Neck injury causes Tiger to withdraw

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP)

Dressed in his Sunday red shirt, Tiger Woods bowed his head and sat in silence in front of his locker.

He was supposed to be on the ninth hole at The Players Championship. In another stunning twist for someone whose life used to be so predictable, Woods withdrew suddenly with neck pain that he fears might be a bulging disk.

Woods was so frustrated that he slammed his golf shoe to the floor while taking questions from three reporters.

``I've been playing through it,'' Woods said of pain he first felt before the Masters. ``I can't play through it anymore.''

Woods said did not know what caused the injury, only that ``playing doesn't help it.'' He took 10 questions before going into a physical therapy trailer for 37 minutes and leaving the TPC Sawgrass.

The only time he has ever mentioned his neck was during his news conference last month at the Masters.

Woods was taken to the hospital Nov. 27 after driving his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree, the infamous accident that set off shocking revelations of extramarital affairs that led to his five-month break from golf.

Asked at Augusta what injuries had sent him to the hospital, Woods said, ``I had a busted-up lip and a pretty sore neck, and that was it.''

He didn't mention the pain when he missed the cut last week for the sixth time in his career at Quail Hollow. But it became obvious something was wrong Sunday on the par-4 seventh hole at Sawgrass.

After hitting his tee shot well right, Woods called for an official. He hit his second shot and grimaced, then walked to the middle of the fairway, shook hands with playing partner Jason Bohn and left in a golf cart. Fans gave him a warm ovation, with one man shouting, ``Hurry back, Tiger.''

He said he plans to have an MRI next week. He said he was having a hard time with the pain, and that there was a tingling sensation on his right side down to his fingers. As he was driven from the golf course, Woods continually squeezed his right hand and released his fingers.

``I might have a bulging disk,'' he said.

Nearly a hundred reporters and photographers waited outside the physical therapy trailer for Woods, who was whisked away in a black SUV without taking more questions.

It is the first time he has withdrawn from a tournament since the Nissan Open at Riviera in 2006, when he narrowly made the cut and withdrew from the final two rounds because of the flu. He also withdrew from the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills has a 19-year-old amateur because of a wrist injury from hitting out of deep rough.

Woods started the final round 10 shots out of the lead and was 2-over par through six holes. He struggled on just about every hole, finding a bunker off the first tee, coming up short on several approach shots and pushing several tee shots right.

He said pain was bothering him from the time he took the club back until he finished his swing.

``Setting up over the ball is fine, but once I start making the motion, it's downhill from there,'' he said.

It was only his third tournament back from a five-month hiatus after he was caught having extramarital affairs. Woods tied for fourth at the Masters, then missed the cut last week at Quail Hollow with the second-highest round (79) and the highest 36-hole score (153) of his PGA Tour career.

Woods at times stretched and rolled his neck between shots over the last three days, when he produced some good golf along with some shots that didn't remotely resemble the No. 1 player in the world. He popped up two tee shots with his 3-wood, and hit another one at a 45-degree angle. In relatively easy scoring conditions, Woods had rounds of 70-71-71 and was tied for 45th going into the last round.

Whether Woods keeps his No. 1 ranking now depends on Phil Mickelson, who teed off Sunday afternoon.