PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — In a dramatic case of premature withdrawal, Tiger Woods pulled out of the Players Championship in the middle of his final round yesterday with a neck injury.
Woods, who was playing in only his third tournament since returning from his self-imposed sex scandal exile that lasted nearly five months, said afterward that he fears it’s a bulging disk in his upper back.
Though this is pure speculation, if the injury requires surgery, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Woods could miss a significant amount of time, perhaps even the rest of the season.
VIDEO: WOODS DESCRIBES NECK INJURY
VIDEO: TIGER WITHDRAWS FROM PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
“I’ve been playing with a bad neck for about a month,” Woods said.
Woods’ withdrawal took place two hours before the leaders were scheduled to tee off to decide the Players Championship.
After beginning the day 10 shots off the lead in a tie for 45th place, Woods was 2-over par on his first six holes yesterday.
Woods hit his tee shot well to the right on the seventh hole and immediately called for a tournament official.
He hit his second shot and looked uncomfortable and then walked to the middle of the fairway to shake hands with playing partner Jason Bohn before being whisked away on a golf cart.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Bohn said. “But once I shook his hand I could tell he was in some pain. He just said, ‘I’m done.’ You could tell when he was leaving he was in pain.”
Woods was driven to the PGA Tour fitness trailer on the grounds and spent 37 minutes inside while more than 100 media members gathered outside.
When he emerged, Woods walked gingerly down the steps and got into the back seat of a black SUV and was driven off the grounds while cameras furiously snapped.
There were more than a dozen TV cameras outside that fitness trailer and more than two dozen still photographers.
“I’ve been playing with a bad neck for about a month,” Woods said. “I’ve been playing through it. I can’t play through it any more.”
He said he first felt the injury before the Masters and plans to have an MRI next week.
“I might have a bulging disk,” he said.
Asked what caused it, he said, “I don’t know. I know playing doesn’t help it. I’m having a hard time with the pain. There’s tingling down my fingers.”
This is the first time Woods has withdrawn from a tournament since the Nissan Open at Riviera in 2006, when he barely made the cut and withdrew from the final two rounds because of the flu.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 as a 19-year-old amateur because of a wrist injury from hitting out of the fescue grass.
Woods missed eight months in 2008 after undergoing knee surgery.