Tiger Woods taking a break, won’t play again until ‘I’m ready’

Leave of absence. Break. It’s semantics. The bottom line is Tiger Woods said Wednesday he won’t play tournament golf until he’s ready – and that he could be ready in two weeks … or not.

On his website, Woods explained he’s fighting two battles that will keep him from playing tournament golf until both are won.

Woods said he is having daily physical therapy to treat the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open after 11 holes in Round 1. He also said his game isn’t in tournament shape and won’t play again until it is.

“Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me,” Woods wrote on his website. “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.”

Woods didn’t rule out his next originally scheduled start at the Honda Classic (Feb. 26), but he sounded doubtful at best for the start of the PGA Tour’s Florida Swing.

“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,” Woods wrote. “That’s not fair to anyone. I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon.”

The soonest Woods could play next after Honda would be the Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 19), which will round out the Florida run. From the tone of Woods’ writing, however, it seems he might wait much longer to return.

Less than a year ago, Woods was ranked No. 1 in the world, but his ranking has plummeted since. After his withdrawal from the Farmers, he now stands at 62^nd in the world, the lowest since October of 1996, when he ranked 75^th.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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