In the end, the pain won out.

For the first time in his pro career, Tiger Woods has retired from a major tournament - the final round of the 104th PGA Championship in Tulsa had to be played without the golf star.

Roughly four hours after the 15-time Major winner finished round three, Woods told promoters he will not be competing at Southern Hills Country Club on Sunday.

The pain in his right leg, which he broke several times in the serious car accident in February 2021, was probably too great.

The task had already indicated itself on Saturday directly after his weak 79 round on the difficult par 70 course in the US state of Oklahoma.

"Well, I'm sore.

I know that's a fact.

We'll do some work and see how it goes," Woods said.

He has not yet made any further statement.

Tiger Woods with worst round

In cold, wet weather, Woods struggled on the golf course in Tulsa on Saturday.

With 79 shots, he delivered the worst round he has ever played in a PGA Championship.

In the overall ranking, the long-time number one in the world was far behind with 222 strokes.

Woods made too many misses that day.

You could tell that after the long period of suffering he was not yet in full possession of his physical fitness.

After starting at the Masters in April, it was only the second PGA tournament for the 46-year-old since the accident.

The competitors suffered too.

"He's such a phenomenal player," said South Africa's Shaun Norris, who played with Woods in the third round.

"I'm so sorry he has to go through this.

But on the other hand you also see what kind of person he is, that he fights and pushes himself, even all the pain and stuff.”

On Friday, Woods still qualified for the two decisive rounds at the weekend thanks to an energetic performance (69 round).

The fact that stars like world number one Scottie Scheffler (USA), Dustin Johnson (USA), Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Adam Scott (Australia) were eliminated early after only two rounds shows how high this performance is.

The German golf pros Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka also clearly missed the cut in Tulsa.

Mito Pereira took the lead in the second major of the year ahead of the final day.

The 27-year-old Chilean had 201 shots, three shots ahead of England's Matt Fitzpatrick and USA's Will Zalatoris.