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Tiger Woods chose surgery to heal his ailing back over a quest for another green jacket, announcing Tuesday that he will miss the Masters for the first time in his career. Woods said on his website that he had surgery Monday in Utah for a pinched nerve that had been hurting him for several months, knowing the surgery would keep him from Augusta National next week for the first time since he was a senior in high school. The No. 1 player in the world is a four-time Masters champion. "After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided in consultation with my doctors to have this procedure done, Woods said. "Id like to express my disappointment to the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I will not be at the Masters. "Its a week thats very special to me," he said. "It also looks like Ill be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy." The Masters gets the highest television ratings of any golf tournament, and Woods commands most of the attention, even though he last won a green jacket in 2005. He won his first Masters in 1997 when he set 20 records, from youngest Masters champion at 21 to his 12-shot margin of victory. "I know Tiger has been working very hard to return to form, and as I have said many times, Tiger has a lot of years of good golf ahead of him," Jack Nicklaus said. "I hate to see him robbed of some of that time by injury. But we all know he is doing what is in the best interest of his health and future. I wish him well on a speedy recovery." Nicklaus played 154 straight majors for which he was eligible until he missed the 1998 British Open because of an ailing left hip that he had replaced a year later. Nicklaus rarely had injury problems in compiling 18 professional majors, the record that Woods wants. Woods has been stuck on 14 majors for six years. Woods has had four surgeries on his left knee, and now his biggest concern is his back. He has been coping with back issues since last summer: a twinge in the final round of the PGA Championship and spasms in the final round of The Barclays that caused him to fall to his knees. Then, they returned with alarming regularity recently in Florida. He withdrew after 13 holes in the final round of the Honda Classic with what he described as lower back pain and spasms. Woods shot the highest final round of his career at Doral a week later when he said his back flared up again in the final round. He skipped the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he was the two-time defending champion, to rest his back and do everything possible to be at Augusta National next week. "Tiger was gracious in keeping us updated of his condition and making us aware of his decision," Augusta National chairman Billy Payne said. "We wholeheartedly offered our best wishes for his immediate and long-term recovery." Woods said he had a microdiscectomy for the pinched nerve, performed by neurosurgeon Charles Rich. A microdiscectomy is a type of minimally invasive spine surgery to relieve pressure and pain caused by a herniated disc. Operating through a small incision in the lower back, surgeons remove small disc fragments that are pressing against spinal nerves. Recovery can take several weeks and doctors typically advise against bending and twisting the back until patients are completely healed "This is frustrating," Woods said. "But its something my doctors advised me to do for my immediate and long-term health." His website said repeating the motion of a golf swing can cause problems with a pinched nerve, and that the injury could have become worse if he had continued to play. Woods said he hopes to return to golf this summer, though he could not say when. Its possible he could at least start chipping and putting in three weeks. He will have to wait until the U.S. Open -- maybe longer -- to resume his quest to match Nicklaus in the majors. Woods won his 14th major at the 2008 U.S. Open on a badly injured left leg that required season-ending surgery two days after his playoff win at Torrey Pines. He has not won another major since then. This would have been the 20th straight Masters for Woods, dating to 1995 when he tied for 41st as the U.S. Amateur champion. He missed the British Open and PGA Championship in 2008 after knee surgery, and the U.S. Open and British Open in 2011 to heal more injuries in his left leg. But he never missed the Masters, even after the scandal in his personal life at the end of 2009. Woods had been out of golf for nearly five months dealing with a car crash into a fire hydrant, revelations of multiple extramarital affairs and 45 days in a Mississippi clinic when he returned to Augusta National under intense scrutiny. He tied for fourth. Even though he hasnt won the Masters in nine years, he had only finished out of the top 10 one time, in 2012. Woods has 79 career wins on the PGA Tour, three short of the record held by Sam Snead. He already was off to the worst start of his career. "Its tough right now, but Im absolutely optimistic about the future," Woods said. "There are a couple (of) records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As Ive said many times, Sam and Jack reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine." .Hammel pitched inside more and it helped him get into the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 on Friday night. .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. . Jose Bautista homered for the fifth straight game in the sixth inning, following a two-out solo homer by Melky Cabrera. Edwin Encarnacion led off the seventh with a homer to tie the game 3-3 and, with two out in the seventh, Munenori Kawasaki came through with the two-out single to score pinch-runner Steve Tolleson with what proved to be the winning run. . - San Diego Padres centre fielder Cameron Maybin is going to be out two to three months after rupturing his left biceps tendon during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat will try to inch one step closer to a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals Monday night when they host the Indiana Pacers for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at American Airlines Arena. Follow all the action live on TSN2 and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. The Heat, who have won the last two NBA titles and lost three years ago in the Finals, took a 2-1 series lead on Saturday night with a 99-87 win. Miami is a perfect 6-0 as the home team in the postseason. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade fueled Miamis strong third quarter and Ray Allens sharp-shooting helped hold Indiana at bay in the fourth. The Heat trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and didnt take their first lead until midway through the third, when James capped an 8-0 burst with a two-handed, fastbreak dunk for a 52-51 advantage. James and Wade combined for 22 points in the third -- the same amount as the Pacers -- to help the Heat take a 71-64 spread into the fourth. Indiana got as close as two in the final frame before Allen took over, draining all four of his 3-point tries en route to 16 points as the Heat pulled away down the stretch. "This team has proven to be resilient," Allen said of his team battling back despite trailing by double digits. "In bad situations, we pick it back up." James finished with 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Wade added 23 points, four boards and four assists for the Heat. Allen was the only other double-digit scorer for Miami. Paul George, who suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Indianas 87-83 loss in Game 2, supplied 17 points and Roy Hibbert tallied 16 points for the Pacers, who had won five straight road games. David ;West chipped in 13 points, while Lance Stephenson tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds.dddddddddddd Indiana took advantage of a sluggish start from Miami Saturday and stifled the Heat for much of the opening frame, forcing seven turnovers and holding the home team to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor over the first 12 minutes. The Pacers held a 21-14 lead after one and the 14 first-quarter points was a season-low for the two-time champions. With the margin at seven following a Chris Bosh triple early in the second, Luis Scola supplied back-to-back buckets to spark a 10-2 burst that Rasual Butler capped with a trey for a 37-22 cushion with 6:22 on the clock. The Heat clamped down defensively from there, holding Indiana without a field goal over the next five-plus minutes to claw their way back into the game. "We had no choice but to regather," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of his team falling behind by double digits. "It was good to see us bounce back in the second quarter and show some toughness." The Heat turned a four-point deficit at the start of the second half into a seven-point cushion thanks to Wade and James. Wade opened the fourth with another trey to push the spread to 10, but George scored eight points in a 10-2 Indiana burst to pull the Pacers within 76-74. Allen caught fire from there, nailing three 3-pointers in a 3:23-span to help the Heat create a 90-79 advantage. Allens fourth triple of the frame made it 97-82 with 2:50 to play and Miami cruised the rest of the way. "Its very early in the series," Indiana head coach Frank Vogel said. "They came back, they took care of their home court. We gotta try to come out and get Game 4." Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Indianapolis. ' ' '
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