For second straight year, Woods withdraws from PLAYERS with injury

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- For the second consecutive year, Tiger Woods was forced to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship with an injury. This time he lasted just nine holes.

Walking with a pronounced limp from the opening tee shot on Thursday, Woods pulled out of the tournament after re-injuring his left knee and Achilles tendon.

"The knee acted up, then the Achilles followed after that then the calf started cramping up," said Woods, who was 6 over after making three bogeys and a triple bogey at the par-4 fourth.

How bad is the pain?

"I'm having a hard time walking," Woods said.

That was evident from the start. Woods grimaced on several shots and repeatedly used a club for support as he walked. He also didn't have the same clubhead speed on many of his tee shots.

"I felt good this morning and fine during warm-up and then as I played it got progressively worse," said Woods, who briefly went into the TOUR's medical trailer, as is standard procedure when a player withdraws due to injury, before getting in his car and leaving.

After making bogey on the ninth hole, Woods walked over to playing partners Martin Kaymer and Matt Kuchar, wished them well and told officials that he was withdrawing.

"I was surprised because I was not expecting it," Kaymer said of Woods' withdrawal. "But ... nobody really knows how much pain he was in. Of course, we hope that he gets well soon, that he gets out here again. ... It would have been nice to play another 27 with him."

Kaymer, who ended up shooting a 5-under 67 that put him high on the first-round leaderboard, said that he noticed Woods was walking "really slowly. He was walking behind us. But I didn't know that it was because of pain or I just thought that he walks a little slower than me."

Woods' 42 on the front nine is his highest nine-hole score at THE PLAYERS. His previous high was 39, set on four occasions.

Graeme McDowell tweeted that he saw Woods limping in the locker room. "Considering he's supposed to be on the course I'm guessing that's not a good sign," McDowell wrote.

Last year, Woods withdrew after six holes during the final round of THE PLAYERS with a neck injury.

This is the fourth time Woods has withdrawn from a TOUR event as a pro. Besides the last two PLAYERS Championships, he also withdrew from the 2006 Northern Trust Open and the 1998 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Woods also withdrew from the 1995 U.S. Open as an amateur.

Woods sustained his latest injuries during the third round of the Masters last month, where he suffered a Grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament sprain to his knee and a mild starin to his Achilles tendon after hitting a shot from the pine straw on the 17th hole.

THE PLAYERS marked his first tournament since then after Woods skipped the Wells Fargo Championship, a tournament he normally plays, to receive treatment and recover.

Woods hit balls for the first time since the injury on Monday at Isleworth, his home course in Orlando, before playing nine holes at TPC Sawgrass on Tuesday and another nine on Wednesday.

"At the end of the day if it's been bothered before it doesn't ever really truly heal," Woods' swing coach Sean Foley said. "The guy's created a lot of speed for a lot of time. He's an athlete and he's fit but you can't overuse your body that much and not have ... there's going to be some issues."

When asked if he was surprised by what happened Thursday, Woods said, "Yeah, actually I am. The treatment's been good. It's been getting better. It just wasn't enough."

He also admitted that it probably would have been advisable to come off the golf course earlier than he did.

Woods has undergone four surgeries on his left knee, including after the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where he played on a broken leg after suffering a stress fracture. Then in December 2008 he tore his Achilles tendon while running.

When Woods will return from this latest injury remains unknown.

"I don't know," Woods said. "I just finished nine holes. Give me a few days to see what the docs say and we'll take a look at it."