Tiger to miss rest of season

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the season because of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee, an injury he has been dealing with the last 10 months despite winning nine of 12 tournaments.
Woods also said he suffered a double stress fracture of his left tibia while preparing to return to the PGA Tour last month, which forced him to miss the Memorial and was the source of his pain at Torrey Pines when he won the U.S. Open.
He had arthroscopic surgery April 15 to clean out cartilage in his left knee, bypassing ACL surgery with hopes it could get him through the 2008 season. But going 91 holes for his 14th career major made it impossible to play any longer.
"Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee," Woods said in a statement on his Web site.
Woods was last seen in public late Monday afternoon walking with a pronounced limp across Torrey Pines toward the parking lot, the U.S. Open trophy in his arms.
Upcoming surgery makes his 14th major title even more staggering -- despite the stress fractures, he managed to win a U.S. Open that required five days of flinching, grimacing and a long list of spectacular shots that have defined his career.
"Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament," Woods said.
He played only seven times worldwide this year and won five of them. He will miss a major championship for the first time in his career and will not be available for the Ryder Cup in September.
It will be the third surgery in five years on his left knee, although Woods said doctors have assured him the outlook is positive. When asked Monday if he further damaged his knee by playing in the U.S. Open, Woods said, "Maybe."
Doctors have told him, however, that the stress fractures will heal with time.
He did not say when he would have surgery.
Woods is ultra private with his health and personal life, never more so than at the U.S. Open. He never mentioned the torn ACL or the stress fracture, and wouldn't say how he was treating it, only that it was more sore as the week went on.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was when the injury first happened.
Woods said he tore the ACL while jogging at home after the British Open last July. He chose not to have surgery and went on a run that included seven consecutive victories, including the Dubai Desert Classic in Europe and his Target World Challenge, an unofficial event.
He did not play overseas late last year for the first time since 2003, hopeful that rest could allow him to play more this year. But the pain intensified through the Masters, where he finished second, and Woods said the cartilage damage developed from the ACL injury.
What he didn't anticipate were the stress fractures, discovered as he tried to get ready to play in the Memorial.
"The stress fractures that were discovered just prior to the tournament unfortunately prevented me from participating and had a huge impact on the timing for my return," Woods said. "I was determined though, to do everything and anything in my power to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which is a course that is close to where I grew up and holds many special memories for me."

Bush asks Congress to clear way for offshore oil drilling

WASHINGTON -- President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to permit drilling for oil in deep water off America's coasts to combat rising oil and gas prices. "There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement.
Bush also renewed his demand that Congress allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
Bush said that the basin potentially contains more than three times as much recoverable oil as Saudi Arabia's proven reserves, and that the high price of oil makes it profitable to extract it.
"In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home," said Bush, adding there is no more pressing issue than gas prices for many Americans.
The White House estimates there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Basin.
However, much of the U.S. oil is difficult or impossible to extract under current law.As for gas prices, resuming offshore exploration would not be a quick fix.
"If we were to drill today realistically speaking we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves," said Fadel Gheit, oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Equity Capital Markets Division.
But it almost certainly would be profitable.
Candida Scott, an oil industry researcher at Cambridge Research Associates, said oil needs to be priced at $60 a barrel or more to justify deep-shelf drilling. With oil now selling for $134 a barrel, companies are almost assured of profiting from offshore drilling, Scott said.
"For years, the president has pushed Congress to expand our domestic oil supply, but Democrats in Congress have consistently blocked such action," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told CNN before Bush spoke.
She added, "As with several existing Republican congressional proposals, he wants to work with states to determine where offshore drilling should occur, and also for the federal government to share revenues with the states. The president believes Congress shouldn't waste any more time."
Democrats were quick to reject Bush's proposal.
"After eight years, President Bush and [Vice President] Dick Cheney have turned the GOP into the Gas and Oil Party. That's the legacy that they are going to leave," said Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
"The White House has become a ventriloquist for the oil and gas industry, repeating the requests of the oil and gas industry -- that they be allowed to destroy the most pristine areas of our country," Markey added.
Congressional Democrats last week introduced a bill to compel oil companies to begin utilizing federal land they already lease. Oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres they have already leased from the American people for the purpose of oil and natural gas production," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey.
"It is about time they use these resources already at their disposal instead of waiting for more federal handouts and pushing to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or up and down our coasts," he added.
Bush's request came a day after presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain issued the same call at a campaign event in Houston, Texas.
"We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States," he said. "But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. And I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use." Watch McCain state his new position on drilling »
He said lifting the ban could be done "in ways that are consistent with sensible standards of environmental protection."
Opponents of offshore drilling say it would harm aquatic ecosystems by eroding wetlands, contaminating the water with chemicals, polluting the air, killing fish and dumping waste.
McCain made clear that he favors continuing the ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"Quite rightly, I believe, we confer a special status on some areas of our country that are best left undisturbed. When America set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we called it a "refuge" for a reason," he said.
McCain's plan would let individual states decide whether to explore drilling possibilities. Oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres they have already leased from the American people for the purpose of oil and natural gas production," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey.
"It is about time they use these resources already at their disposal instead of waiting for more federal handouts and pushing to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or up and down our coasts," he added.
Bush's request came a day after presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain issued the same call at a campaign event in Houston, Texas.
"We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States," he said. "But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. And I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use." Watch McCain state his new position on drilling »
He said lifting the ban could be done "in ways that are consistent with sensible standards of environmental protection."
Opponents of offshore drilling say it would harm aquatic ecosystems by eroding wetlands, contaminating the water with chemicals, polluting the air, killing fish and dumping waste.
McCain made clear that he favors continuing the ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"Quite rightly, I believe, we confer a special status on some areas of our country that are best left undisturbed. When America set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we called it a "refuge" for a reason," he said.
McCain's plan would let individual states decide whether to explore drilling possibilities.