Concerning footage has emerged online which appears to show Tiger Woods ' leg buckle during practice at the PGA Championship.
The 15-time major winner was practising around the chipping green when his surgically repaired right leg seemingly gave way momentarily. The American quickly recovered from his stumble, but one could say it foreshadowed his eventual withdrawal after three rounds.
Footage of the incident was shared on social media, with Twitter user @TWlegion bluntly writing: "This was scary". Other fans weighed in on the concerning clip, with one even suggesting the pain may be too much to bare for Woods.
"As a fan I feel a retirement announcement is just days away," fan @ChrisCvitanov wrote. "I appreciate the [goat] for making so many weekends epic. It’s been one hell of a ride and you are the best to ever play the game."
"Jeeez…could you honestly delete this…just brutal to watch, Hurts my soul," user @t_acegolf8 said. While Twitter user @avakattack penned: "At first I thought he tripped on the rake. Then I went back and watched again. That was traumatizing."
However, fan @tcookiee offered a more optimistic perspective on Woods. "He shot a great round at Augusta and a 69 here," they said. "He just needs time to get it all together so he can string together a 4 day good score. This leg will heal and Tiger will win again."
Competing in just his second tournament since his horrific car crash last year, Woods endured a tough start to the major. He began brightly, hitting birdies on his first and fifth holes during the opening round.
But as he progressed deeper into the round, he appeared to be in discomfort, wincing after tee shots, and closed with successive bogeys to finish four over. On day two he produced a monumental effort to shoot a 1-under-par 69 to make the cut.
But after a poor third round, shooting nine-over par at 79, which placed him joint last at 12 over, Woods decided to call it a day. He also made five consecutive bogeys for the first time in a major since turning professional in 1996. "I just didn’t play well. I didn’t hit the ball very well and got off to not the start I needed to get off to," he said after play on Saturday.
"I thought I hit a good tee shot down the 2nd and ended up in the water. I just never really got any kind of momentum on my side. I couldn’t get off the bogey train. I didn’t do anything right. I didn’t hit many good shots. Consequently I ended up with a pretty high score."
Woods' close friend Justin Thomas ended up reigning supreme at Southern Hills on Sunday, dramatically beating Will Zalatoris in a three-hole play-off to clinch his second PGA Championship victory.
