Tiger Woods has described his schedule as “up in the air” until he sees the result of a scan on his injured neck after he pulled out of The Players Championship on the seventh hole of his final round complaining of discomfort.
He insisted there was “zero connection” between the problem, which may be a bulging disc in his upper back, and the November 27th car crash which led to revelations about a series of affairs.
The pain, he said, had started a fortnight before he ended his five-month absence from the game at The Masters a month ago. Anti-inflammatory pills have not helped.
“I’m at a point now where I just can’t go any more,” he said. The scan is planned on his return to Orlando.
“For me not to play all 18 holes, that was as angry and as frustrated as I’ve been in a long time. I can’t make the movements that I made before.”
If advised he can start playing again soon the world number one’s next event will probably be his defence of the Memorial title in Ohio at the start of June.
The injury coupled with his personal problems do, however, cast fresh doubt about whether Woods will make the trips across the Atlantic for July’s Open Championship and October’s Ryder Cup.
He is also scheduled to take part in JP McManus’s Pro-Am at Adare Manor on July 5th and 6th.
Long journeys on planes, even on luxury executive ones, may not be what the doctor orders, especially if there is the possibility of the journey being made longer by volcanic dust clouds.
This all comes on the back of reports Woods has been or is about to be served with divorce papers following the sex scandal that came to light last November.
Woods has until May 27th to enter for St Andrews, the course on which he won by eight shots in 2000 and by five in 2005, but there is nothing to stop him pulling out after that if he does not want to take any risks with his health.
As for the Ryder Cup, an event he missed two years ago following reconstructive knee surgery and for which he currently needs a wild card pick, he simply might not fancy the idea of two rounds a day in a Welsh valley so late in the year.
Sunday’s playing partner Jason Bohn had thought Woods had pulled out with a wrist injury when he walked over and told him he had had enough.
However, according to Woods, who was down in 51st place at the time: “I’ve been playing with a bad neck for quite a while.