Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club next month as he continues to recover from recent surgery, the USGA announced Monday. The 47-year-old, who missed last week’s PGA Championship, last competed at the Masters in April but withdrew before the resumption of the weather-delayed third round after reaggravating his plantar fasciitis – a tissue inflammation that causes pain in the heel. Following his Master's withdrawal, Woods underwent a “subtalar fusion procedure” to treat post-traumatic arthritis in his ankle. The injury stemmed from severe leg injuries he suffered in a car crash in 2021.
Videos circulating on social media during the event showed Woods struggling to walk. “I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis,” Woods said in a tweet at the time. “Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”
Woods has not played at the US Open, scheduled to begin June 12, since 2019. It remains unclear whether he will play in the fourth and final major of the year, the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in England in July. The three-time US Open champion recently made headlines off the course after being accused of sexual harassment by his ex-girlfriend Erica Herman, according to a court filing by her attorney in Florida. Woods was accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with Herman while she worked for him and then forcing her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or she’d be fired from her job, according to the document.
Lawyers for Herman were challenging the validity of the agreement because of allegations of sexual harassment against Woods. However, a Florida judge blocked an attempt to nullify the NDA that would require her to arbitrate complaints she filed against the golfer and businessman, writing her claims that the NDA was invalid and unenforceable were “implausibly pled.”
