The Front Row with Doug Ferguson March 13, 2012

DORAL, Fla. - The speculation at the start of the year was when Tiger Woods would win.

Now it's when he can play again.

The sequence Sunday at Doral was troubling. Woods hobbled. He changed his shoes at the turn. He began lifting his left leg to try to flex his ankle. He limped. And after one last powerful swing that produced a 321-yard drive on the 12th hole, he winced and walked over to Webb Simpson to tell him he was done for the day.

"He just shook my hand and said, 'I've got to go in.' You could tell he was hurting," Simpson said.

To what degree, only Woods knows. And when he does, it becomes a matter of how much information he will share.

He said his left Achilles tendon - the same one that caused him to miss two majors last year - felt tight as he warmed up on the practice range before the final round of the Cadillac Championship, and it got worse from there.

Woods plans to get it evaluated this week.

The Masters starts in 24 days.

This is the one major he has never missed. Augusta National is where so many expected him to resume pursuit of the 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, the only record that really ever mattered to Woods, who has been stuck on 14 since the 2008 U.S. Open.

Beyond that benchmark, however, comes another question that no longer seems as ludicrous as the injuries keep piling up.

Will Woods ever win again?

Until Sunday, he was making big strides in that direction. Woods ended last year with an unofficial win in his Chevron World Challenge against an 18-man field, with birdies on the last two holes.

But he's not winning.

He's not the same player he was. That much is clear.

He might not ever be.