Partnerlinks und Websiten » unbeaten (3-0-2) in their five previous gam

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Tiger Woods withdrew from the U.S. Open on Wednesday as he recovers from back surgery that has kept him out of golf for nearly three months. It will be the second U.S. Open, and sixth major, he has missed because of injury over the last six years. The U.S. Open is June 12-15 at Pinehurst No. 2, where Woods tied for third in 1999 and was runner-up in 2005. The announcement on his website was not surprising. A week ago at a promotional event for the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, Woods said he still had not taken a full swing with a golf club and did not know when he could. He had microdiscetomy surgery to relieve a pinched nerve on March 31. "Unfortunately, I wont be there because Im not yet physically able to play competitive golf," Woods said. "Id like to convey my regrets to the USGA leadership, the volunteers and the fans that I wont be at Pinehurst. The U.S. Open is very important to me, and I know its going to be a great week." Woods last played on March 9 at Doral, where he closed with a 78 while suffering what he called back spasms. He withdrew in the middle of the final round at the Honda Classic with back pain a week earlier. Woods is a three-time U.S. Open champion, one short of the record shared by Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson. His most recent U.S. Open victory was in 2008 at Torrey Pines, where he won in a playoff over Rocco Mediate a week before he had season-ending knee surgery. That was his 14th victory in 46 majors, a winning rate of 30 per cent as a pro. He has not won a major since Torrey Pines, leaving him four short of Nicklaus record. Woods missed the British Open and PGA Championship after knee surgery in 2008. He missed the U.S. Open and British Open while allowing leg injuries to heal in 2011. He missed the Masters for the first time in April because of back surgery. Nicklaus said earlier Wednesday that Woods health would be the biggest obstacle in breaking his record in the majors. Woods called Nicklaus earlier Wednesday to express regrets about missing the Memorial, and Nicklaus said that Woods indicated he was making progress. "If hes healthy, I think Tiger has got 10-plus years to play top quality tournament golf," Nicklaus said. "And Ive said many times, hes got a little over 40 tournaments to play the major championships; hes only got to win five to pass my record. As good a player as he is, I dont think that should be a big deal. But then again, hes got to do it. Plus, hes also got to be healthy to be able to do it." Woods has not indicated when he might be able to return to competition, saying that would be up to his doctors and how he recovers from the surgery. "Despite missing the first two majors, and several other important tournaments, I remain very optimistic about this year and my future," he said. While Woods wont be at Pinehurst, niece Cheyenne Woods will be there the following week for the U.S. Womens Open. She earned a spot Wednesday in qualifying in Scottsdale, Arizona. Nike Zoom Sale . The 22-year-old slugger, who is no stranger to adversity, made up for it at the end. Nike Zoom Clearance . Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press of the decision before NL West-leading San Francisco opened a 10-game homestand Monday night with the first of three games against second-place Arizona. http://www.wholesalenikezoom.com/ . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant. Nike Zoom For Sale . Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Flames, handing Calgary its team record sixth consecutive home regulation loss. Nike Zoom Buy Online . The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach.TORONTO - The time is now for Toronto FC.With just four games remaining in its MLS regular season, and with one game in hand on the five teams above it in the Eastern Conference, Toronto (11-12-7) needs three points from Wednesdays home outing against the Houston Dynamo (10-14-6).A win and Toronto dislodges Columbus to move into the fifth and final playoff spot in the East, with away games at New York and New England and a visit from the Montreal Impact to come.Were looking at all of them as games that we really want to win, must win, coach Greg Vanney said after practice Tuesday. Our goals is to pick up points in each of these matches.The margin of error depends on the performance of the teams immediately above them (Columbus and New York), he added.But, for us, we want to control our destiny. We dont want to have it in the hands of anybody else, So were looking at these games as must-win.By his estimate, seven points out of 12 might get them into the playoffs. Nine pretty much assures it. Unlike his coach, star midfielder Michael Bradley does not seem to be crunching the numbers although he acknowledges the margin for error is very small.Were not spending too much time thinking about what ifs and trying to calculate points in other games at this moment, he said. For us, its about the four games that we have left and knowing that theyre going to be four difficult games. But we have absolute confidence in ourselves that we can go out and, really in every game, get three points.The BMO Field contest may fly under the radar, given that it goes up against the Maple Leafs season opener against Montreal at the nearby Air Canada Centre.Toronto, which came into the league in 2007, has never made the playoffs. While it has set franchise marks for wins (11) and points (40) in 2014, TFC has made the post-season its benchmark this season.Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment spent millions in overhauling the club. Bradley (US$6,500,000) ranks third on the league salary chart while striker Jermain Defoe is fourth ($6,180,000).Poor performance has already cost manager Ryan Nelsen and five of his assistant coaches their jobs.The eight-place Dynamo, meanwhile, can move within one point of Toronto with a win Wednesday.Hoouston will have to do it without Honduran midfielders Boniek Garcia and Luis Garrido, who are away on international duty.ddddddddddddIts significant, Toronto defender-midfielder Warren Creavalle, who came over from Houston in a July trade, said of the losses.The game is massive for both teams, he added. Were both under the red line, trying to get back above it.Toronto got a break on the international score with Bradley and Canadians Jonathan Osorio, Dwayne De Rosario and Kyle Bekker avoiding national team call-ups.Torontos Doneil Henry, Manny Aparicio, Quillan Roberts and Jordan Hamilton are in the Canadian camp but none are starters. Hamilton is currently on loan to a Portuguese second-tier club.Both teams are coming off weekend losses that ended unbeaten runs.Toronto lost 3-0 to the Galaxy in Los Angeles. It was unbeaten in three games before that, earning seven of nine points against Chicago, Chivas and Portland.Houston suffered a 1-0 road loss to the New York Red Bulls. The Dynamo had gone unbeaten (3-0-2) in their five previous games.The good news for Vanney is that his team is healthy. Defoe returned to action in L.A., coming in off the bench with 30 minutes. Brazilian striker Gilberto (hamstring) and fullback Mark Bloom (leg) are both healthy.Vanney said Defoe has looked proper over the last few days.The manager has choices to make at striker with Defoe, Gilberto and Luke Moore vying for two positions and at fullback between Creavalle and Bloom.Its interesting, given the investment in designated players Defoe and Gilberto, that Vanney says he doesnt really know his preferred partnership up front.Its tough to say because I havent seen them together recently, he said of Defoe-Gilberto.Vanney said he looked forward to seeing the two perform together but made a point of praising English striker Luke Moore as well.Its hard to say what the best two is, he said of his strike force. I think we have three outstanding choices there and other guys, by the way, who can help us out in the stretch run here as we push for wins.The team accountants may think differently. Moores salary of $128,333.33 pales in comparison to that of Defoe and Gilberto ($1,205,000).Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '