Tiger Woods Takes Break to Be With Dad

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/20/2006 at 10:00 AM EDT

Tiger Woods is taking a self-imposed break from the PGA Tour while his father, Earl, battles cancer, the world's top player announced Thursday.

Woods, in New Zealand for the wedding of his caddie Steve Williams, added that he might not play in a golf tournament before the U.S. Open in June, the Associated Press reports.

"It's kind of up in the air with the situation back home, so I don't know what's going to happen," said Woods. "I'm taking time off. I'm here for this event and for Steve, and to enjoy time off and be with my father, so I won't play for a while."

Earl, a former Green Beret, and his son have always been close – Earl taught Woods to swing when the child was only 9 months old. When Woods was 2, Earl had him on TV putting with Bob Hope on The Michael Douglas Show, where Tiger scored a hole in one.

"My father is hanging in there," said Woods, 30. "The guy is an absolute fighter and walking miracle."