Like us, Woods has many questions but few answers

text size

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- As much as we want answers, Tiger Woods does, too.

The man who is the ultimate control freak on the golf course doesn't know when he'll be able to hit balls again -- much less compete in another PGA TOUR event.

The pain on the right side of his neck that forced Woods to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship 11 holes shy of completion on Sunday has gotten worse instead of better. So he's going to have an MRI to determine the next course of action.

That "picture," as Woods called it repeatedly during a news conference on Monday, will go a long way toward determining whether he can defend his title at the Memorial Tournament. It will likely decide his participation in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach where he won by 15 strokes a decade ago, as well.

"A lot is up in the air," Woods said. "I'll have a lot more answers after I get the picture."

So will we.

The world No. 1 -- yes, he still has that ranking since Phil Mickelson wasn't able to win THE PLAYERS -- was in Philadelphia on Monday to participate in a media day for the AT&T National, which benefits Woods' foundation and will be played this year at Aronimink Golf Club.

Woods flew there Sunday night after the bizarre scene unfolded Sunday at TPC Sawgrass. He decided to withdraw after hitting his approach shot at the seventh hole. He got into a cart and was driven through the crowd to the clubhouse where Woods gave a series of one- and two-sentence answers to three reporters in the locker room before heading, stone-faced, to the fitness trailer.

When he emerged nearly 45 minutes later, Woods walked down the stairs and immediately slid into the back seat of an SUV. By then, nearly 100 reporters and photographers had gathered around the vehicle but he didn't break stride.

"For me not to play all 18 holes is as angry and as frustrated as I've been in a long time," Woods said Monday.

But he did answer one question that had surfaced as pundits tried to put perspective on his abrupt exit from THE PLAYERS a week after he had shockingly missed just the sixth cut of his career.

The neck injury has "zero connection" to the Thanksgiving night car accident that sent his reputation spiraling amid disclosures of infidelity and a 45-day stint in a rehabilitation facility. It actually started "bugging" him a couple of weeks before the Masters and has only gotten worse.

"I can deal with the headaches and I can deal with the pain, but when it spasms to the point where I can't turn, you can't make a golf swing if you can't turn,'" Woods said. "That's awfully frustrating for me, because I know what I can do, and I just can't do it."

And that's the situation Woods found himself in after he hit his second shot from a native area short of the seventh green on Sunday and decided he was done.

Woods has been trying to manage the pain with anti-inflammatories, massage and manipulation of the neck, and traction. Until Sunday, though, he didn't think he'd need an MRI or further diagnosis.

Now Woods doesn't know quite what to think. And neither do we.

Woods showed us his enormous will two years ago at Torrey Pines when he played 91 holes and won the U.S. Open despite playing on a broken leg with an ACL in shreds. He says this is different, though.

Woods had gone to Torrey Pines, where he'd won six times before, knowing that the damage to his leg was such that the U.S. Open would likely be his last shot that year. Until he gets the picture of his neck later this week, though, Woods isn't sure where he stands.

"This is an injury that I know that can get really bad," he said. "And I've had numerous friends who have had injuries in their necks, and you just don't want to mess with this. And this is one of the reasons why this picture, it is important to see what's going on so I can do some rehabbing and get back at it.

"I want to practice. I want to play. I want to compete. But this is not allowing me to be able to do the things that I need to do in my golf swing to hit the proper shots. I need to get to where I can do that again."

That all-important picture will reveal whether Woods has a bulging disc, as he suspects, or some other ailment. He and his team will discuss the diagnosis with his doctors and plot a course of action.

Only then will Woods find out when he can get back on the range to shore up the weaknesses that have surfaced so glaringly in a game that once seemed invincible. And only later will he know if he can regain the momentum this process -- as he has taken to calling his return to competitive form -- so sorely needs.

We'll have to wait for those answers, too. Looks like that picture will, indeed, be worth a thousand words.