Tiger Woods To Take Break From Golf

Tiger Woods announced Wednesday, that he will leave professional golf and not return until his golf game is up to par (no pun intended).

Tiger Woods shot a career low 82 in Phoenix last week, missing the cut for the Phoenix Open by 12 shots. He also withdrew from Torrey Pines on Feb.5, because of tightness in his back.

He will return when he feels his golf game is up to PGA Tour standards.

Tiger's world ranking is 62, his lowest since he went pro in 1996.

On Wednesday Tiger Woods posted a statement on his website:

The last two weeks have been very disappointing to me, especially Torrey, because I never want to withdraw. Unfortunately, lately injuries have made that happen too often.

This latest injury is not related to my previous surgery. I am having daily physical therapy and I am feeling better every day.

Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me. My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I've said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back. Next week I will practice at Medalist and at home getting ready for the rest of the year. I am committed to getting back to the pinnacle of my game. I'd like to play The Honda Classic -- it's a tournament in my hometown and it's important to me -- but I won't be there unless my game is tournament-ready. That's not fair to anyone. I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon.

I want to thank the fans in Phoenix and San Diego. They were amazing. I greatly appreciate everyone's support.