Soul-searching Tiger Woods calls off his comeback over concerns about his 'vulnerable' game

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Have we ever seen a more shocking example of sporting stage fright? 

On the eve of his comeback after 14 months away from the game, Tiger Woods withdrew on Monday night from his scheduled return at the Safeway Open in California on Thursday.

‘My health is good and I feel strong but my game is vulnerable and not where it needs to be,’ said Woods, who added that watching the world’s finest players at the Ryder Cup had convinced him he was not ready.

Tiger Woods has withdrawn from his planned comeback at the Safeway Open

Yet he committed to play at the Safeway event last Friday, fully five days after the Ryder Cup ended. How could he think his game fine then and so vulnerable only three days later, if not for a last-minute attack of nerves?

‘After a lot of soul-searching and honest reflection, I know that I am not ready to play on the PGA Tour,’ explained Tiger, who also announced that he will not compete as planned in the Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour next month.

Just last week, Swede Jesper Parnevik reported that Tiger was ‘flushing it’ on the range at the Medalist club in Florida where both are members and predicted a ‘spectacular’ return.

The 14-time major winner admits his game is 'vulnerable' and he is 'not ready'

Now his comeback has been flushed away, to a date unknown, with the only certainty being that it will be more than 450 days since his last tournament before he does play again.

The only possibility before the end of the year — he will turn 41 on December 30 — is the Hero Challenge in the Bahamas earlier that month, an event with a small field that he hosts and where there is no halfway cut.

The stunning development on Monday night was revealed by American reporter Tim Rosaforte on the Golf Channel in the United States. ‘I’m told that it is performance-related, not health-related, but it still comes as a shock,’ said Rosaforte.

The former world No 1 has not won an event since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2013 (above)

‘It’s interesting because he has been practising these last few days at his old college, Stanford, where the golf coach Conrad Ray said Tiger was ready to go. Now this news will come as a severe disappointment to the PGA Tour and the organisers of the Safeway Open.’

Actually it will come as a severe disappointment to practically everyone who follows the game worldwide.

Woods has not been seen in action since August 2015 but has been patiently building to a full recovery after three serious back surgeries in 20 months.

Woods' hopes of equalling Jack Nicklaus' haul of 18 majors is fading with every year

He was a visible presence at the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine 10 days ago when he was an assistant captain and spoke of how the event stirred his competitive juices. Last Friday came the news we had all been hoping for, the only news that could possibly fill the huge void that always opens up in golf after a Ryder Cup.

What a return it was shaping up to be. Instead of an underwhelming appearance alongside three corporate suits at the pro-am on Tuesday, Woods was going to play with basketball’s MVP (Most Valuable Player) Steph Curry, who would draw almost as big a crowd as Tiger.

Over the first two rounds Woods was going to play with Phil Mickelson, once his bitter rival but now apparently a close friend. Now those Safeway plans, which had seen ticket sales for the event double, have been shelved. ‘You’ve got to break the ice some time,’ said tournament host Johnny Miller, somewhat plaintively.

When Woods will now break the ice is anyone’s guess. Close friend Notah Begay — another who works at the Golf Channel — said he believed Woods ‘had some concerns about the sharpness of his game on Monday and he hadn’t had time to get the reps in.’

So he had no concerns on Friday when he committed to the event but plenty on Monday? Yep, stage fright will do that.

‘This isn’t what I wanted to happen, but I will continue to strive to be able to play tournament golf,’ added Woods. ‘I’m close and I won’t stop until I get there.’

So the Safeway event staged in the beautiful Napa Valley wine region will go ahead without the golfer from the finest vintage.

While we didn’t dare hope he’d improved with age, neither did we think he would prove to be corked.

Olazabal tees up after hitting rock bottom with arthritis 

There is still at least one celebrated golfer who is making his return this week following 18 months out through injury.

At the British Masters being staged at the Grove, near Watford, Jose Maria Olazabal will play his first event for 18 months after a horrendous recurrence of his long-standing problems with arthritis.

The Spaniard could barely walk last winter but is hopeful he is well enough to resume a limited schedule.

Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal will take part in the British Masters at The Grove this week

‘I hit rock bottom last December but it’s been improving slowly,’ said Olazabal, who turned 50 in February. ‘I’m excited to be playing again although I’ve been out for so long I might need to introduce myself on the driving range. My opening line might be, “Hello, I am Jose Maria, nice to meet you”.’

This is the second edition of the relaunched British Masters with former world No 1 Luke Donald taking over from Ian Poulter as host. The event has been somewhat unlucky with Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose pulling out through injury and no winning Ryder Cup team to welcome home, for once.

Olazabal has not played competitive golf since the second round at Augusta National last year

But the wonderful crop of young English players who have been introducing themselves to sports fans with their victories over the last year or so are all competing, including 22-year-old defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick and the winner of the Masters in Augusta, Danny Willett.

There’s Tyrrell Hatton, the latest Englishman to win on tour; the Beef (Andrew Johnston), fresh from gracing the front cover of American magazine Golf Digest; BMW PGA champion Chris Wood, and Andy Sullivan.

The event is being supported by Sky Sports, who gave away 20,000 tickets for the first round, thus ensuring a cracking atmosphere from the start on Thursday. The fun begins on Tuesday evening with a challenge match played under floodlights which will be live on Sky Sports 4 from 7.30pm.