Tiger Woods pulls out of Open Championship

Jul 5, 2011, 18:52 GMT

Berlin - Former world number one Tiger Woods Tuesday pulled out of this month's Open Championship, saying he had not fully recovered from an injury to his left leg.

'Unfortunately, I've been advised that I should not play in the British Open,' Woods said on his official website.

Woods, 35, has not played competitively since suffering a recurrence of the injury at the Players Championship in mid-May and has now slipped to 17th in the world rankings.

Woods personally contacted Peter Dawson, chief executive of the chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which organizes the Open Championship, to explain why he was unable to play at the event from July 14 to 17 in Sandwich, Kent.

'As I stated at the AT&T National, I am only going to come back when I'm 100-per-cent ready,' Woods said.

'I do not want to risk further injury. That's different for me, but I'm being smarter this time. I'm very disappointed and want to express my regrets to the British Open fans.'

In April, Woods was diagnosed with a grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament sprain to his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles tendon, both of which he suffered while hitting a shot during the third round at the Masters.

He was unable to play in the Wells Fargo Championship and withdrew after nine holes in the first round at the Playyers Championship after reinjuring his leg on the opening tee shot. He also did not compete last week at the AT&T National.

'In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have competed at the Players, but it's a big event, and I wanted to be there to support the tour,' Woods said. 'I've got to learn from what I did there and do it right this time and not come back until I'm ready.

'I think my best years are still ahead of me, and I'm very confident and optimistic about the future.'

Woods won the Open Championship in 2000, 2005 and 2006 and has 14 major titles, four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus.

Dawson said: 'I know how disappointed Tiger is not to be able to play in the Open this year.

'Naturally, we are sorry that a player of his calibre isn't able to join us at Royal St George's, but we wish him well in his recovery and hope to see him back soon, competing in front of the fans that love to see him play the game.'

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