Tiger Drops The WD Bomb On Bay Hill; Can Phil Pick Up The Slack?

No one keeps a secret better than Tiger Woods.

And apparently he’s had one for a few weeks now.

Woods dropped a major bomb on the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday — as in the WD bomb — withdrawal.

Yes, Tiger’s out, and he’s got an ailment.

El Tigre took to his Twitter account and dropped this gem:

“Unfortunately due to a neck strain that I’ve had for a few weeks, I’m forced to withdraw from the API.  I’ve been receiving treatment, but it hasn’t improved enough to play. My lower back is fine, and I have no long-term concerns, and I hope to be ready for THE PLAYERS.  I’d like to send my regrets to the Palmer family and the Orlando fans. Its connection to Arnold makes it one of my favorite tournaments and I’m disappointed to miss it.”

So Tiger’s had a neck strain?

For a “few weeks?”

What the hell?

Typically a “few” means more than two, which would be a “couple of” which means that Woods had this neck strain when he played at The Genesis and the WGC-Mexico.

During those two events, Woods didn’t show any signs of physical discomfort.  In L.A., it was cold and rainy and perhaps things started to go wrong there.  He still managed to tie for 15th, despite really poor putting.

Down in Mexico, the temps were warm, perfect, nice weather.  No sign of a bad neck there.  Eldrick managed a top 10, again with a putter that didn’t cooperate.

Which leads us to wonder a bit further about this neck ailment.

The neck bone’s connected to the spine bone, or so the song tells us.  Tiger tells us that his spine is fine.  But this neck thing, typically with some proper treatment, that might be resolved without a lot of hub-bub and Tiger’s had more than a week a home to get treatment.

So basically Tiger’s telling us he’s probably skipping this week as a precaution, most likely.

Tiger and Phil have been in the same field only twice this season — L.A. and Mexico.  Phil’s entry into Bay Hill came as a surprise, he hasn’t been in Orlando since 2013.

So now everyone’s bummed.  Tiger became the Yin to Arnold Palmer’s Yang — winning Arnie’s tournament a whopping eight times — 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.  The Tiger and Arnie show at the trophy presentation became common place.

Arnold’s gone but his fingerprints are all over Bay Hill and remain there to this day.

The loss of Woods is a major bummer.  Now Mickelson will have to pick up the slack along with some other big names.

Rory McIlroy is the defending champion and hasn’t won since this time last year.  Time for Rory to step up.

The world’s No. 1,  Justin Rose, has been missing in action but he’s back to play this week.

Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler were waiting eagerly for a playoff last Sunday at the Honda Classic, but Keith Mitchell had the final say when he holed that clutch 15 1/2-footer for birdie on the 72nd green to put an end to the playoff anticipation.

So the week starts with a huge bummer.

Hopefully things will get better by Sunday.