For the first time since 1994, all four major championships will be played in a single season without Tiger Woods.

Woods withdrew from the 2016 PGA Championship on Tuesday and will be replaced in the field by Harold Varner III.

This is no surprise if you've been paying attention. Tiger was not going to play the final major of the year after skipping the first three. Now, he's going to miss the entire season which will also be a first for him as a pro.


Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, told Golf Channel that Woods will not play on the PGA Tour this season but could be back later this year.

"Continuing to make progress, but simply not ready for PGA. Will not play in the '15/'16 season and will continue to rehab and work hard to then assess when he starts play for the '16/'17 season."

So now we're likely looking ahead to the next PGA Tour season, which begins in October -- and we're likely looking beyond that.

I think it's been his plan for quite a while to ease into 2017, possibly returning at Riviera in an event his foundation will help host.

That doesn't make it any easier to swallow the fact that we went Tiger-less at majors for the first time in over two decades. Tournaments, especially big ones, are always better when he plays and specifically when he plays well. Unfortunately, Woods' back would not cooperate in 2016.

It's been nearly a year now since he had a second surgery on his back.

"He committed, thinking it was going to be a regular checkup," Steinberg told ESPN.com last September. "Obviously, that area where he had the microdiscectomy had to be treated again. And it leads us to where we are now."

Woods had a follow-up procedure in October and hasn't played since the Wyndham Championship last August. He missed the cut at last year's PGA Championship.