LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Joe LaCava walked nearly every blade of grass on the 18th green at Valhalla Golf Club, jotting notes in his yardage book after stepping off the distances from every edge of the green to every possible pin position. It was just like any other Monday at a major. The caddie just didnt know whether any of this information would be useful in the PGA Championship. LaCava was awaiting word on whether his boss -- Tiger Woods -- would be healthy enough to play the final major of the year. "Im optimistic," LaCava said after he finished charting the entire golf course. "Im hoping he plays. So Im just doing whatever work I would normally do." The caddie was at Valhalla. So was his car, a silver SUV parked in the spot assigned to the four-time PGA champion. As for Woods? Stay tuned. His agent, Mark Steinberg at Excel Sports Management, said in an email that Monday would be too early for doctors to decide whether Woods could or even should try to play this week after another back injury. The PGA of America said that Woods would not have his previously scheduled news conference Tuesday morning. It did not provide additional details. Woods took another turn toward an uncertain future when he withdrew after eight holes and one final shot Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational. Before leaving Firestone, he said he jarred his back when he hopped into a deep bunker after playing a shot on the par-5 second hole from an awkward lie off the slope above the sand. "Its just the whole lower back," Woods said. "I dont know what happened." Making the picture look even bleaker was the timing. Woods had back surgery March 31 to alleviate the pain from a pinched nerve. The Bridgestone Invitational was only his third tournament since returning from a three-month absence. And there he went again, riding off the golf course in a cart, struggling to even remove his shoes before LaCava drove him to the airport for a flight back to Florida for evaluation. "Obviously, I feel bad for him," Rory McIlroy told the BBC on Monday. "The game of golf really needs Tiger. Hes had a few withdrawals the past couple of years. I think the first thing is just to get fit and 100 per cent healthy, even if that means taking the year off and coming back next year ready to play golf." If he doesnt play the PGA Championship, his season indeed would be over. Woods has to win the final major of the year to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. He would have to win to clinch a spot on the Ryder Cup team. And by the sound of U.S. captain Tom Watson, he would have to play at Valhalla to even merit consideration as a wild-card selection. "Tiger would be a great addition to our team," Watson told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Monday. "Ive said all along, I would pick Tiger Woods if hes healthy and playing well. This doesnt bode well right now. I just hope that maybe its just an isolated problem that he can turn around and possibly play this week at the PGA." Watson said he watched the entire front nine and knew something was wrong with Woods after his tee shot on the par-3 fifth hole came up 65 yards short. "You dont hit that terrible a shot ever -- ever," Watson said. "And I said, Something is wrong." LaCava noticed it much earlier, when Woods hit a shot so heavy that it came up 30 yards short of the flag and into the water on the third hole. "I knew he was hurting when he fatted the one on 3, which he never does," LaCava said. "He never fats them like that." Woods kept playing, though, until grimacing on a tee shot at the ninth, slowly bending to remove his tee and calling for a cart to take him in. Why not stop sooner? "Hes tough," LaCava said. "Tough and stubborn would be two good words." Woods has not been back to Valhalla in 14 years, not since that high-charged playoff victory over Bob May that gave Woods his third straight major on his way to an unprecedented sweep of the majors at the height of his game. Woods was recovering from season-ending knee surgery in 2008 and did not play in the Ryder Cup. The course has changed since, with Jack Nicklaus making various tweaks, especially around the green. The par is now 71 with the second hole changed to a par 4. Otherwise, it looked to be in immaculate conditions on the first day of practice. Phil Mickelson, coming off a 62 in the final round at Firestone, played nine holes. The practice range and chipping area were crowded with players. McIlroy already was back at work, having established himself as the overwhelming favourite coming off his wire-to-wire win at the British Open and rallying from three shots behind to win at Firestone. Still to be determined is whether Woods would be able to join them. 