Woods pulls out of World Challenge due to injure

Tiger Woods has withdrawn from is own golf tournament (Chevron World Challenge), a tournament he has hosted for the past nine years. The withdrawn of the world number one was due to an injuries sustained in a car accident on Friday morning have forced him to pull out of the tournament on Monday. A car crash early Friday morning left him with cuts and bruises when his SUV hit a fire hydrant and a tree early Friday outside his home in a gated Florida golf community. Woods was treated and released at a hospital after the accident, and has not been seen in public since. The $5.75m (£3.5m) tournament is not an official PGA Tour event, it features 12 of the world’s top 20 players

“I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week,” the 33-year-old said in a statement on his official website. I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I’m very sorry that I can’t be there.”

The World Challenge starts on Thursday at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. Woods also confirmed he will not participate in any further tournaments in 2009, although the next official US PGA Tour event does not take place until the new year. Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell will replace Woods in the elite 18-strong field for the event which raises money for Woods’s charitable foundation.

“We support Tiger’s decision and are confident the strong field and excellent course will provide an exciting week of competition,” said Tiger Woods Foundation President Greg McLaughlin.

Woods ended his 2009 PGA Tour campaign with six victories in 17 starts, including 14 top-10 finishes, for overall winnings of $10.5m (£6.38m) following his eight months out of the game. He also won the season-long points race for the FedExCup, plus the $10m (£6m) bonus this year.