Tiger Woods’ withdrawal puts future in question

It sure looks like we’re approaching a time when we’re not going to see Tiger Woods competing at tournaments regularly anymore … if we haven’t already arrived at that place.

Woods’ withdrawal from The Northern Trust on Friday, two hours before he was to play his second round at Liberty National in Jersey City and one day after he posted the second-worst first-round score in the 120-player field, is the latest in a series of ominous smoke signals puffing from the chimney of Woods’ cloak-and-dagger camp.

Though Woods has committed to play in Japan in October, you have to wonder if we’ve seen the last of him until he leads the American team in the Presidents Cup this December in Australia, where he’s expected to compete as a playing captain.

Other than his rousing Masters victory in April, Woods has been largely absent from the golf season. He has played in just five tournaments since Augusta, missing the cut at the PGA Championship in May, finishing a respectable ninth at the Memorial, tying for 21st at the U.S. Open and missing the cut at the British Open last month. Woods has played 13 tournament rounds since the Masters win and broken 70 only twice.

And now the news Friday at Liberty National, where Woods never looked right even before withdrawing. It was Woods’ first WD since the 2015 Farmers Insurance Open and the 10th of his career.

And when things like this happen to a 43-year-old who has had four back surgeries, it cannot help but raise questions about his future.

As drastic as it might be to wonder whether Woods is at (or has reached) the end of his competitive cycle — albeit prematurely — it has to cross your mind. Not to mention his.

“I don’t know who this Tiger Woods is that we’ve seen since he won the Masters,’’ Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said recently. “There’s something there that we can’t quite put our finger on. But he’s certainly not the guy who won the Tour Championship or the Masters the last few times we’ve seen him.’’

Woods said in the statement released by his people Friday that he remains “hopeful I can compete next week at the BMW Championship,” which is the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and precedes the Tour Championship, which Woods won last September.

But Woods, who entered this week ranked 28th in the FedEx Cup points standings, is going to drop into the 30s after this week and, with only the top 30 advancing to the Tour Championship, Woods will have work to do, even if he does play the BMW.

Woods, in the statement, said he was withdrawing “due to a mild oblique strain that led to pain and stiffness,’’ but he never mentioned the word “back.’’ He never does, because he doesn’t want to sound alarms and elicit speculation. But it’s too late. The alarms are blaring, and speculation is well underway.

This was just the latest in a series of signs as it relates to Woods and whether he’s healthy enough to compete. He hasn’t looked the same since he won the Masters.

In his Wednesday pro-am this week, Woods stopped hitting full shots on the back nine, later explaining that he did that for precautionary reasons because he was stiff.

After Thursday’s opening round, Woods said he felt “a little stiff,’’ but did not offer that as an excuse for shooting a 4-over 75, which was the second-worst score posted in the first round among the 120 players in the field.

Friday’s news fit perfectly into the narrative of Woods’ complicated history with Liberty National that includes:

Him missing a 7-foot putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff in 2009.

Him collapsing to his knees in back pain on the 13th fairway after hitting his second shot in the final round in 2013, a moment that served as the loudest sign that his back had become a serious issue.

And in 2017, when he was vice captain for the Presidents Cup team and still not fit to play, conceding to reporters that it was not out of the question that his competitive career might be finished.

And now this.

“I don’t think he likes this place,’’ Jordan Spieth said Friday.

Woods’ issues, of course, stretch well beyond his checkered history at Liberty National.

“We all saw he struggled a little bit at Portrush physically,’’ Rory McIlroy said. “We all know golf is better when Tiger is around and here.’’

No one would argue that. The question is how much longer will Woods will be “around and here?’’

“Hopefully, he can still compete a handful of times a year,’’ McIlroy said. “But he’s Tiger Woods. He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. He doesn’t need to prove anything else to himself. He can put the clubs away tomorrow and live happily ever after.’’

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