Tiger Woods: Is Players Championship Withdrawal Sign of 2011 Freefall?

Tiger Woods' comeback efforts at The Players Championship at Sawgrass have come to an abrupt and sudden end today, after Woods withdrew from the tournament just nine holes into his first round. 

Woods was still recovering from a sprained MCL and a strained Achilles tendon in his left leg, suffered at the 2011 Masters last month, but told reporters prior to the tournament that his knee and Achilles were feeling better.

Clearly, though, that changed significantly during his opening round. 

Tiger never looked comfortable during his first round at the tournament, starting the day off with a bogey, then parring the second and third holes on the course. But, he followed that up with a disastrous triple bogey on 4, a bogey on 5 and another bogey on the ninth hole of the day. When the dust settled, Woods finished the front nine with a catastrophic six-over 42, and was in obvious pain as he walked the course. 

On the 10th tee, the 14-time major champ handed his scorecard to playing partner Martin Kaymer and withdrew from the tournament. 

While Woods' departure from the tournament is certainly disappointing, one question looms over the event: Is this the start of another freefall this season? 

It's certainly a question that has plenty of merit, particularly with the eerie parallels to last season. For those who don't remember the disaster that was the 2010 season for Woods, allow us to jump-start your memory. 

Woods returned to competitive golf at the 2010 Masters, after an absence of several months while he dealt with his troubled personal life. He played fairly well, finishing a distant fourth, eight strokes off the lead. But, he managed to tweak his neck in the process, and wouldn't play again until The Players in May. 

Eight holes into the tournament, with his swing off and Tiger clearly hurting, the golfer withdrew from the tournament with neck problems, and the collapse was on. From there, the 2010 season was a complete wash for Tiger, who fought his game the rest of the way and looked like a shell of the player who had dominated the tour for years. 

This season, Woods was coming off a stellar performance at the Masters, in which he held the lead in the clubhouse after charging back from a five-stroke deficit on Sunday, ultimately finishing fourth. But, Woods tweaked his knee and Achilles tendon in the third round of the tournament, and missed close to a month of golf before returning in time for The Players. 

Once the first round started at Sawgrass, Tiger was in obvious pain, struggling to find his game as his score bottomed out, and he withdrew after nine holes. 

While the parallels are there, and obvious, there are some subtle differences in Woods' struggles this season. Last year, no one was sure what was wrong with Tiger's neck, or when it would be fully healed, and there's a good chance it nagged for an extended period of time. 

With the leg injuries Woods is fighting, there is a time table in place for his recovery, and assuming he stays off of the leg for a week or two, he should be fine. 

On top of that, there were fairly significant differences between the way Woods played prior to Thursday this year, and the way he played prior to last year's tailspin. Last year, Woods didn't feel ready to go, whereas this year, he felt like the Tiger of years past before the injury. 

It's highly possible that Woods' most recent setback could result in another wasted season; he clearly rushed himself back from his injury, and unless he sticks to the rehab plan, there's a good chance he won't be ready to go at the U.S. Open in June. If he tries to rush back before that tournament, we could see the knee and hamstring continue to bother him in the future. 

But, as long as he takes his time coming back, and makes sure he's actually healthy before taking the course, I don't see this as a repeat performance of 2010's collapse.