Players
Players 2021: Justin Rose WDs on Thursday morning from TPC Sawgrass
Sam Greenwood
Justin Rose has withdrawn from the Players Championship.
Rose pulled out of the event prior to his 1:11 p.m. tee time at TPC Sawgrass. Though no reason was initially given for Rose’s WD, the former U.S. Open champ has been dealing with a back spasms. During Saturday’s third round at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Rose hit three balls in the water on Bay Hill’s par-4 third in route to a quintuple-bogey 9. The Englishman withdrew the following hole citing injury.
“Yeah, just kind of woke up with a sort of spasmed lower back today and tried to kind of get through it,” Rose said at the API. “My warm-up was hard work, and I just couldn’t stay down in a shot. I missed basically every golf shot left to start the day.”
Rose was not on property for most of the week at TPC Sawgrass, instead getting treatment for his back in hopes of playing. The former World No. 1 entered the week outside the FedEx Cup top 150 and has posted just two top-10 finishes since the beginning of 2020.
United States Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker will take Rose’s place in the field.