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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." Cheap Pirates Jerseys Authentic .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York. Cheap Bill Mazeroski Jersey . "It was awesome," he said. Coming off an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Toronto found itself in a deep hole early after the Reds put an eight spot up on starter Liam Hendriks (six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched) and Todd Redmond in the second. http://www.cheappiratesjerseys.com/?tag=...ry-bonds-jersey. Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . And he said Sunday that players believe nobody in Sterlings family should be able to own the Los Angeles Clippers if hes gone. Cheap MLB Jerseys . Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game is also avialable on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg at 7pm ct. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- On a night when two of the biggest stars in the NHL were on the ice, Minnesotas fourth line stepped up to help the Wild continue their surge toward the playoffs. Cody McCormick had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 20 shots he faced in the Wilds 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Erik Haula, Mikko Koivu, and Stephane Veilleux also scored for the Wild, who have gone 3-0-1 over their past four games. With four games to play, they hold a five-point cushion over Dallas for the seventh playoff spot in the Western Conference. With Olympic captains Sidney Crosby of Canada playing for the Penguins and Zach Parise of the United States on the ice for the Wild, Minnesota won with huge nights from some of its least-heralded players. The fourth line, centred by McCormick, accounted for two goals and helped keep the Penguins off the board all night. "When you get contributions from your energy guys like we did tonight with Cody and Veilleux, it goes such a long way for the team," Parise said. "I thought those guys had such a good game tonight when they were out there. They were hitting, they didnt give up anything against, defensively, and they got the big goals." The Wild jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, scoring on three of their first five shots against Pittsburgh rookie goalie Jeff Zatkoff. Haula started the scoring just 1:42 into the game, chipping a backhand shot over Zatkoffs shoulder on the back end of a give-and-go with Matt Moulson. Haula had spent most of his rookie season on the fourth line, but hes scored twice in two games while filling in for Mikael Granlund, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury. Koivu put Minnesota up 2-0 on its fourth shot of the game, scoring his 11th of the season just under 9 minutes in. Koivu carried the puck across the Penguins blue line, waited patiently for Parise to crash the net, then flicked a wrist shot past a screened Zatkoff. Veilleuux pushed the lead to 3-0 on a gift goal from Zatkoff.dddddddddddd McCormick fed the puck into the slot, where Veilleux corralled it, spun and fired a shot that was headed wide of the net. Zatkoff tried to glove it, but he mishandled the puck and it trickled behind him and into the net. "They got three goals on six shots in the first period and got out to that lead," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "We were certainly from behind in this game and couldnt generate a lot going the other way." Bryzgalov posted his second shutout since being acquired by the Wild on March 4. He was steady throughout and made a pair of outstanding saves in the second period to keep the shutout intact. First he sprawled to his right to rob James Neal with a stick save. A few minutes later, he kicked out his right leg just in time to stuff Lee Stempniak, who was alone at the left post after a rebound off the back boards had bounced out to him. "We were pretty good defensively, but they had a bit of a push right from the start," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "They had some shots, but he just settled everything right down. He looked so calm and in control and the team definitely feeds off that." With four games to play, Pittsburgh has all but wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. So while Saturdays outcome wasnt ideal, Crosby said the Penguins wont overreact to the loss as they prepare for the final week of the season. "Just play the right way," he said of their approach heading down the stretch. "We know what that is. Weve done a pretty good job of it. Its just a matter of making sure we find that urgency here for the last couple." NOTES: The game was played before 19,409 fans, the largest crowd for a Wild game in the history of Xcel Energy Center, which opened in 2000. ... McCormicks assist on Veilleuxs goal was his first point with the Wild. He and Moulson were acquired from Buffalo on March 5. ... Parises first-period assist was his 500th NHL point. ' ' '