Amid Nelly Korda’s Dog Bite Nightmare, Top 5 Most Shocking Withdrawals Explored

Following heartbreak at the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, Nelly Korda will not be playing another week of golf. The reason? The world’s #1 golfer, shockingly, suffered a dog bite! Originally scheduled to play in the LET’s Aramco Series in London, the 25-year-old now needs full treatment and recovery to return to the greens. Korda’s reason for her exit from the championship she won last year is no doubt surprising. But she’s not alone. There have been other golfers with bizarre withdrawals! From college golfers to Tiger Woods and even older legends, here are the five most head-turning withdrawals:

A college golfer suffers a scary tee injury
The second round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championship at Greyhawk Country Club turned into a horrible morning for the collegiate golfer, Gregory Solhaug. According to Golfweek’s report, the Oregon junior was at the 11th tee, all set to hit off. Weirdly, right before his shot, the youngster stepped on a tee, and it went straight through his shoe, rupturing his leg.

Following the scary incident, Solhaug had to immediately withdraw from the championship. Even the Oregon coach, Casey Martin, shared that in nearly 50 years of his career, he has never seen an injury like that. The player’s exit forced a substitution for the Oregonians, arguably costing them the championship.

Steve Sticker withdrew and still won!
In 2023, Steve Sticker had an incredibly dominant season on the PGA Tour Champions. He won three majors and was a runner-up in the fourth. Stricker also won three other titles on the Tour. These numbers catapulted Sticker to lead the season-ending points list. He was also expected to win the last event of the season, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. However, before the event could begin, he withdrew.

Sticker cited his 86-year-old father’s declining health as the reason. His dad was admitted to a hospital in Wisconsin, and thus, the golf pro headed there to keep an eye on him. Interestingly, despite not playing in the event, Sticker still received the Charles Schwab Cup at the end! How? The points the golfer had racked up in the previous events were apparently sufficient for him to grab the win. The difference between Sticker and the runner-up on the points list was huge, to say the least, and despite him not playing in the final event, he was still the winner.

10 withdrawals haunted the 2024 Mizuho Americas Open
A series of withdrawals at the 12th LPGA Tour event earlier this year shocked the entire golf world. A staggering double figure of exits from the event sparked a great deal of intrigue as to why they occurred. Linsey Weaver Wright was the first to withdraw, doing so due to an injury. Maja Stark and Caroline Masson followed suit soon after citing an illness. On the same day, defending champion of the Mizuho Americas Open, Rose Zhang, announced an early exit from the Liberty National Course, citing illness again.

Soon after, there were six more withdrawals. The likes of A Lim Kim, Ruoning Yin Jiwon Jeon, and more drove the exit count at the Mizuho Americas Open to 10. This even led to the LPGA Tour being forced to release a statement in which they revealed that only three withdrew due to injuries, while the rest had suffered a viral infection.

Grayson Murray’s withdrawal from the Charles Schwab Challenge
Grayson Murray shot 2 under 68 on the opening day of the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge and was onto a great start at the Colonial Country Club. However, on the next day, he made four bogeys and his score fell to 5 over through 16 holes. After which, Murray withdrew from the event, citing illness.

Unfortunately, just a day later, the PGA Tour reported that Grayson Murray had passed away at the age of 30. Golfweek later reported that he died by suicide in his Palm Beach residence. When the news hit of course, all many could then think about was how he had been on the course just hours ago and abruptly withdrawn.

Tiger Woods withdrew from the Chevron World Challenge after accident
At 2:30 a.m. in 2009, authorities found Tiger Woods outside his home without any socks or shoes. Authorities found the 15-time major winner unconscious on the street, with busted lips and a few other injuries, after his Cadillac Escalade smashed into a tree near his Florida home. The police reported that at 2:25 a.m., Woods was pulling into his garage and, while doing so, crashed into a water hydrant and then a tree.

Following this, the then-33-year-old cited the injuries acquired in the accident as the reason for his withdrawal and exited the Chevron World Challenge, which had raised money for the TGR Foundation since 1999. The accident also started rumors of Woods splitting with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

Undoubtedly, in the past decades, many significant incidents have caused the pros to withdraw from an event. Of these five, which was the one that left a mark on you? Let us know in the comments below.