A Shamal wind whipping up in the UAE led to a suspension of play in the second round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic yesterday but it was an ill wind that brought more misery to Tiger Woods.

His comeback continues to be riddled with setbacks. And it’s that fragile back that remains the problem as his visible decline was once again played out in public. Struggling for form, and clearly hindered both physically and mentally, Woods’s torment showed no sign of easing. After opening with a toiling 77 which raised more suspicions of continued aches and pains, the former world No 1 withdrew before his second round after complaining of back spasms.

In his first 322 starts as a professional, Woods withdrew from just five events. In his last 19 starts, he has withdrawn four times. He is due to play in two more events in February but, after mapping out a rigorous schedule of four tournaments in five weeks as he looked to accelerate his comeback, the only certainty about Woods now is the complete uncertainty. It’s an all too depressingly familiar scene.

"He can't get the spasm to calm down," said his agent, Mark Steinberg. "I'm certainly no doctor but they come and go. The fact, though, that he feels it's not the nerve pain, that's very encouraging for him.”

Record crowds had turned up to watch Woods and the general sense of dismay surrounding the event was heightened later in the day when play was halted in the strong gusts which uprooted trees and ripped the roofs off TV towers. The decision to suspend play caused much harrumphing among certain players in the late-early side of the draw. Those players who had battled what they felt were similar conditions on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning were deeply unimpressed by the move, with far better weather forecast for the resumption of play this morning.

"Suspending play now is ridiculous, half the field played 36 holes in these conditions,” bleated the former Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, on his social media site.

Martin Kaymer and Rafa Cabrera Bello had set the early clubhouse target after defying the conditions to card second rounds of 69 and reach four-under-par, with South Africa's George Coetzee leading on nine-under after eight holes when the sirens sounded.

“It was very unsafe and it was unplayable,” said Mike Stewart, the tournament director, who remains confident of making up for lost time today. “So we brought the players off the golf course in the interests of play and safety to the spectators, as well.”