Golf - Injured Tiger Woods believes best years are ahead of him

One time undisputed Golf champion Tiger Woods has confirmed his absence from the Open Championship at Sandwich citing his injured left leg as the reason.

Woods confirmed his withdrawal from the tournament through a statement on his website, saying Unfortunately, I've been advised that I should not play in the British Open.

The former world number one has had recurring injury problems since his triumph at the US Open in 2008 and this latest injury is a further blow in his attempt to bring back the glory days.

Recently, he also fell to 17^th in the world rankings - a serious blow for a holder of 14 major titles.

However, Woods remains optimistic and believes his best days are yet to come.

I think my best years are still ahead of me and I'm very confident and optimistic about the future. He said. I am only going to come back when I'm 100% ready. I do not want to risk further injury.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have competed at the Players, but it's a big event and I wanted to be there to support the tour. I've got to learn from what I did there and do it right this time and not come back until I'm ready.

The chief executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club - the organizers of the Open Championship - Peter Dawson said, I know how disappointed Tiger is not to be able to play in the Open this year.

Naturally, we are sorry that a player of his calibre isn't able to join us at Royal St George's, but we wish him well in his recovery and hope to see him back soon, competing in front of the fans that love to see him play the game.