Woods pulls out of Ryder Cup consideration

Tiger Woods has removed himself from consideration for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s pick because of back problems.

Woods posted a statement on his website Wednesday, saying: “I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed. They’ve advised me not to play or practice now.”

Woods’ season ended last week when he missed the cut by five shots in the PGA Championship, his fourth event since having surgery to alleviate pain from a pinched nerve.

The week before the PGA, he withdrew from the Bridgestone Invitational in the final round because of back pain that he said was unrelated to the microdiscectomy surgery in March.

U.S. captain Tom Watson has three picks for the Sept. 26-28 matches against Europe at Gleneagles in Scotland. The PGA Championship completed the points race for the nine automatic spots.