Less than a week after leaving the course at the Bridgestone Invitational during the final round, Tiger Woods reportedly arrived at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday.
But shortly after news of Woods’ “arrival” broke, GolfChannel.com’s Jason Sobel tried to put the news back together, reporting that he was scheduled to play a practice round Wednesday afternoon but that the 14-time major champion had not yet arrived at Valhalla.
The sequence of the breaking and unbreaking of the news:
BREAKING: Four-time PGA champion Tiger Woods has arrived at Valhalla Golf Club for the 96th PGA Championship.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
Tiger Woods will play 2 p.m. practice round today. First time at Valhalla since beating Bob May back in 2000.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
Best guess: Tiger got a cortisone shot and isn't feeling any pain. If there's no pain, why wouldn't he play? His next big event is in April.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
Whoa. Just spoke with a PGA official. “We cannot confirm that Tiger is here. We were a bit preemptive in releasing that news.”
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
That doesn't mean Tiger isn't coming to the course. Just means they might have jumped the gun in announcing that he is on property already.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
Semantics, people. Tiger Woods is in the Louisville area, but not yet at Valhalla. Expected to arrive shortly.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 6, 2014
So now that we have all that straight.
Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava, came to Valhalla to prepare for his boss to play in the season’s final major.
"“I’m optimistic,” LaCava told CBSSports.com Tuesday. “I’m hoping he plays. So I’m just doing whatever work I would normally do.”"
Woods withdrew from the Bridgestone Invitational after nine holes Sunday with back pain. Woods had microdiscectomy surgery for a pinched nerve in his back on March 31 and has played three times since returning in late June.
He missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National, finished 69th at The Open Championship last month with a 6-over par 294 and withdrew from the Bridgestone last weekend.
Woods hasn’t won an event in more than a year now. He was the defending champion at the Bridgestone Invitational after shooting a 15-under par 265 in 2013.
But his major championship count has been stuck on 14 for more than six years, since he won the 2008 U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate.
Woods skipped the Masters and U.S. Open this year while recovering from back surgery.
In majors last year, Woods was tied for 40th at the PGA Championship, tied for sixth at The Open Championship, tied for 32nd at the U.S. Open and tied for fourth at the Masters.
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