PHILADELPHIA — One day after a neck injury prompted him to withdraw from a tournament in the middle of a round for the first time in his professional career, Tiger Woods fulfilled a commitment Monday to visit Aronimink Golf Club as the AT&T National's defending champion.

But the main question on everyone's mind was whether the injury would allow Woods to return to Newtown Square, Pa., in seven-plus weeks to compete in the PGA Tour event that benefits his charitable foundation.

"Oh, if I'm playing, I'm playing here, no doubt," Woods said during a 23-minute news conference. "A lot is up in the air still, which I don't like. I still need to go home and get (an MRI) and see what's going on. ... I'll have a lot more answers after I get the picture."

Woods said the neck injury arose two weeks before the Masters. Since then, he has treated it with massage, manipulation, and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, the problem got worse the more he played and practiced.

After weeks of dealing with the pain, Woods experienced spasms Sunday that prevented him from moving his neck to either side or turning on his swing. He eventually withdrew from the Players Championship on the seventh hole of his final round in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

"Once it locked up ... I couldn't actually turn going back, and I couldn't turn coming through," he said. "Was it frustrating? Yeah. For me, not to play all 18 holes, that was as angry and as frustrated as I've been in a long time."

Woods said there was "zero connection" between his current neck problem and the injuries — which he described at the Masters as "a busted-up lip and a pretty sore neck" — he suffered in the Nov. 27 car crash that led to revelations of extramarital affairs and forced him into rehab.

"My neck started to bother me when I really started to practice a lot and ramp up," he said.

It has been quite a roller-coaster ride for Aronimink over the last seven months as the club prepares to host the AT&T National from July 1 to 4 for the first of a two-year run.

First came the crash of Woods' Cadillac Escalade and the subsequent sex scandal. Then, on Dec. 31, AT&T announced it was dropping Woods as a spokesman, and the tour announced he would not serve as tournament host, a role he held for the event's first three years.

Woods' extended absence from competitive golf led to doubts about whether he would return. But he committed in March to the Masters, and on April 21, he announced he would play at Aronimink. Then came word Sunday of his injury.

"It is really frustrating because I know what I'm capable of doing, hitting shots," he said. "I just can't feel it right now. I just need to get this thing healed up so I can start working. Spending the time it takes to get better, I haven't been able to do that. I've been able to work in spurts and trying to work around it, but it's annoying."

Regarding the AT&T National, Woods said that although he has yet to play Aronimink, it would be a treat to play on an old-style course designed by Donald Ross. He also said he expected Philadelphia fans to be "loud and rowdy" and hopes they come out to benefit youth and honor the military.

But for now, it's first things first — his neck.

"This is an injury that I know can get really bad," he said. "I've had numerous friends who have had injuries in their necks, and you don't mess with this. This is one of the reasons why it's important to see what's going on so I can do some rehabbing and get back at it."

Bunker shots. Tournament officials issued a list of early commitments, including West Chester's Sean O'Hair, an Aronimink member; Jim Furyk; 2007 champion K.J. Choi; 2009 runner-up Hunter Mahan; Vijay Singh; Dustin Johnson; Steve Marino; Nick Watney; and 2009 U.S. Amateur champion Byeong Hun An. ... Officials also announced that two Philadelphia-area youth groups — Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation — have joined the Tiger Woods Foundation as beneficiaries of the event. Woods visited the Soul Foundation's Honickman Learning Center on Monday.