Golf: Tiger Woods suffers injury setback a month away from Masters

The former world No 1 had been limping during his final round when he abruptly called it quits and left the course after completing 11 holes. He was three-over-par for the day and seemingly out of contention to win the tournament.

Woods initially told PGA officials it was a left leg injury but later clarified the nature of his problem in a statement. “I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse. Afterhitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw,” he said.

“In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary. I will get my Achilles evaluated sometime early next week,” the statement concluded.

Woods, who had changed shoes midway through the round, was escorted from the Blue Monster course on a buggy and taken to the car park. He immediately got into his vehicle, a black Mercedes, and promptly drove off, taking the wheel himself.

The 14-times major champion suffered a left-knee injury last season which caused him to withdraw from the Players Championship in May. While it was not immediately clear how serious his latest setback was, the American has a long history of injury problems, dating back to his days at Stanford University. He has had four operations on his knee, including two in 2008, and previous problems with his Achilles.

The injury came just as Woods had been beginning to show signs of his old form. He shot a 62 in the final round of last week’s Honda Classic to finish tied for second and fired a 67 and a 68 in his second and third rounds at Doral.

On a dramatic final day in Miami, Justin Rose claimed victory by one stroke from American Bubba Watson, who had gone into the last round with a three-shot lead but lost that almost immediately after a wayward start.

Rose shot a closing 70 to finish at 16-under-par while Watson ended at 15-under after closing with a 74. After playing a brilliant second shot through trees, Watson missed a ten-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have forced a play-off. New world No 1 Rory McIlroy finished third at 14-under after signing off with a 67.

Martin Laird closed with a 71 to finish in a tie for 24th on 282, 11 shots better than compatriot Paul Lawrie after he closed with a 77. The Aberdonian took a double-bogey 6 at the third but that was a lot better than Sergio Garcia managed there in his last round. The Spaniard hit four successive shots into water and ran up an octuple-bogey 12.

The day’s dramatic events also included Paul Casey holing in one at the 15th. There was a car on display behind the tee, but after promising Scottish caddie Craig Connelly half of what it was worth they discovered that it was, bizarrely, the prize for an ace on the 13th.

• American George McNeill birdied his last three holes to win the Puerto Rico Open by two shots from Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa. McNeill was level par for the round heading to the 16th after three birdies and three bogeys, but finished in style to record a 69 and end on 16-under-par.