LOUISVILLE, Ky. Michael Johnson . -- Barely able to tie his shoes three days ago, Tiger Woods is ready to tee it up in the PGA Championship. Woods caused the biggest sensation of the week Wednesday afternoon simply by driving his silver SUV into the parking lot at Valhalla. He has never arrived so late for a major championship and had so little time to prepare -- just nine holes at Valhalla, which he had not seen since winning the PGA Championship in 2000. But at least hes playing. That much was in doubt Sunday when he withdrew from the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational because of back pain that made it a chore to switch out of his golf shoes. Woods said he suffered a pinched nerve, but that it was not at all related to back surgery he had March 31 that kept him out of golf for three months. He said his trainer adjusted the area above the sacrum. "Once he put it back in, the spasms went away," he said. "And from there, I started getting some range of motion." The latest injury occurred when Woods tried to play a shot from just above a deep bunker on the second hole at Firestone, and his momentum caused him to land hard in the sand. He kept playing, and hit some horrific shots before deciding to withdraw after a tee shot on the ninth hole. That was only his third tournament since his return from surgery, leading to concern that he might be done for the year. "It was a different pain than what I had been experiencing," Woods said. "So I knew it wasnt the site of the surgery. It was different and obviously it just the sacrum." His arrival put some life into what had been an ordinary week. Dozens of cameras captured Woods putting on his shoes with ease at his car. He got a big cheer just walking onto the practice range and the crowd was six-deep down the first hole, about like it was for the Ryder Cup at Valhalla six years ago. In the nine holes he played with Steve Stricker, Davis Love III and Harris English, Woods looked the same as he did last week. He drilled his driver down the first fairway. He badly pulled his tee shot on the third hole. It was a mixture of good and bad, about what can be expected from someone who has played only nine rounds in the last five months. "Nothing great," Woods said. "Its only Wednesday." Woods tees off Thursday alongside Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington. He simply said, "Yes," when asked if he expected to win, which seemed to be a tall order considering his return from surgery. Woods missed the cut by four shots at the Quicken Loans National, had his worst 72-hole finish in a major at the British Open and was in the middle of the pack at Firestone when he withdrew. Barring a victory, this likely will be his last tournament for at least six weeks. Woods is not eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs, and he hasnt given U.S. captain Tom Watson much reason to pick him for the Ryder Cup. Woods said he would have to "play well" to give reason for Watson to take him. "Thats the only thing I can control," Woods said. "Try to go out there and win this event. Thats all Im focused on." Watson has said he wanted Woods on the team if he was healthy and playing well. About the time Woods arrived at the course, Watson was successfully dodging questions about his chances of making the team. "Its speculation whats going to happen," Watson said. "I cant tell you whats going to happen with Tiger." The excitement over his arrival was sure to be tempered by the reality of the task ahead. Not only has Woods gone more than a year without winning -- and six years since he last won a major -- Rory McIlroy has replaced him as the overwhelming favourite. McIlroy went wire-to-wire at the British Open, then rallied from a three-shot deficit to win the World Golf Championship at Firestone. Sergio Garcia was a runner-up both times. Garcia, who went 0-3 playing in the final group with Woods at three majors, was asked about similarities between the two. "When they are both at their best, to me it seems like Rory is less afraid of hitting driver," he said. "And when hes hitting it as well as hes hitting it now, hes hitting it very far and quite straight. So its a little bit of an advantage at that point." Woods might have lost his advantage from being a past champion at Valhalla. He missed the Ryder Cup in 2008 while recovering from knee surgery, and course architect Jack Nicklaus has made plenty of changes, particularly on some of the greens. Woods spent much of his time chipping from collection areas that werent around 14 years ago. "Its a totally different golf course than what I played in 2000," he said. "The greens are all different. I have my book from 2000 -- its useless. Theres some new things that we have to learn out there." With that, he headed to the back nine to walk the remainder of the course with his putter. He had 15 hours before teeing off in the final major of the year. Louis Murphy Jersey . Manager John Gibbons wasnt taking the bait on Friday afternoon following his clubs 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Red Sox. "When we put the team together, well announce it at the end," said Gibbons. "Nice try, though." Pressed further, Gibbons was only slightly more willing to share what everyone believes hes thinking about his 23-year-old right-hander. Doug Martin Jersey . A Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling published Friday said that FIFAs disputes