For the second straight year, Woods withdrew from the Players Championship, calling it a day after shooting a front-nine 42. Favoring an injured left knee on which he has had four surgeries over the years, Woods handed his scorecard to playing partner Martin Kaymer after making one final bogey on No. 9, stopped briefly to answer a handful of questions from reporters, then left.

“I’m having a hard time walking,’’ Woods said.

Woods was playing for the first time since the Masters and hadn’t hit any balls until Monday because of a mild medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles’ tendon, suffered while hitting a shot off pine straw in the third round at Augusta National.

He said Tuesday that he wasn’t sure whether his injuries might flare up, but he came here willing to give it a try, hoping to get in some work before next month’s US Open.

Asked when he began feeling discomfort yesterday, Woods said, “The first tee shot.’’

His health wasn’t good, but his game was even worse. He slipped on pine straw while hitting his second shot on No. 1, made bogey, failed to birdie the easy par-5 second, then dumped two balls into the water fronting the fourth green, eventually carding a triple-bogey 7.

Woods never looked comfortable during his nine holes, limping slightly, wincing occasionally.

“By the second hole I knew that . . . you could tell,’’ said Matt Kuchar, the third member of the group. “Tiger looked like he was in pain. You could tell he was walking quite slowly. He was last to get to his ball every time.’’

At the time of his withdrawal, Woods was tied for last among those on the course. The 42 is his highest nine-hole score at the Players by three shots, and one stroke behind his worst nine-hole score in PGA Tour history.

His availability for the US Open at Congressional Country Club next month is hardly guaranteed now, depending on what his doctors find. Asked when he might play again — his next start, if healthy, would likely be the Memorial in three weeks — Woods was in the dark.

“I don’t know,’’ he said. “Give me a few days to see what the docs say, and we’ll take a look at it.’’

Suddenly, the player many assumed would run past Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major championships is having a hard time simply walking, much less stockpiling wins. He is stuck on 14 majors and winless in 20 months. Now, he’s injured again.

Yesterday marked the fourth time Woods has withdrawn from a PGA Tour event because of health reasons. At last year’s Players, he withdrew in the final round on the seventh hole, complaining of neck pain. That injury didn’t force him to skip any tournaments he was expected to play.

Source: boston.com