Tiger Woods withdraws at Torrey Pines as Nicholas Thompson leads on fog-affected first day

Tiger Woods limped out of the US PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines after 11 holes on Thursday as back trouble left him well off the pace set by Nicholas Thompson.

Thompson fired an eight-under par 64 for the clubhouse lead in the fog-disrupted round, which was halted by darkness with 42 players still on the course.

By the time play was halted, 14-time major champion Woods was long gone.

The 39-year-old superstar could be seen grimacing and rubbing his back during the round and was two-over for the day when he spoke to his playing partners on the Torrey Pines North Course and walked gingerly away, eventually being taken off in a golf cart.

In a brief word with reporters, 39-year-old Woods said his lower back got tight during one of two fog delays that held up play for a total of more than two hours on Thursday morning.

“I just never loosened back up again,” he said in a brief interview in the parking lot. “And when we went back out it just got progressively worse.”

Woods’ early departure follows his career-worst 82 in the second round last week at Phoenix, where he missed the cut by 12 strokes.

Woods, chasing the record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, said in Arizona that he was not injured and just needed more tournament work to try to recover his lost form.

He was no doubt hoping to get that at Torrey Pines, where his eight titles include his most recent major triumph, at the 2008 US Open.