Tiger Woods

Five-time PGA Tour winner Dustin Johnson has been limited to six events this year with a back injury, but said this week that he'll return May 31 at the Memorial. Johnson last played at Doral in March, and missed the Masters when he aggravated the injury a week before Augusta. In a statement this week, Johnson said, "I came into this year with some big goals, including making our Ryder Cup team, so I've got some serious ground to make up this summer. " Memorial will also be the next start for Tiger Woods , who announced that he'll be playing in Jack Nicklaus's ...

The trouble with trying to measure the progress of Tiger Woods is that by his own definition, he never really gets there. Even when he was at his best, Woods always thought he could get better. So while winning tournaments is the goal, that's not always the best gauge. Woods preached patience two weeks ago at The Players Championship when he said, "Guys, I've done this before. I've been through this. … I had some pretty good runs after that, and this is no different. " He then tied for 40th at Sawgrass for the worst three-tournament stretch of his PGA Tour career, which...

AUGUSTA, Ga. - For someone who began the week as the betting favorite among the legal parlors in London, Tiger Woods hasn't made the bookmakers look very smart, fighting his swing, his putter, and his temper over the first two days at the Masters. Woods failed to build on two early birdies Friday, steadily going the other way under an avalanche of bad shots and missed short putts. He shot a 3-over-par 75, his highest score at Augusta National Golf Club since a first-round 75 in 2004.

Tiger Woods insists he is close to contending on a weekly basis, even if recent results suggest otherwise. "I think I'm headed in the right direction," Woods said at Congressional Country Club, where he was promoting the AT&T National which takes place June 28 to July 1. "I'm going to try and continue to improve in incremental steps in every facet of my game and try to make every facet of my game more efficient. " Woods has one PGA Tour victory this year, but his game has hit a slump recently with a missed cut in Charlotte as well as 40th-place finishes at The Masters and...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Tiger Woods had a terse exchange with a magazine reporter yesterday over excerpts from his former swing coach's new book, and ended the conversation with a long stare and a sarcastic, "Have a good day. " If that wasn't enough, he fielded 10 questions about his putting. And so began a bumpy road to the Masters for Woods, who has gone more than two years without winning on the PGA Tour, and is approaching the four-year anniversary of his last major championship.

The birdie putt on the final hole to win. The sweeping fist pump. The red shirt. It all looked so familiar Sunday afternoon in the Chevron World Challenge, where Tiger Woods ended a drought that once would have seemed inconceivable. He went 749 days and 26 tournaments without winning as he tried to repair his image, his personal life and a golf game that used to be the best in the world. When the final birdie putt from 6 feet disappeared into the cup, Woods swept his arm across the air, yelled through the din of the gallery and slammed his fist in a celebration that was a long...

Tiger Woods is heading to the hills this summer to play in The Greenbrier Classic. Tournament organizers announced Monday that Woods had committed to play July 5-8 in the event, which began only two years ago. It is played on The Old White TPC Course, where two years ago Stuart Appleby closed with a 59 to win. It will be the third time in the last nine months that Woods plays a tournament for the first time as a pro. He played the Frys.com...

The global consulting firm Accenture Ltd. has ended its relationship with Tiger Woods, marking the first major sponsor to cut ties altogether with the golfer since his alleged infidelities surfaced and he announced an indefinite leave from the sport to work on his marriage. In its first statement since the Woods scandal erupted, Accenture said yesterday that the golfer is “no longer the right representative’’ after the “circumstances of the last two weeks.’’ The move ends a six-year relationship during which the firm credited its “Go on, be a Tiger’’ campaign...

The roar resonated across Dove Mountain from fans packed around the 18th green as Tiger Woods, needing a birdie on the last hole to stay in his match, hit a shot that dropped out of the Arizona sky and landed 5 feet from the hole. That was followed by silence. Woods missed the putt so badly that it never even touched the hole. No one was more surprised than Nick Watney, who removed his cap to shake hands with Woods after a 1-up victory Thursday in the Match Play Championship.

Tiger Woods might be the only one who doesn't consider his win at Bay Hill the start of a comeback. As much joy as he felt on the 18th green after finishing off a five-shot victory — his first on the PGA Tour in 2 ½ years — he was all business when he fielded his first question about what kind of leap forward this might be. "This is my second win," Woods said. Technically, he was right. Woods counts the Chevron World Challenge nearly four months ago, when he finished birdie-birdie for a one-shot win over Zach Johnson.

