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Woods a doubt for Deutsche Bank

Tiger Woods sunk to his knees after a back spasm during the final round at The Barclays © AP

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Tiger Woods conceded that he could be forced skip the Deutsche Bank Championship after a back injury all but ended his hopes of overhauling Adam Scott at The Barclays.

Woods finished in a tie for second alongside Justin Rose, Graham Delaet and Gary Woodland, the leader coming into the final round, as all four men fell a single shot short of Scott's 11-under card for the first of the FedEx Cup playoffs tournaments.

But it was the sight of Woods being brought to his knees by a back spasm that drew most attention. The shot, a five-wood on the par-five 13th, ended up in a swamp next to the 15th fairway for a bogey six, followed by another bogey at the 15th.

Woods recovered with birdies at the 16th and 17th and had a 27-foot putt to force a play-off at the 18th, but his effort stopped just short of the hole.

The spasms began before the 13th, Woods later revealed, admitting that he had been nursing a back injury throughout the tournament - brought on by a soft mattress at his hotel.

Asked if he planned to play at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which begins on August 30th and is managed by his foundation, Woods was non-committal.

"That's hypothetical right now," Woods said. "I just got off and I'm not feeling my best right now.

"I had a chance," he said of his weekend's work. "I hit a good putt [at 18]. I thought I made it. It was a little double-breaker and I thought I had it."

Woods remains at the top of the FedEx Cup play-off standings after winning five tournaments in 2013, though for the fifth successive season he has missed out on a major title.

World Rankings: 1. Tiger Woods (USA), 2. Adam Scott (AUS), 3. Phil Mickelson (USA), 4. Rory McIlroy (NIR), 5. Justin Rose (ENG), 6. Matt Kuchar (USA), 7. Brandt Snedeker (USA), 8. Jason Dufner (USA), 9. Graeme McDowell (NIR), 10. Henrik Stenson (SWE), 11. Luke Donald (ENG), 12. Keegan Bradley (USA), 13. Lee Westwood (ENG), 14. Steve Stricker (USA), 15. Jim Furyk (USA), 16. Charl Schwartzel (RSA), 17. Ian Poulter (ENG), 18. Jason Day (AUS), 19. Ernie Els (RSA), 20. Sergio Garcia (ESP).

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