Woods has fourth surgery on his back

One day after saying his back was progressing, Tiger Woods had a fourth back surgery to alleviate pain and will go through another year without playing a major.

The surgery was Wednesday at the Texas Back Institute.

Woods, 41, was in Missouri on Tuesday to announce plans to design a public golf course at Big Cedar Lodge, and he even tried hitting a few shots to a par three. The first one rattled around in the rocks, and the second shot was about 10 feet from the flag.

Asked about his health during the ceremony, Woods said he had good days and bad days. And then he flew to Dallas for fusion surgery to create space in his lower back.

The announcement on his website Thursday said typical recovery from a single-level fusion surgery is six months.

South African Branden Grace shot a six-under-par 66 for a oneshot lead after the opening round of the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Grace had a season-best 11th-place finish last week in defense of his RBC Heritage title. He leads a group that includes Steven Alker, Stewart Cink, John Huh and Will MacKenzie . ... Bubba Watson shot a six-under 66 in the first round to take a one-stroke lead over five others at the weather-delayed Shenzhen International in China.