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No surprise there. Kershaw, who also earned the title after throwing his first career no-hitter in June, had a 1. Phil Haynes Jersey . Wiggins, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward who plays his first exhibition game on Wednesday against Pitt State, was the top prospect in the class of 2013. PINEHURST, N.C. -- Comparisons were inevitable by hosting the U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open on the game golf course in consecutive weeks. Only these had nothing to do with numbers. Stacy Lewis found comfort in comparisons with U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer. The No. 1 player in womens golf studied Pinehurst No. 2 on her own a few weeks ago, formulated an idea how to play the golf course, and then watched Martin Kaymer follow the script she had in her head and win by eight shots. Just like Kaymer, she opened Thursday without a bogey on her card, a 3-under 67 for a one-shot lead over Michelle Wie. "It was cool to see the plan I had laid out in my head. He was kind of doing the same thing," Lewis said. "So it was nice coming into the week knowing that my plan was going to work on this golf course. ... If youre hitting the ball well enough, you can definitely run away with it. At the same time, you have to know par is a good number and keep grinding away." Right behind was Wie, who studied as hard for Pinehurst as she ever did at Stanford. She was at Pinehurst on Sunday to watch the final round, and later picked up the yardage books from a few friends in south Florida -- U.S. Open runner-up Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley -- and compared notes. Wie charted her way to four birdies on the back nine for a 68. "I did a lot of homework," she said. "Just took the notes from both of the books. It really helped just because they played last week in similar conditions. And theyre obviously great players. I definitely learned a thing or two." Her putter certainly helped. Wie rolled in long birdie putts at Nos. 12 and 14, made a good par save after going into a bunker on the 17th and hit her approach to 5 feet on the final hole. It was her lowest opening round in a U.S. Womens Open. She had started with an 80 or higher four of the last six years. They were among only five players under par when the first round was halted by thunderstorms with 30 players who did not finish. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., were the top Canadians on the day. They both shot 71 to finish the first round in a tie for 11th place. Kaymer, who started with a bogey-free 65 on his way to a wire-to-wire win, was among 15 players who broke par in the first round of the mens Open. The scoring average Thursday was 75.73, about 2 11/2 shots harder than it was for the men.dddddddddddd Pinehurst No. 2 played 1,064 yards shorter than it did for the opening round of the U.S. Open. That didnt make it any easier. Except for Lewis. "It was such an easy day," Lewis said, referring to her game more than the golf course. "I played really, really solid, other that I had to make a few par putts. But other than that, I didnt put myself in too bad of spots and made a few birdies." Former Womens Open champion So Yeon Ryu, Katherine Kirk and 18-year-old amateur Minjee Lee were at 69. "I think we put on a great show," Wie said. "There are a couple of red numbers out there. There are a lot of people hovering around even par. But I think its great. I love that we are playing on the same stage as the men. I think its really interesting. It makes it very exciting." The show belonged to Lucy Li, the 11-year-old from the Bay Area who became the youngest qualifier in U.S. Womens Open history. She missed only one fairway and was rarely out of position, though it cost the sixth-grader dearly when she was. Li made one triple bogey and two double bogeys, three blemishes on her card that led to a 78. "I mean, its 8 over," Li said. "Its not bad. But I was 7 over in three holes, so thats 1 over in 15 holes. So yeah, I just need to get rid of the big numbers." There were plenty of those to go around. At least 17 players failed to break 80, including Laura Davies. She had an 82, her worst score in a Womens Open since Cherry Hills in 2005. Perhaps more shocking was Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr and defending champion Inbee Park, each of them at 76. Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer were at 70. Juli Inkster, at 53 and playing in the Womens Open for the 35th time, had a 71. "I dont think the course is on the edge at all," Webb said. "I think the USGA had to be a little bit cautious. We havent played a tournament here with this course setup before, and it is the second week. So I think theyre probably trying to see how the course is playing, just to see where theyre at with the golf course. I think they were just sort of seeing how we handled it." One thing didnt change from either week. Anything around par in a U.S. Open was not a bad place to be. "It was a grind out there today," Wie said. "It will probably be a grind the next three days." ' ' '