Business is closed for Tiger Woods at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Woods is a three-time winner of the U.S. Open, and this year, is set to be played in his backyard at the Los Angeles Country Club. Woods, though, won’t be a part of the 156-player field, pushing his chance at a fourth U.S. Open trophy into 2024 at the earliest.
Woods missed the PGA Championship, and a return to the course at Los Angeles Country Club seemed to be a bit of wishful thinking as he recovers from surgery. It remains to be seen if he’ll take the course at Royal Liverpool Golf Club for the Open Championship, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath.
MORE: Everything you need to know to watch the 2023 U.S. Open
Here’s why Tiger won’t be vying for major No. 16 in L.A. this week:
Why isn’t Tiger Woods playing in the U.S. Open?
Woods, recovering from ankle surgery, has has yet to comment on his withdrawal or update fans on when he may return to the golf course. He officially withdrew from the tournament on May 22, this coming after the USGA left him off its initial player list.
Woods’ April procedure is the latest in a long line of injuries, surgeries and setbacks he’s had in the latter stages of his career, with his surgically repaired right leg a recurring source of trouble in the wake of his 2021 car crash.
Woods knows that he may be reaching the physical limitations of the limb.
“I don’t have much left in this leg,” Woods said in late 2022.
Prior to the Masters, Woods acknowledged that those physical limitations played into his recovery, with walking the most difficult part of a tournament weekend. Woods has a difficult path to walk away from the links in order to get back to it.
Missing the U.S. Open is a foreign concept but not an unfamiliar one for the three-time winner of the tournament. Woods missed the 2022 edition of the U.S. Open at The Country Club after playing in both the Masters and the PGA Championship, saying that his body needed to get stronger in order to play at the highest level.
Woods has played in 21 U.S. Open tournaments since his first in 1995, winning it three times and finishing with four more top-five finishes.
MORE: More detail on Tiger Woods’ absence from the PGA Tour
Tiger Woods injury update
Woods is still recovering from subtalar fusion surgery — essentially an ankle fusion procedure — which has kept him off the course since April, and will likely keep him out the remainder of the summer.
On the long end, recovery from an ankle fusion surgery can take up to three months, and Woods may want to slow-play his recovery to make sure he’s 100 percent — or as close to being 100 percent as possible — before he retakes the course.
If Woods takes the full timeline to return, then he’ll likely also miss the Open Championship, with the first round set to get underway on Thursday, July 20.
