LOS ANGELES - U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk likely will miss the Match Play Championship next week because of torn cartilage in his left wrist that has been bothering him since late last year.
Furyk had to withdraw from the Nissan Open, where he had planned to return after a four-week break to spend time with his newborn son. But the pain in his wrist hadn't gone away.
"It was still bothering me, even after a month off," Furyk said Wednesday. "I just felt like I needed someone to take a look at it, and an MRI showed some torn cartilage in the left wrist."
The MRI was two weeks ago, and his doctor treated it and prescribed rest.
"My wrist is still stable. It's not broken in any way," Furyk said. "He hopes the inflammation goes away. If that's not the case, arthroscopic surgery could be down the road."
Furyk hopes to return during the Florida swing to get ready for the Players Championship and the Masters.
He said he first experienced pain late last year, but played through it.
"But the more I practiced, the more it bothered me," he said.
Furyk injured his right wrist three years ago when he fell awkwardly as friends were throwing a football in the parking lot of a Pittsburgh Steelers game.
TIGER WITHDRAWAL: Tiger Woods pulled out of May's Deutsche Bank-SAP Open, which he has won three times in Frankfurt, Germany. Officials said he withdrew for personal reasons.
