GOLF NEWS:AMERICAN ROCCO Mediate, beaten by Tiger Woods in a gripping play-off for last year's US Open at Torrey Pines, has pulled out of this week's Buick Invitational being held at the same venue.

Mediate, who led Woods by a stroke playing the last before losing to a regulation par at the 19th hole on the South Course, withdrew citing personal reasons, the PGA Tour said.

World number one Woods, a six-times winner of the Buick Invitational, will also be a conspicuous absentee at Torrey Pines, while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.

Woods has not played competitive golf since his victory over Mediate last June, when he defied sporadic knee pain to clinch his 14th major title.

Woods is not expected to return to competition until at least next month.

Although the timing of his comeback has been the subject of much speculation, the likeliest tournament is the March 12th-15th WGC-CA Championship in Miami to help him prepare for the Masters in April.

World number three Pádraig Harrington, who claimed the last two majors of 2008 in Woods’s absence, will head this week’s field, his first appearance on the 2009 PGA Tour.

It marks the start of a four-week stint in the US for the triple major winner, as he also plays in the Pebble Beach pro-am, the LA Open at Riviera and the Accenture match play as the Dubliner gets his season under way in earnest.