Tiger withdraws with injury woes

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods limped off the golf course and into an uncertain future.

His return at The Players Championship from what he had described as a "minor injury" lasted only nine holes Thursday. Woods withdrew because of pain in his left knee and Achilles, but not before taking 42 shots for his worst nine-hole score on the TPC Sawgrass course.

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

He walked with a golf club for support, lagging a football field behind his playing partners with a noticeable limp. His quickest steps were to catch up to Martin Kaymer on the way to the 10th tee to tell him he was done.

Before leaving, Woods ducked into a fitness trailer with a sign painted on the side that said, "Is knee pain holding you back?" The more relevant question is where Woods goes from here.

The crisis in his personal life that led to divorce last summer no longer appears to be the biggest obstacle in regaining his golf game or pursuing Jack Nicklaus' record 18 majors.

It's his health.

Woods already has gone through four surgeries on his left knee. Now he has an Achilles problem, too. He has gone 18 months since his last win, three years without adding to his 14 majors, and he has no idea when he will be fit enough to compete again.

It started on the first hole, a 3-wood that "just didn't feel good" and sailed well to the left into the pine trees. His left foot slipped on the pine straw -- similar to the shot on the 17th hole at Augusta National in the third round that caused this latest injury.

"The knee acted up, and then the Achilles followed after that, and then the calf started cramping up," Woods said. "Everything started getting tight, so it's just a whole chain reaction."

Nick Watney leads The Players with a 64.