reward and didn't want to further injure himself moving forward.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGolf) May 21, 2022