Tiger Woods To Miss Arnold Palmer Invitational

By ESPN

For the fourth straight year, Tiger Woods will miss the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament he has won eight times.

Woods announced via Twitter and his website on Thursday night that he would be skipping next week's event due to the lingering back issues that have sidelined him since he withdrew from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 3.

"Unfortunately, due to ongoing rest and rehabilitation on my back, I won't be able to play in this year's Arnold Palmer Invitational," Woods said. "I'm especially disappointed because I wanted to be at Bay Hill to help honor Arnold. This is one event I didn't want to skip."

This will be the first tournament at Bay Hill since Palmer's death at age 87 in September. The tournament began in 1979.

"Presently, I have no timetable for my return to golf, but my treatments are continuing and going well," Woods, 41, said.

Earlier this week at the Valspar Championship, Woods' friend and the captain of this year's Presidents Cup team, Steve Stricker, was not confident when discussing the 14-time major winner's situation.

"He's working hard at it," Stricker said Tuesday. "But I don't think he's doing that well physically."

Stricker said he had texted with Woods and received tidbits of information from Woods' friends and his agent, Mark Steinberg. And Stricker watched the Dubai Desert Classic, where Woods last played, and didn't like what he saw.

"Just the way he was walking didn't look quite right," Stricker said. "Walking very gingerly. Slow and methodical. It didn't really look physically like he was ready to play. You have that and then that goes into your game and it affects you mentally, too.

"It's the chicken and the egg thing. What does he have to get right first? Obviously he has to get his body right first before he can compete. Then it's going to take some time for him to come back believing in his swing and trusting his ability again."