Tiger Woods won’t play in the Masters for the third time in four years, announcing Friday night on his website that rehabilitation on his back didn’t allow him enough time to prepare.
‘‘I did about everything I could to play, but my back rehabilitation didn’t allow me the time to get tournament ready,’’ Woods said.
He still plans to be at Augusta National for dinner with past Masters champions on Tuesday, just like last year.
Augusta National checked on Woods’s status Thursday before sending out its news conference schedule for Masters week.
Woods did not know if he could play, so the club held his Tuesday spot just in case.
Woods missed the Masters for the first time in 2014 due to the first of what would be three surgeries on his back. He tied for 17th in 2015 after taking off two months with chipping problems.
He missed the cut in the other three majors that year, had two more back surgeries, and missed 15 months.
But an upbeat return in the Bahamas at his unofficial Hero World Challenge led Woods to sign up for four tournaments in fiveweeks.
He missed the cut at Torrey Pines, a place where he has won eight times as a pro. And after a 77 in easy conditions at Dubai in early February, he withdrew the next day, citing back spasms. Woods also cited back spasms for withdrawing from his own tournament at Riviera — he even withdrew from a press conference at the Genesis Open, which supports his foundation — and from the Honda Classic.
Woods also missed the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And now the wait continues for Woods, once golf’s dominant force, now its biggest mystery.
Woods said he was particularly disappointed because this is the 20-year anniversary of his first victory at the Masters, a record-shattering, game-changing, 12-shot win.
PGA — Sung Kang shot 9-under 63 for a six-shot lead in a record-setting second round at the Houston Open in Humble, Texas. Kang is 16-under 128, setting the 36-hole tournament record by a stroke.
His 9-under matched the 18-hole tournament course record and gave him the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history. Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley are 10-under after both shot 67.
LPGA — Suzann Pettersen finished her first round with a 4-under 68 and added a second-round 69 at the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, Calif., taking a one-shot lead over rookie Nelly Korda and five other players after two shortened days at the year’s first major.
Champions — Joe Durant shot a 6-under 66 for a one-shot lead after the first round of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Biloxi. Durant made four birdies on the back to finish just ahead of Miguel Angel Jimenez, Scott Hoch, Lee Janzen, and Jay Haas, who are tied for second after shooting 67.
