Woods claimed that while he had 'irritated' an old knee injury on the first tee at Sawgress which had, in turn, tweaked an injury in his troubled Achilles heel and caused his calf to cramp up, he had not sustained any new injuries.

"Aggravating my injury is very disappointing," Woods said. "I'll do whatever is necessary to play razr hl irons in the US Open, and I'm hopeful I can be there to compete."

Woods's said his doctors have advised him to rest and undergo cold water therapy and soft tissue treatment, which he said he already had been receiving and while he is holding out hope of being tournament fit for the US Open from June 16-19, he has ruled himself out of playing his Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament which starts on June 2.

That would be too soon, he was sure, but he would be looking at other pre-US Open tournaments on a "week-to-week basis" and even though he had never played in the St Jude Classic in Memphis in the week before the US Open, he might try to use callaway razr x hl irons this time as a warm-up event if he felt strong enough.

Some orthopedic specialists .in the meantime, have expressed reservations about Woods's knee injury and one has even gone so far as to say that after four operations, it was beginning to sound as if knee replacement surgery might be the only way to keep his career alive.

His latest problems started in the third round of the Masters - yes, this before his gallant final round charge that briefly gave him a share of the lead coming into the final stretch.

Woods reported that he had suffered a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament and a mild strain of his Achilles tenden while playing scotty cameron putters for sale a shot off the pine needles under the Eisenhower Tree on Augusta National's 17th hole in the third round.

He said he did not practice again until the Monday of The Players, and did not play any golf until his practice rounds.

All who saw him thought Woods looked fine during a 9-hole practice round last week, and swing coach Sean Foley said he was "pleasantly surprised" to note that Woods did not seem to have lost much from when he had last played at the Masters.

So right now, you just never know what the future holds for a man who after making scotty cameron putters for sale look easy for years, hasn't been able to win for more than 18 months as he struggles with injuries and swing changes while also seeking to recover the supreme confidence that made him close to invincible for a decade