Tiger withdraws from final round at THE PLAYERS

Tiger Woods withdrew during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday with an injury that he fears might be a bulging disk in his upper back. .

"I've been playing with a bad neck for quite a while," Woods said. "I've been playing through it. I can't play through it anymore."

Woods' next announced start had been next month's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, a course where he won the U.S. Open by a record 15 shots in 2000. No update has been announced on his status for that event.

Woods, winner of THE PLAYERS Championship in 2001, was 2 over through six holes when he pulled out.

After hitting his tee shot on No. 7 into the native area far right of the fairway, Woods called over an official. He hit his second shot to just short of the green, 51 feet from the pin, and grimaced in apparent pain again.

Woods then walked to the middle of the fairway to shake hands with playing partner Jason Bohn before leaving on a golf cart.

As he was driven off in the cart, Woods continually squeezed his right hand and released his fingers.

He then went to the TOUR's fitness trailer for further examination and treatment.
Asked what caused the injury, Woods replied: "I don't know. I know playing doesn't help it."

Woods said he first felt the problem prior to the Masters, his first start of this year. He then tweaked it while warming up prior to starting Sunday's round. He said he's "having a hard time with the pain" and that he feels tingling in the fingers of his right hand.

"They want me to go get (an MRI) next week," he said.

Woods said his neck hurts on his "backswing, downswing and follow-through."

"Setting up over the ball is fine," Woods added, "but once I start making the motion, it's downhill from there."

It is the first time Woods has withdrawn from a tournament since the Nissan Open at Riviera in 2006, when he narrowly made the cut and withdrew from the final two rounds because of the flu.

THE PLAYERS Championship was only his third tournament back from a five-month hiatus. 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 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.