Tiger Woods hopes he can defend AT&T National title

TIGER WOODS plans to be in the Philadelphia area on the Fourth of July weekend, playing golf at glorious Aronimink Golf Club as part of the field at the AT & T National.

That is if the neck problem that caused him to withdraw Sunday from The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., will allow.

Woods, who has held the world's No. 1 ranking for a record 599 weeks, visited Aronimink yesterday to promote the event, which aids his Tiger Woods Foundation. He spoke openly and easily to a room of about 200 people about his golf game, and didn't shy away from questions about his troubled personal life that has been fodder for tabloid shows, newspapers and websites since his infamous accident on Thanksgiving evening that started the news about his marital transgressions.

"I can deal with the pain," Woods said of his latest injury. "But once it locked up, I couldn't move back or through. I couldn't actually turn going back and I couldn't turn coming through.

"Was it frustrating? Yeah. For me not to play all 18 holes, that was as angry and frustrated as I've been in a long time. I haven't had any treatment except for right after the round [Sunday]. I'll have an MRI on it and see exactly what's going on, why it's behaving the way it's behaving. It actually started bugging me 2 weeks before the Masters, and it was just on and off. I thought it was just sore and no big deal. But as I kept playing, kept practicing, it never got better. It actually was getting worse, and now I'm at a point where I just can't go anymore."

Until the results of the MRI and the extent of the injury are revealed, his chance of playing for the first time in the Philadelphia area hangs in the balance. Woods also is still dealing with the consequences of his infidelity and how that revelation is affecting the mental aspect of his game.

"Well, it's certainly not where I would like to have it, there's no doubt," Woods said of his mental state. "There's a lot of things going on in my life, period, right now. And just trying to get everything in a harmonious spot, that's not easy to do. I'm also trying to make life changes, as well, and trying to do that under the microscope of everyone asking me [questions] and watching everything I do doesn't make it easy."

Of course, the members of Aronimink, sponsors and fans are hopeful that the game's biggest draw ever will be healthy enough and on top of his game to play.

The AT & T National has been held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., for the past 3 years, but will be played at Aronimink for the next 2 while Congressional is readied for the 2011 U.S. Open. There have been anxious times for all involved in the tourney, specifically over the uncertainty surrounding Woods.

"We are confident that if Tiger plays or not, we will run a very successful tournament and the fans will come out and support it," said David Boucher, president at Aronimink. "Obviously, we want Tiger to be here, healthy and playing. And he wants to be here."

Health has been a major issue for Woods for quite some time now. He won last year's U.S. Open on a broken leg and required surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He also has had an Achilles' tendon problem and is now dealing with the neck issue. Still, he says, despite his physical and mental problems, his game is not that far off.

"No, it's not," he said when asked whether his game is far from his "A" game. "I've been further away. I made a swing change in '97. I made a swing change again with [coach] Hank [Haney]. I made a swing change back in '93 with Butch [Harmon]. But you've got to stay the course. And I believed what Butch was trying to get me to do, it turned around. I had a lot of success. Changed again in '97, believed it, turned it around in '99. And worked with Hank and took just about a year and then from basically '05 to now, I've had a pretty good run, as well."

Haney told the Golf Channel last night that he has resigned as Wood's swing coach.

Woods has won only one of the last seven majors he's played, and missed the cut at last year's British Open. It seems that his invincibility on the course is starting to diminish a bit, and he certainly lost many fans over his off-course problems.

"Well, in order to, as you say, intimidate someone, you have to play well, and I haven't done that, at least this year," Woods said. "I've played, what, three events? Last year, I thought I had a pretty good year. And you know, this year hasn't been that at all.

"It is really frustrating, there's no doubt, because I know what I'm capable of doing, hitting shots, and I just can't feel it right now. I just need to get this thing healed up, so that I can start working. I've been able to work in spurts and trying to work around this. It's annoying. Before, the knee was good, but the Achilles' was bugging me last year, and now that's good. And now this thing is flaring up. It's just getting old, dude."

Woods said it jokingly. At 34, he is still in prime age for a golfer. It's just these annoying injuries are now becoming far too common for his liking.

Fans hope to see the world's best golfer in this area in midsummer, and Woods hopes it won't halt him from defending his title at Aronimink.

When asked about criticism from TV analyst Johnny Miller concerning his relationship with Hank Haney, Tiger Woods brought laughter when he said: "Well, Johnny Miller criticized everything I do" . . . Aronimink will play at par-70, 7,237 yards for the tournament . . . David Boucher said ticket sales have been very good, but "spiked" when Woods announced in April he would be playing after his layoff . . . Boucher also said the course has no cap as to how many spectators can attend during single days. "We hope it's 30,000 or 40,000" . . . Ticket prices are $20 for the Tuesday practice round and Wednesday's pro-am, $40 for the first and second round, and $45 for the final two rounds. *