(AFP) – Apr 15, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Tiger Woods, who is fresh off a second-place finish at the 2008 Masters, will miss at least four weeks of the PGA Tour after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

"I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters," said Woods.

"The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can."

Woods, who has had problems with his left knee previously, underwent arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday in Park City, Utah.

This marks the third time Woods has had surgery on the knee. The first surgery was 14 years ago when he had a benign tumour and the second in December, 2002 where doctors performed the first arthroscopic surgery.

Woods hopes to recover in time to compete in the US Open at San Diego, June 12-15.

Doctors said Tuesday they found the problem, were able to repair it and the recovery will take four to six weeks.

"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended," said Woods' agent Mark Steinberg.

"Cartilage damage was found during the procedure, which Dr. (Tom) Rosenberg was able to correct.

"Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible."

Woods has claimed 13 major championships in his career, the last of which came when he successfully defended his title at the 2007 PGA Championship.

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