Former world No 1 Tiger Woods will not compete in next week's Masters after failing to recover from his latest back injury.
Woods said earlier this month he was ''trying everything'' to be fit for the first major of 2017 and was included on a pre-tournament interview schedule released by tournament organisers on Thursday.
However, the 41-year-old said on Friday evening he would not be fit to mark the 20th anniversary of his first major title by competing at Augusta National and still had no timetable for his return.
"Unfortunately, I won't be competing in this year's Masters," Woods said in a statement on his website. "I did about everything I could to play, but my back rehabilitation didn't allow me the time to get tournament ready.
"I'm especially upset because it's a special anniversary for me that's filled with a lot of great memories. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I won my first green jacket.
"I have no timetable for my return, but I will continue my diligent effort to recover and want to get back out there as soon as possible.
"I'd like to pass along my regrets to (Augusta chairman) Billy Payne, the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons, that I won't be there. I will be at the Champions Dinner and I look forward to seeing a lot of old friends.
"Augusta National has been a very important place to me and my family for over 20 years, and while I'm disappointed, it will be good to be back there Tuesday."
Woods has not played competitively since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic at the start of February due to back spasms.
The 14-time major winner insisted he had not been in pain after an opening 77 at Emirates Golf Club, but pulled out of what was just his third event since August 2015 before the second round.
His agent Mark Steinberg said at the time Woods was pleased it was a spasm, rather than the nerve pain caused by a back injury which required three operations in the space of 19 months.
However, a week later Woods also pulled out of the Genesis Open and Honda Classic and then cancelled his scheduled press conference at the former event, which benefits his foundation.
Woods, who won the last of his major titles in 2008, has now missed the Masters three times in the last four years.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here