Tiger Woods Confirms He'll Miss US Open

Three-time US Open champion Tiger Woods has released a statment on his website confirming that he will not be "physically ready" to play in next week's major at Oakmont

Tiger Woods Confirms He'll Miss US Open

Former world number one Tiger Woods has released a statment on his website that says he will not be "physically ready" to play in next week's US Open at Oakmont.

The 40-year-old has had three operations to fix back problems over the last two years, and last played a tournament in August 2015.

The American had given fans hope he'd tee it up at Oakmont after hitting balls at his recent course opening, but it wasn't to be.

So the 14-time major winner will now miss both the US Open and the Quicken Loans National at Congressional.

In his website statement, Woods said: "While I continue to work hard on getting healthy, I am not physically ready to play in this year's U.S. Open and the Quicken Loans National. I am making progress, but I'm not yet ready for tournament competition.

"I want to thank everyone for their continued support. The positive texts, emails and calls I have received have been incredible. I want to wish Mike Davis, Diana Murphy, the USGA, the players and everyone at Oakmont a very successful week.

"I will be hosting and attending my foundation's tournament, the Quicken Loans National, at Congressional. It's the 10th year of our tournament, and we continue to support the community, the military and the programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation."

One man who will be travelling to Oakmont is Luke Donald, who made his way through a six-man playoff for five spots on Tuesday morning.

The Englishman later revealed in an Instagram post (above) that he had a lucky incident to thank, after a stray shot hit a spectator on the hand and finished up in a position that allowed him to get up-and-down for birdie and make the playoff.