Tiger Woods insisted yesterday that he was pain free and targeting a victory in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla despite his severely disrupted preparations.

Woods' participation was in serious doubt after he withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational during Sunday's final round in severe pain from his back.

The 38-year-old played the front nine alongside Steve Stricker, Davis Love and Harris English before speaking to the media. He revealed that the sacrum bone in his back and been dislodged when he played his second shot on the second hole on Sunday - he had to jump back into a fairway bunker - but that his physio had "popped the bone back in."