Nine players had or shared the lead during the third round of the Byron Nelson Championship. Yet when play ended Saturday, Jason Dufner was the one alone at the top of the leaderboard for the second day in a row. Unfazed by more breezy conditions, Dufner shot a 1-under 69 for an 8-under 202 total. He had a one-stroke lead over Jason Day, J.J. Henry and Dicky Pride. "Similar conditions as (Friday), so probably helped me a little bit, just being comfortable with the wind and how hard it was blowing," Dufner said.

Five-time PGA Tour winner Dustin Johnson has been limited to six events this year with a back injury, but said this week that he'll return May 31 at the Memorial. Johnson last played at Doral in March, and missed the Masters when he aggravated the injury a week before Augusta. In a statement this week, Johnson said, "I came into this year with some big goals, including making our Ryder Cup team, so I've got some serious ground to make up this summer. " Memorial will also be the next start for Tiger Woods , who announced that he'll be...

In more peaceful times, when Tiger Woods had gone six months without losing and golf seemed to revolve around him, he ended a monthly newsletter with a rare trip to the soap box to complain about the pace of play on the PGA Tour. "Before I go, I would like to talk about slow play," Woods wrote. "It's been an ongoing problem on the PGA Tour for a long time. " That was in 2008. When he finished The Players Championship on Sunday, Woods measured progress with one word.

Tiger Woods is heading to the hills this summer to play in The Greenbrier Classic. Tournament organizers announced Monday that Woods had committed to play July 5-8 in the event, which began only two years ago. It is played on The Old White TPC Course, where two years ago Stuart Appleby closed with a 59 to win. It will be the third time in the last nine months that Woods plays a tournament for the first time as a pro. He played the Frys.com...

Rickie Fowler nearly made things interesting at The Players Championship. Fowler birdied Nos. 16 and 17 and really could have put pressure on Matt Kuchar had he made an 8-footer on the final hole. Instead, Fowler pushed the putt right, closed with par and allowed Kuchar to play the 18th with a two-shot cushion and little drama. "Wouldn't mind having the putt over on 18," Fowler said. "It was a tough putt just because of how straight it was and just started a little right.

After combing through some of golf's meaningless statistics, this might be the best explanation for how Matt Kuchar won The Players Championship: He didn't empty all of his golf balls into the water when he played the island-green 17th hole in the final round. He was really on his game last week. He shot the lowest score. Golf is impossible to predict as it is. Throw in the mystery that is the TPC Sawgrass, and there's no telling who beats the strongest and deepest field in golf.

Tiger Woods pulled out of the U.S. Open on Tuesday because of lingering issues with his left leg, leaving him uncertain how soon he can resume his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record for major titles. It will be the first time Woods has missed the U.S. Open since 1994, when he had just graduated high school. “I am extremely disappointed that I won’t be playing in the U.S. Open, but it’s time for me to listen to my doctors and focus on the future,’’ Woods said on his website.

Tiger Woods barely qualified for his own tournament at the Chevron World Challenge, an indication that the last two years have been the worst stretch of his career. His last two weeks of competition allow for a much better outlook. A trip Down Under gave Woods plenty of indicators that his game might finally be on the rise. He had the 36-hole lead at the Australian Open and finished third, his best result of the year. Then came the Presidents Cup, where he played solidly for five matches at Royal Melbourne and was at his best in the final round of singles.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - With a few more strokes to complete before the biggest win of a PGA Tour career that probably hadn't lived up to its potential, Matt Kuchar wanted his mind to be on anything but the task at hand between shots, because those were going to be laced with enough pressure already. So Kuchar and caddie Lance Bennett talked team sports, not golf, as they walked up the 18th fairway Sunday at the Players Championship. Baseball, the Stanley Cup playoffs, even the Celtics' series-opening victory over Philadelphia Saturday night was discussed.

Tiger Woods will try for a fifth Memorial Tournament title starting later this month. Woods has accepted an invitation to play in the tournament founded by Jack Nicklaus. So have Jason Day, Bill Haas and Sunday's winner of the Players Championship, Matt Kuchar. The 37th Memorial will be played May 31-June 3 at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Woods won the Memorial in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009. He missed last year's tournament while he recovered from knee and Achilles injuries.