Tiger Woods officially withdraws from 2023 U.S. Open

Golf fans will have to watch another major without Tiger Woods in the field. The USGA announced on Monday that the three-time winner of the tournament has officially withdrawn from competition.

The move does not come as a surprise, as Woods recently underwent ankle surgery. His recovery is expected to take months. The 15-time major winner also missed last weekend’s PGA Championship.

Woods competed in The Masters, making the weekend cut. However, the PGA Tour superstar withdrew from that event before completing his third round because of injury.

But, even facing significant injury, Woods still managed to make history at Augusta National back in April. By making the cut, he reached the weekend for a 23rd consecutive time, tying Fred Couples and Gary Player for most at The Masters.

Even later in his career, Woods is managing to set impressive marks.

Woods claimed wins in the U.S. Open in 2000 (Pebble Beach), 2002 (Bethpage Black) and 2008 (Torrey Pines). Woods also withdrew from last year’s U.S. Open at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

This year’s U.S. Open is scheduled for June 15-18 and takes place at the Los Angeles Country Club. Matt Fitzpatrick was last year’s winner, claiming his first major championship.

Tiger Woods offered Rory McIlroy tip before PGA Championship

It’s no secret that, over the years, Woods and Rory McIlroy have become good friends on the PGA Tour. And though Woods was sitting at home while McIlroy prepared for the weekend at Oak Hill Country Club for the PGA Championship, the 15-time major winner still tried to lend a helping hand.

Prior to last weekend’s tournament, McIlroy revealed that Woods sent him a text regarding a glitch in his swing. Per Golf Digest, McIlroy visited Woods to work on the issue. What exactly was the concern? It’s not clear, though speculation is that it had to do with alignment.

“Club face was getting a bit too open on the way back,” McIlroy said. “[I’ve been working on] keeping a little bit more strength in the club face, feel a little bit more squareness throughout the swing.”

McIlroy usually gets great praise for his beautiful swing on the golf course. But, if there’s an issue, who better to help fix it than Woods?

It seemed to help during the PGA Championship, too. McIlroy carded a -2 for the tournament, finishing in a tie for seventh with Sepp Straka. He ended the tournament seven shots back of winner Brooks Koepka (-9).

We’ll see if those adjustments help McIlroy in the U.S. Open next month.