Tiger Woods will miss all four majors for the first time in his career after withdrawing from the 2016 PGA Championship on Tuesday.
Woods is continuing to recover from a series of back surgeries he completed last fall, his agent, Mark Steinberg, told the
The Golf Channel in an email.
"Continuing to make progress, but simply not ready for PGA. Will not play in the '15/'16 season and will continue to rehab and work hard to then assess when he starts play for the '16/'17 season," Steinberg wrote.
Woods hasn't competed since last August, when he tied for 10th in the Wyndham Championship.
Woods, 40, said in May that he didn't know whether he would return "next week or a year from now,"
CNN reported.
The 14-time major champion has aspiration of beating Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles and Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA Tour wins.
Woods hasn't won a major since 2008.
Last month Woods said he still is sore on a daily basis after his back surgeries, which he underwent to address nerve problems,
USA Today reported.
The PGA Championship will begin July 28 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
While the announcement has drawn widespread speculation that Woods' career is done for good, David Steele wrote for
Sporting News that it's too soon to count him out completely.
"In this game, 41 is young, even with a bad back," Steele wrote, noting that a golfer older than 40 has won a major six times during Tiger's run, which started in 1997.
He pointed out Phil Mickelson's British Open win last week at age 46.