• The Players Championship

Foley admits fears for Tiger's future

Tiger Woods looked ill at ease at Sawgrass © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods will take a few days to reflect on the latest injury setback, as his coach Sean Foley has admitted pain is something he will have to contend with if he wants to continue at the top of the sport.

Injury forced Woods to pull out of the Players Championship nine holes into his first round and he has admitted he is having trouble walking.

Woods came into the event nursing knee and Achilles problems, but was given the all-clear to play by his medical team. He felt his knee playing his opening tee shot of the day and the pain got progressively worse to the extent that he walked in after nine holes.

"I'm having a hard time walking," Woods said after his round. "[It] felt fine during warm-up, and then as I played, it progressively got worse.

"The treatment's been good. It's been getting better. It just wasn't enough. They (doctors) said I could play. [But] The more rest I get, the better it would be, obviously."

The US Open is a little over a month away but Congressional is not on the former world No. 1's mind at the moment.

"Give me a few days to see what the docs say, and we'll take a look at it," Woods said in response to questions about his future.

Woods has not won a tournament for 18 months and fresh questions will be raised about his future in the sport. His knee has been reconstructed in the past and Foley has suggested pain is something Woods will have to face up to if he wants to challenge for major titles.

"At the end of the day if it's been bothered before it doesn't ever really truly heal," Foley said. "You can be functional and productive on it but this comes from a guy that works hard and trains hard and is a perfectionist.

"The guy's created a lot of speed for a lot of time. He's an athlete and he's fit but you can't overuse your body that much and not have … there's going to be some issues."

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