J.B. Holmes, Andrew Putnam withdraw

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Andrew Putnam and J.B. Holmes both withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship on Thursday citing back injuries.

Putnam, 34, played 15 holes at Quail Hollow Club in the first round before calling it a day. He made a double bogey at 18 and four consecutive bogeys starting at the third hole, dropping to 7 over before deciding he was in too much pain.

Putnam was ranked 33^rd in the FedEx Cup standings heading into this week. He has made 15 cuts in 20 starts this season, including a T-2 at the Zozo Championship and a T-4 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Holmes, 41, withdrew from the tournament prior to the start of the round. He was replaced in the field by Austin Cook.

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Holmes won at Quail Hollow in 2014. But he missed nearly all of the 2021-22 Tour season due to surgery, making just one start at the 2021 Fortinet Championship. Holmes returned at the Farmers Insurance Open in February and has made just two cuts in eights starts. According to his agent Terry Reilly, Holmes’s injury wasn’t related to his previous back trouble and he didn’t want to waste one of his remaining starts on his major medical extension if he wasn’t feeling 100 percent.

Holmes’s tales of woe is long as he’s endured the following injuries during his career: brain surgery, ankle surgery from a rollerblading accident, tennis elbow, vertigo and more recently back issues.