Faldo withdraws from Masters due to injury
By Dave Shedloski | PGATOUR.COM Senior Correspondent
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Three-time champion Nick Faldo withdrew from the 69th Masters Tournament after eight holes Thursday when a lower back problem flared up.
Faldo, 47, said that he aggravated the injury hitting his third shot, a short pitch, on the par-5 second hole. He said he's been battling the problem for about 18 months.
"It's just gone tight and I can't make a backswing or a follow through, so I think I'm in trouble," the Englishman said. "It's funny, I can hit a bag of drivers, but with a shorter shot with a wedge, it does something to me. It just bites me."
Faldo, who has homes in Old Windsor, England, and Orlando, Fla., has played sparingly this year as he devotes significant time to his new role as a golf analyst for ABC Sports. He has competed in five tournaments, including three on the PGA TOUR. He tied for 27th two weeks ago at THE PLAYERS Championship, shooting even-par 288 in trying conditions.
"It's been an ongoing thing, but I didn't expect this," said Faldo, who is one of three men to win consecutive Masters titles and captured the last of his Green Jackets in 1996. "I warmed up fine, but it got me and it's been worse and worse so I can't stand on the up slopes and down slopes -- this place of all places."
Since his '96 triumph, when he rallied past Greg Norman, Faldo has made the cut at Augusta National just three times.
He joked that he might "hang upside down like a fruit bat," to try and stretch it out. In the meantime, his immediate plans were much less strenuous.
"Peach cobbler time," he said. "That's what you come to Georgia for, isn't it?"
