(CNN) — Tiger Woods was forced to withdraw Sunday from the final round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in Doral, Florida, after suffering an injury to his left leg, according to his website.
Woods, grimacing after hitting his tee shot on the 12th hole, left the tournament just a day after telling reporters that his injury-plagued body “feels great.”
“I felt tightness in my left Achilles (tendon) warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse,” Woods said in a statement. “After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary.”
The former world No. 1 has been working to regain his form after a slew of injuries and his highly publicized divorce saw him fall from the top of the rankings to out of the top 50 last year for the first time since 1996. He now ranks at No. 16, as of last week.
Woods, 36, took a three-month hiatus last year as he recuperated from knee and Achilles tendon injuries.
He appeared to be returning to form in recent months, finishing tied for third at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January and winning the Chevron World Challenge event he hosts in December. However, Sunday’s injury calls into question whether Woods, who hasn’t won a major tournament since November 2009, has fully recovered.
