The Loop

Woods withdraws from Players with neck injury

May 10, 2010

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Players Championship due to a neck injury.

After hitting his tee shot well into the right trees on the seventh hole, Woods bent down on the tee box, and was favoring his neck. He called over a rules officials, put his arm around him, and asked for a cart to meet him at the seventh green. After hitting his second shot, Woods shook hands with playing partner Jason Bohn before leaving on the cart.

"I've been playing with a bad neck for quite a while," Woods said.

Woods was two over through six holes -- two under for the tournament -- and had hit only one fairway. Woods said he plans to have an MRI on his neck next week and there's a possibility he has a bulging disk.

Before hitting on the sixth tee, Woods could be seen shaking his hand out.

"I'm having a hard time with the pain," Woods said. "There's tingling down my fingers."

It was the first time that Woods has withdrawn from a tournament since the 2006 Nissan Open, when he was forced to pull out with the flu.

-- Ron Sirak