Injury setback for Woods as Masters looms

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship on the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort And Spa on March 11, 2012 in Miami, Florida. Scott Halleran/Getty Images/AFP

MIAMI – Tiger Woods pulled out of the fourth round of the Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday with an unspecified left leg injury, a worrying setback less than a month before the Masters.

Former world number one Woods, who could be seen limping during the round, left the course after 11 holes, was taken by a golf cart straight to the players’ parking lot and drove himself away.

The US PGA Tour said Woods told a tournament press officer only that he had a left leg injury.

NBC television reported that the player said through a spokesman that he felt “tightness” in his left Achilles tendon when he was warming up on Sunday and it worsened through the round.

According to the network, Woods said that in the past he might have tried to play on, but this time opted not to take any chances.

Woods, a 14-time major champion, hasn’t won an official event on any tour since the Australian Masters on Nov. 15, 2009.

Shortly after that he was embroiled in a sex scandal that eventually ended his marriage.

His return to top form since then has been hindered by injury, including left knee and Achilles tendon injuries that he suffered at last year’s Masters.

They kept him out of last year’s US and British Opens, but he seemed to be on the upswing with a victory in the unofficial Chevron World Challenge in December, and he carded an impressive 62 in the final round of the Honda Classic last week.

Woods had said his left knee has been as strong as it’s been in years.

He has had four surgeries on his left knee, including reconstructive surgery in June 2008 to repair ligaments a week after he won the US Open at Torrey Pines.

That victory was his last major title.

Woods is scheduled to play in a fortnight at Bay Hill, which was to be his final tuneup for the Masters, the first major of the year at Augusta National from April 5-8.

The elite WGC event at Doral was Woods’s third straight tournament, although he had a relatively short week at the WGC Match Play Championships with a second-round exit.

Asked after the third round here how his body was holding up, Woods answered “It feels great”.

A hobbled Woods changed his shoes at the turn. His limp appeared to worsen after his second shot from the rough at the par-five 10th, which he bogeyed. After a par at 11 he departed.

It marked the third time in three years that Woods has pulled out in the middle of a tournament, most recently at the Players Championship last May. After that he took a break of several months to let his left leg heal.