Tiger Woods withdraws from PGA Championship, out for rest of the season

Tiger Woods has pulled out of the US PGA Championship set to take place at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey next week after failing to recover from severe back problems that have hampered him all season. The former world number one has not played this season with his last appearance on the PGA tour coming in August 2015 where he finished tied 10th at the Wyndham Championship.

It will be the first time Woods, a 14-time major winner, has missed all four majors in a season since his debut in 1995. The American, who was top of the golf rankings in 2013, has slipped to 628th spot after failing to take part in any event this season.

Woods has had three back surgeries since 2014 and was expected to return for the latter part of this season, but his agent Mark Steinberg has now confirmed that he will not play any event in the 2015/16 season after failing to completely recover. The 2016/17 season gets underway in October, but a specific date for his return was not revealed by his representative.

"Continuing to make progress, but simply not ready for PGA. Will not play in the '15/'16 season and will continue to rehab and work hard to then assess when he starts play for the '16/'17 season," Steinberg was quoted as saying by USA Today.

Woods, who is still chasing Jack Niclaus' record of 18-major wins, last won a major at the 2008 US Open. He failed to win a single event in 2014 and 2015 which has seen him drop out of the top 500 rankings for the first time since 1996.