The winter of Tiger Woods's discontent has stretched into the spring and now threatens to linger into summer.
Not much has gone his way since Thanksgiving, when his life was devastated by a sex scandal.
The latest setback came Sunday, when the world No. 1 left Jacksonville -- to return to an empty house in Orlando -- after playing just six holes of his final round at The Players Championship, complaining of pain in his neck.
"I might have a bulging disk," a forlorn Woods said later.
"They want me to go get a picture on it next week."
If the injury is serious, it puts his season in jeopardy, beginning with next month's US Open at Pebble Beach which marks the 10th anniversary of his record-shattering 15 stroke victory there.
Woods has fourteen majors, four short of Jack Nicklaus's record.
This is shaping as a pivotal year for the 34-year-old because Pebble Beach and St Andrews -- where he's twice won British Opens -- are on the majors rotation.
The neck pain may help explain his indifferent play since his comeback at last month's Masters. Woods finished in a tie for fourth at Augusta National but he roller-coastered his way through the weekend.
Last week in Charlotte, he missed the cut for only the sixth time in his professional career. Shooting 79 in the second round -- which, be sure, did significant damage among his peers to the image of Woods-the-conqueror -- might have been the low point of his career.
His play was hardly scintillating at TPC Sawgrass, where he made the cut by just a stroke and would've finished well back from the winner, Tim Clark, if he hadn't pulled out.
"I've been playing with a bad neck for quite a while," Woods said.
"I've been playing through it. I can't play through it anymore."
Woods has been in pain for a month. He doesn't know how he got the injury but started feeling discomfort right before the Masters.
"I know playing doesn't help it," he said.
"I'm having a hard time with the pain. There's tingling down my (right) fingers."
He said his neck hurt during the "backswing, downswing, follow-through".
"Setting up over the ball is fine, but once I start making the motion, it's downhill from there," he said.
The larger question is: Why didn't Woods say anything earlier?
When he appeared to be walking gingerly on Friday, a colleague asked about his knee and achilles tendon -- both were causing him problems last year -- and Woods, always one to keep his guard up, said everything was fine.
He made no mention of neck pain.
Clark, meanwhile, rid himself of a giant pain in his neck.
The good-natured South African shot a flawless final round 67 to win his first tournament in the United States. It's been a long time coming and a popular win among his fellow professionals.
After 205 starts, and many close calls - he's finished second eight times -- Clark started doubting himself.
"A few weeks after Bob Hope, where he had a chance to win there, he said, 'Oh man, when am I ever going to win? I just can't get over the line,'" remembered Robert Allenby.
"I said to him, 'Mate, you've just got to be patient, you've just got to keep putting yourself in there for a chance on the last day.' Lo and behold, he beat me!"
Allenby, who himself hasn't won in nine years in the US, watched an eagle putt go agonizingly close on the 16th, then saw his birdie try from 12 feet look into the hole before rolling back toward him on the 17th .
He had to birdie the last -- one of the toughest on the Tour -- but his long-range putt from off-the-green missed. The Australian finished second.
Lee Westwood's Sunday nightmares continued. The Englishman, who's had a sniff at four of the past six majors -- including last month's Masters -- turned in a disappointing two over par 74 to finish in a tie for fourth.
"I'm disappointed," he said, "But not something I'm going to pull my hair out over. If you don't play well, you don't deserve to win, and I just didn't play well over the weekend."
Clark, who sealed the win with a clutch eight footer for par on the last, said through his frustrations, he realized the reason he hadn't closed the deal before now was "not rocket science."
"We just get out there and get ahead of ourselves, and you start thinking of the big picture and the win," he said.
"And that could easily have happened today. I had a very similar putt on 18 (he'd had last year at Colonial, where he melted down the stretch). Today, I just trusted myself and just tried to get into that shot and tried to hit that shot as best as I could.
"In the past, I've maybe been thinking about winning way too much and putting too much pressure on it."
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, needed to win to wrest the world no. 1 ranking away from Woods. The left-hander could only muster a Sunday 74, dropping into a tie for 17th.
"Unfortunately, I didn't take advantage of the opportunity that was there," he said.
With Woods suffering on all fronts, he'll have another chance.
