Tiger Woods withdrew from the PGA Championship, the first time he will go an entire year without playing a major.

The decision, while not a surprise, also means he will go an entire PGA Tour season without playing.

His agent, Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports Management, said in a text to the Associated Press on Tuesday that Woods will not play the remainder of the tour season as he continues to rehab following back surgeries. That would have amounted to only three more tournaments before the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Steinberg said Woods will continue to work hard and assess when he can play the following season, which starts in October.

In public appearances dating to April, whether it was opening his golf course in Houston or hosting his tournament in Washington, Woods has given no indication when he will be ready to compete. He had his second and third back surgeries last year and has said he wants to take his time making sure it heals.

Woods now has gone eight full years since winning his 14th major championship at the 2008 U.S. Open.

He was replaced by Harold Varner III at the PGA Championship, which starts July 28 at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.

BRITISH OPEN: Even during a week when the USGA didn’t have a championship, it still came under scrutiny by way of comparisons.

With a forecast of gusts topping 30 mph for the third round Saturday, the R&A finished its morning preparation of Royal Troon and decided not to cut or roll the putting surfaces in case the wind got out of hand. The greens were slower, though links putting surfaces typically are not fast.

The result was low scoring and quick pace of play. Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson finished the final round in just under four hours. The threesomes during the opening two rounds were finishing well under five hours.

Mickelson, the runner-up a record six times in the U.S. Open, was asked to explain the difference between how the USGA and R&A sets up the golf course.

“I think that R&A sets the golf course up to be as fair as possible and to try to kind of identify who the best player is regardless of what the score is given the conditions and so forth,” Mickelson said. “Sometimes it’s 20 under. Sometimes people don’t want that many under par. But the fact is if somebody plays some incredible golf, that’s what it should do. You shouldn’t have to mess with the course too much to try to control the score.”

John Daly won at St. Andrews in a playoff at 282 in windy conditions. Tiger Woods won at St. Andrews in dry and relatively calm conditions at 269.

The message was the same on the large scoreboard over the 18th green: Well done, see you next year.

Stenson set a major championship record at 264, three shots better than Mickelson. Take away those incredible performances and the top score would have been J.B. Holmes’ 278.

“The USGA has it in their mind that the score needs to be par, so no matter what lines they have to cross to get there, that’s got to be the standard, and it kind of disregards and doesn’t take into account the difference in talent level and abilities that the players of today now have,” Mickelson said.

He believes the British Open is more fair. He also conceded he was biased.

“I’ve won this one and I haven’t won the other one,” Mickelson said. “So I’ve got that working against me.”

THE GLOBAL GAME: More than being the first Swede to win a major, Henrik Stenson remembers those days when just about every European player was asked about ending the drought. Paul Lawrie of Scotland won the British Open at Carnoustie in 1999, it was another eight years and 31 majors before Padraig Harrington won his first major, also in the British Open at Carnoustie.

Golf goes in cycles, and that’s where the game is now.

Starting with Harrington’s first major in the British Open, there have been 37 majors won by players from all six continents on which golf is played.

The Americans have won 15: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth each with two, followed by Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson.

Europeans have won 14: Rory McIlroy has four, Harrington has three, Martin Kaymer has two and the rest are Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, Justin Rose, Danny Willett and Henrik Stenson.

Africa has won four: Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Ernie Els.

Australian has won two: Adam Scott and Jason Day. South America has Angel Cabrera.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD: Steve Stricker and Andrew Johnston played their way into the PGA Championship with high finishes in the British Open that pushed them into the top 100 in the world ranking.

The PGA Championship tries to get the top 100 in the world ranking, even though that is not a specific category. This year, it went all the way down to Nicolas Colsaerts at No. 120. Others just outside the top 100 include Gregory Bourdy of France (115), James Morrison of England (106), Kristoffer Broberg of Sweden (110), Shingo Katayama of Japan (112) and Younghan Song of South Korea (111).

Another category is 2014 Ryder Cup members provided they’re among the top 100 in the world. Hunter Mahan (No. 186) and Stephen Gallacher (No. 311) did not qualify and were not offered exemptions.

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