panel and the Court of Arbitration for Sport correctly imposed the sanction for Nantes enticing Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai club Al Nasr in January 2012. MONTREAL -- Curtis Sanford signed with the Columbus last summer thinking he would be the backup to starting goaltender Steve Mason. Now that hes got a chance to play, the 32 year old has shown he belongs in the Blue Jackets net. Sanford stopped all three shots in a shootout to improve his record to 5-3-2 since taking over as the starter 10 games ago as the last-place Blue Jackets downed the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Tuesday night. And he did it against his former team, although Sanford spent the last two seasons in the Canadiens organization almost entirely with Hamilton in the American Hockey League and never played an NHL game for Montreal. "I never got an opportunity in Montreal, but I have no ill feelings about that organization," the Owen Sound, Ont., native said. "Its such a classy organization. "I enjoyed both years in Hamilton. But I moved on and now Im getting an opportunity to play and Im enjoying it." Rick Nash had the only goal in the shootout as he put a deke on Carey Price and then used his long reach to tuck the puck in. Montreal, which is 1-4 in shootouts this season, salvaged a point when Brian Gionta scored with 1:21 left in the third period to send the game into overtime. Andrei Kostitsyn had the other goal for Montreal (11-11-6), which has only one victory in its last six games. Vaclav Prospal and R.J. Umberger also scored for Columbus (8-16-3), who are now 3-9-2 on the road. They went 2-2-0 on a four-game trip in Canada. Injuries to key players and an eight-game suspension to defenceman James Wisniewski had much to do with the Blue Jackets 2-12-1 start to the season, but they have picked it up of late, going 6-4-2 in their last 12. Sanford went in for the injured Mason just as the team started to turn things around with an overtime loss Nov. 17 in Boston. Even when Mason returned, coach Scott Arniel stuck with Sanford. "A big thing is were playing well," the goaltender said. "Its really night and day from earlier in the year. "There were a lot of mistakes out there. We were trying almost to hard. Now were working together. The chemistrys there now. Its paying off for us now." He had no chance on the tying goal as Tomas Plekanecs pass hit Wisniewskis skate in front and Canadiens captain Gionta was there to push it into an open side of the net. The Bell Centre crowd of 21,273 booed through much of a uneventful game in which the Blue Jackets played solid defence and the Canadiens looked sluggish and disjointed in their first game back from a three-game trip to the west coast. Montreal coach Jacques Martin said there was too much individual play and not enough teamwork. Defencemman Josh Gorges agreed. Kadeem Edwards Jersey. "When we get spread out, we try to make individual plays, we try to be cute, we turn pucks over and we end up playing in our zone," said Gorges. "When you do that early, you tend to be hesitant and you dont trust each other as much and you play that spread out game. Thats what happened." The Blue Jackets took advantage to take a 7-1 shots lead and score the first goal. A bad line change left Prospal alone in front to put the rebound of Aaron Johnsons shot into an open side 2:03 into the game. Montreal tied it with two seconds left in the opening period as Michael Cammalleri batted down a clearing attempt and sent Kostitsyn in alone to beat Sanford with his third goal in the last four games. There was more Columbus domination in the second period and Umberger made it 2-1 when Samuel Pahlsson won a faceoff and Nikita Nikitin hit the big winger with a stretch pass to the far blue-line behind Yannick Weber. Umberger went in alone and beat Price at 11:14. It was another case of the Canadiens playing poorly against a team they are expected to beat after playing well against stronger teams like Boston and Pittsburgh. That up-and-down play leaves them where they are -- a .500 team that is out of a playoff position. "Thats the difference between a great team and an average team," Gorges said. "The great teams that do well throughout the season are consistenty good. "Youre going to have an off night now and then. Thats hockey. But we have to find a way to be consistent, whether were playing a top team or a low ranked team. We have to come with the same intensity, and until we do that were going to put oursleves in trouble." Price noted that the Canadiens tend to play up or down to their opponent. "Pittsburgh rolls in and they scare the crap out of us, so we play good," he said. "But we face a team thats in the cellar and maybe we feel overconfident and we might not have that same scaredness and dont come out with the same intensity." The Jackets outshot the Canadiens 28-20 in regulation and overtime. Columbus is 5-3-3 all-time against Montreal. The Blue Jackets begin a five-game homestand against Nashville on Thursday night, when Montreal will play host to Vancouver. Notes -- Jackets F Derick Brassard, rumoured to be on the trade market, was a healthy scratch for the eighth time since Nov. 12. John Moore and Cody Bass also didnt dress. . . Montreals Max Pacioretty returned from his three-game suspension for a head hit on Kris Letang but was not a factor with only one shot on goal. Rookie D Frederic St-Denis was bumped from the lineup. ' ' '
