Tiger Woods will miss the US Masters for the first time in his career after undergoing a procedure on a pinched nerve in his back.

It is one of sport’s greatest guessing games, wondering what would happen if today’s superstars could go toe to toe with the legends of yesterday.

Tiger Woods can’t wait to get to the PGA Championship. Woods grabbed a big lead with a second-round 61 and then closed out the field with a safe and smart even-par 70 on Sunday to roll to a seven-shot victory at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Sergio Garcia today refused to blame his row with Tiger Woods for the meltdown which cost him the chance of a second Players Championship at Sawgrass.

Tiger Woods has not had back-to-back top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour since the start of 2010, but that is the least that will be expected of him at this week’s Greenbrier Classic.

With the British Open Championship only two weeks away and another win under his belt, Tiger Woods can achieve yet another milestone this Sunday.

STUART APPLEBY understands the scrutiny that might come with shooting a 59 on a par-70 course.

AFTER the excitement of the Race to Dubai and Lee Westwood’s successes on Sunday, the attention switches to the World Cup of Golf which starts Thursday at the Mission Hills Golf Club in China.

FRED COUPLES has teed up his golf ball 23 times in the Masters and has played the weekend at Augusta National each and every year.

The South African man in black keeps turning up at Augusta to prove that staying active throughout life is a model all people should strive for. Simon Lewis reports

Vijay Singh was delighted as he started the new season with a two-stroke victory at the $5.5m (€4.2m) Mercedes-Benz Championship to become the most successful over-40-year-old in PGA Tour history.

Tiger Woods' latest golfing feat has been hailed as “an amazing accomplishment” by the man likely to partner him at next month’s Ryder Cup.

In the month he celebrates 10 years as a professional, Tiger Woods achieved his 50th US Tour win, from a mere 196 events.

R&B singer Ashanti escorted the body of her cousin, who was killed in a car accident in South Africa over the weekend, back to the US yesterday.

AUGUSTA National has its Golden Bell, Flowering Crabapple and Pink Dogwood but even the home of the US Masters cannot boast names of the sheer majesty of The Azured Winged Magpie, The Peregrine Falcon or The Purple Gallinule.

Paul McGinley has expressed his disappointment at the number of big names missing from this week’s World Cup in Portugal – even though it improves the chances of he and Padraig Harrington regaining the title and walking away with almost £400,000 each.

IT was little more than 24 hours since he arrived home in triumph from the Westchester Classic in New York, but no one was surprised to see Pádraig Harrington or his Scottish coach Bob Torrance on The K Club practice range.

PÁDRAIG Harrington is set to make Masters history here today. He tied with David Toms for the Par 3 title in 2003 and won it outright after a play-off against Eduardo Romero last year.

PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman had to overcome years of pessimism and resistance before people began to appreciate the magic of Sawgrass. John Garrity explains.

Nick Faldo began his preparations for the US Masters today, fervently hoping to cling on to his special piece of tournament history.

Sam Snead, the USPGA Tour's most prolific title winner of all-time with 81 victories, has died following complications from a stroke.

The very first shot at this year's Masters at Augusta didn't go quite as planned as a spectator was hit in the face.

Doug Ford, 80 this August, will not be making it 50 Masters at Augusta next month.

Rain clouds threatened overhead as what could be an historic Masters began in Augusta today.