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NAPA, Calif. -- You know the background: golfer has a bad back, hasnt competed for months, wears the Nike swoosh and is hopeful of a successful comeback.Nick Watney laughs at the notion that he is another prominent golfer attempting to make a return to competition.Big-time is relative, Watney said. Maybe my mom thinks that.Watney, 35, has plenty in common with Tiger Woods as it relates to lower-back woes, though Watney is here at the Safeway Open to begin the 2016-17 PGA Tour season and Woods is not.But Watney has not played since missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January because of back problems that turned out to be a herniated disk on the left side of his lower back.Unlike Woods, Watney opted to forgo the microdiscectomy procedure that Woods first had in March 2014 -- and again in September 2015 -- to alleviate the pressure. Watney instead opted for a long rehabilitation process that saw him not pick up a club for five months.There was a little bit of a thought to trying to play through it, said Watney, a five-time PGA Tour winner whose last victory came at the 2012 Barclays. But I was really struggling. Maybe if I was playing well it would have been a harder decision. But the way I was feeling and the way I was playing, it just didnt make any sense.Watney first felt pain in his left hamstring. He had no idea there were any back issues and figured it would work itself out. But after six weeks, the hamstring was still tight, he wasnt feeling any better, and a chiropractor he had been working with recommended an MRI to see whether there was a tear.That MRI found the hamstring to be fine but a disk to be herniated. After visiting orthopedic specialists in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, Texas, Watney opted to shut it down for the rest of the season.I basically had two options, he said. Surgery and rehab or heal and rehab. So I decided if Im going to have to rehab anyway, I might as well try to not have surgery. I didnt hit a ball from Jan. 29 until mid-July. Rested and had rehab six days a week. Did exercises to try and take the pressure off. And it slowly got better.Whether that would have been the proper course for Woods is purely speculation because nobody knows exactly what difficulties and prognosis the 14-time major champion was given.But it was clear in the fall of 2013 and into 2014 that Woods was having back problems. He fell to the ground after hitting a shot at the 13 Barclays; he withdrew from the 14 Honda Classic during the final round and then a week later appeared to be in distress during the final round of the WGC event at Doral.A few weeks later, he had surgery and has struggled to be fully fit, having now taken more than a year away from competition after two more back procedures.A microdiscectomy helps the nerve pain right away, said Dr. Kyler Brown, the chiropractor who has been working with Watney and helped develop a program for him. But you cant undo what the surgery does.That is why Watney -- who knew he would lose his fully exempt status -- decided to take the rest of the season off and make sure he got healthy.Because he failed to finish among the top 125 after making just five starts, Watney is playing this season on a major medical extension, which means the PGA Tour has granted him 21 starts to earn either 355 FedEx Cup points or $528,010 -- the equivalent to being 125th in either category in the 2015-16 season.If he achieves that goal, Watney will be exempt for the rest of the season with the ability to try and earn enough FedEx points to be eligible for 2017-18.I didnt want to put any sort of timetable on it, Watney said. Our profession is a bit unique. [Major league pitcher] Clayton Kershaw had a herniated disk, but the Dodgers are paying him $30 million this year, so theres a lot of pressure to come back. I wanted to play, for sure. [But] I didnt want to play half the year. I didnt want to play lousy, come back too soon and then go through this anyway.For me at this point, I think I did the smart thing. I got good advice. I hope I dont have any more issues. The rehab and training will be part of my life for the rest of my career. I didnt take it seriously enough before.Watney returned in July by hitting just 30 9-irons a day. It took him a month before he played a round of golf, and he was slow to work the driver back into his arsenal. It wasnt until September that he played back-to-back days, and then he slowly built up to playing five days in a row, then playing and walking.It was a wake-up call, he said. I didnt want to do too much today so I couldnt play tomorrow. Or play so much in August that I couldnt play now. Its like a pitcher on a pitch count.Watney said he plans to play only two events this fall, the Safeway Open and the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. Hell then resume his schedule on the West Coast but will be more limited than he has been in the past, trying to find the right balance between competing, preparing and taking care of his back.Im hoping he can be somewhat of a role model, Brown said. So many people want to rush back and they dont know what theyre risking.While Woods has put off his return because he cited doubts about his game, Watney understands. After such a long layoff, there is undoubtedly going to be competitive rust, not to mention issues with the swing, short game, putting and all the mental aspects that go into playing the game.Im cautiously optimistic, Watney said. I dont have that kind of expectations like Tiger has. Hes always said its about being there to win. Im not here to win or its a lost week. Its a building process.I had a long time to reflect, talked to friends out here about scheduling. I think its important to have a schedule that you like, but I also dont want to just go play because I can. Play a couple in the fall, keep training and see where it stands.James Norwood Jersey .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Joe Pepitone Cubs Jersey . LOUIS -- St. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1420t-craig-kimbrel-jersey-cubs.html . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Dave Kingman Jersey . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Brandon Morrow Cubs Jersey .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play.NRL boss Todd Greenberg has hit back at calls from Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett for an earlier release of the finals schedule.Bennett believes his preparations for week one of the finals have been thrown into disarray because he is unsure who, when or where his team will be playing.Greenberg immediately addressed the issue with Bennett and Broncos CEO Paul White on Friday morning.I said to him that when youre walking into the last round and no one knows whos going to come first or eighth, it is near impossible to then land a finals schedule, Greenberg said on Friday.Greenberg also said that the Broncos, who are currently in fourth spot following Thursdays win over the Sydney Roosters, were fortunate that they had already played their final regular season game.Waynes in the very fortunate position that hes played his last game, so his team are now resting while others are about to play, Greenberg said.Its a bit tough to be suggesting that the NRL need to lock finals in beccause were all about player welfare and the finals will be decided on both venue availability but also back-up times for our athletes.ddddddddddddThe Broncos could fall back to fifth spot should North Queensland defeat Gold Coast in Townsville on Saturday night.Bennett, the seven-time premiership coach, said the NRL needs to publish a schedule for the opening week of the finals much earlier than they do currently.We dont know what were doing to be honest with you. Its a bit weird, we should know, he said.We should know what fifth and eighth are doing. We dont know what days were training ... not earlier in the season, but Id like to know it now.Whoever they are, five and eight will play here on a Sunday or Saturday or whatever. We deserve that. If we dont know by Sunday if we should be back training by Sunday then weve missed a huge advantage. ' ' '