Injury woe strikes again as Tiger quits Sawgrass
FORMER world No1 Tiger Woods is a doubt for next month’s US Open after renewed injury problems forced him to abandon his first round at the lucrative Players Championship.
The American, who hurt his knee and Achilles tendon at the Masters last month, quit after just nine holes of the game’s richest event, worth £5.8m, yesterday at Sawgrass.
Woods, who has slipped to eighth in the rankings after a turbulent 18 months, was already six over par by that point, after shooting a triple bogey at the fourth.
The 14-time Major winner has less than six weeks to prepare for the US Open at Congressional Country Club, Maryland, but admits his recovery may be back at square one.
“I don’t know. Give me a few days to see what the docs say. I’m having a hard time walking. It felt fine during the warm-up and then as I played it progressively got worse,” said Woods.
“I’m surprised. The treatment’s been good and it’s been getting better. It just wasn’t enough. The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that and then the calf started cramping up. Everything started getting tight, so it’s just a whole chain reaction.”
Woods sprained knee ligaments and strained his Achilles while hitting out of pine straw at the Masters, in which he finished fourth. He only resumed training on Monday.