Tiger Woods has pulled out of The Masters with 29 holes left to play, sparking concern that he may have played his final competitive shot at Augusta National.

The 15-time major winner scraped through to the weekend after making the cut by a single shot, but was battered by the conditions at the start of his third round and he dropped to the bottom of the leaderboard at +9.

Cameras caught him heavily limping during the final moments of Saturday before play was suspended due to the weather conditions, and Woods has now confirmed he will not return to the course on Sunday.

‘I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis,’ he revealed. ‘Thank you to the fans and to The Masters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!’

Woods’ absence on the final day of The Masters ended his streak of completing all 72 holes of every tournament he has played at Augusta National as a professional.

The 47-year-old was set for a grueling fourth day of play in which Masters organizers are set to try and complete both the third and fourth rounds, leaving Woods with 29 holes to contend with.

Tiger Woods has called it a day at The Masters after dropping to the bottom of the leaderboard

The 47-year-old struggled through seven holes of the third round before play was suspended

Woods took to Twitter on Sunday morning to reveal he had ‘reaggravated his plantar fasciitis’

Tiger Woods. Painful to watch. 😬 pic.twitter.com/kMV9WxViQo

— McNeil (@Reflog_18) April 8, 2023

Fans are now fearing they could have seen the last of him among the azaleas at Augusta, with his potential final moments coming as he limped down the seventh fairway, soaked by the rain and wind.

Just hours earlier, Woods had squeezed through to the third round – thanks in part to his good friend Justin Thomas dropping a shot – marking the 23rd straight Masters tournament that he’d played the weekend.

But it appears completing the full four rounds was too much for Woods’ body to take, with organizers confirming the news in a statement.

It read: ‘Due to injury, Tiger Woods has officially withdrawn from The Masters Tournament after completing seven holes of his third round.’

The five-time champion finished his second round in cold, driving rain on Saturday to make the cut on the number at 3 over, extending his Masters streak to 23 straight and tying Fred Couples and Gary Player for the longest in history.

The 47-year-old Woods headed back out for the start of the third round as temperatures struggled to reach 50 degrees, and it wound up being a water-logged slog.

Wearing a gray winter hat over a baseball cap, he started on the 10th hole with a bogey, added another at No. 14, and then had back-to-back double bogeys after finding the water on Nos. 15 and 16.

It was the first time Woods has ever had consecutive double bogeys at the Masters.

Fans are now fearing they may have seen the last of Woods around the fairways of Augusta

The American would go to nine over par in his third round before play was suspended

‘I’ve always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event,’ Woods said after his second round Saturday. ‘Obviously I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here. I’ve loved it.’

Woods also withdrew before the final round of last year’s PGA Championship with what his agent, Mark Steinberg, described as pain and discomfort in his right foot.

That came hours after the 15-time major champion limped to a 79 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in similarly cold and windy weather; he had shot 69 in the second round.

Woods captured his fifth green jacket in 2019 when he finished one shot ahead of Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele. It was his first major win in 11 years and, at age 43, Woods became the second-oldest player to win the Masters after Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won his sixth green jacket in 1986.

Woods was injured in 2021 when his car careened off a suburban Los Angeles road at over 85 mph, crushing his right leg so badly that he said doctors considered amputation. Asked how much hardware held it together, Woods replied: ‘A lot.’

Woods recovered and made the cut at the Masters last year before shooting back-to-back 78s on the weekend.

Woods though still battled on and attracted the support of many patrons at Augusta National

Tiger Woods has five Masters wins, his first dating back to 1997 and his most recent in 2019

Woods became just the third player in Masters history to go back to back at Augusta

The injuries have forced Woods to play a very limited schedule – the majors and a few select events. He shot two rounds in the 60s and finished tied for 45th at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February, but he skipped Bay Hill and The Players Championship so that he would be healthy and ready for a return to Augusta National.

The question now is whether Woods will play the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May. The U.S. Open is at Los Angeles Country Club in June, not far from where Woods grew up, and the British Open is at Royal Liverpool in July.

‘Yeah, mobility, it´s not where I would like it,’ Woods said. ‘I´ve said to you guys before, I´m very lucky to have this leg – it´s mine. Yes, it has been altered and there´s some hardware in there, but it´s still mine. It has been tough and will always be tough. The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same. I understand that.

‘That’s why I can’t prepare and play as many tournaments as I like, but that’s my future, and that’s OK. I’m OK with that.’