AKRON, Ohio - Tiger Woods finds out over the next two weeks if his season is over or just getting started. Puma Rihanna Marroni . The first stop is Firestone, where Woods is an eight-time winner and the defending champion. After that, he heads to Valhalla Golf Club for the PGA Championship, where he won in 2000 on his way to an unprecedented sweep of the majors. At stake is a chance to extend a season already cut short by back surgery. "I would like to win these two events and not have to worry about anything," Woods said Wednesday. "Thats the plan. Thats the mindset. Thats the focus. Well see how it falls after these few weeks. Im so far out of it right now that I need to play well to ... get myself into the playoffs and ultimately — hopefully — play all four weeks." Its hard to believe that just one year ago, Woods won this World Golf Championship by seven shots for his fifth victory of the year. Not much has gone his way since then, mainly because of back pain that eventually led to surgery on March 31 and kept him out for three months. The Bridgestone Invitational will be only his third tournament since his return from surgery a month ago at Congressional, where he missed the cut. And during his time at home, his position in two key standings plunged. Woods is No. 215 in the FedEx Cup — only the top 125 qualifying for the playoffs. He is No. 70 in the Ryder Cup standings, so far away from being among the nine automatic qualifiers after next week that even if he were to win at Firestone, he wouldnt even crack the top 20 in the standings. At least he is playing courses that bring happy memories. Woods has been so dominant at Firestone that he averages $10,138 for every hole he has played in competition dating to 1997. His victory last year was the third time he had won at Firestone by at least seven shots. But thats because he was playing well. Firestone also is the course where he finished 30 shots out of the lead in 2010, a week before he hooked up with Sean Foley, his third swing coach as a pro. "Theres no secret formula," he said. "Its just go out and play well. This golf course is right in front of you. Theres no hidden secrets out here. Youve just got to go out there and play well." Different from previous injuries is that Woods said he returned to competition not much longer after he was fit enough to play. After various knee injuries, he worked himself into shape by playing a lot of golf at home. This time, he only got in a couple of rounds. Missing the cut at Congressional was satisfying because he knew he was pain-free. Finishing in 69th place at the British Open — his worst position at a major when making the cut — was more of a disappointment. Woods said he is progressing, though it starts with eliminating mistakes. "My good shots are still really good," he said. "My bad shots need to be in positions where I know I should miss the golf ball, instead of places where I have been missing it." The field is the toughest of the year for the World Golf Championships, missing only Dustin Johnson (No. 16) from the top 50. Rory McIlroy is playing for the first time since his wire-to-wire win at the British Open two weeks ago. Woods is playing the opening two rounds with Martin Kaymer, who went wire-to-wire at Pinehurst No. 2 to win the U.S. Open. McIlroy and Henrik Stenson each have a mathematical chance to replace Adam Scott at No. 1 in the world. Some of the pairings for the opening two rounds are a reminder that the Ryder Cup is not too far away. Justin Rose is playing with Rickie Fowler, who has finished second in the past two majors. McIlroy is playing with Matt Kuchar. Jordan Spieth is paired with Victor Dubuisson of France, both expected to be Ryder Cup rookies. Woods and Kaymer would be another Ryder Cup attraction — assuming Woods is on the team. U.S. captain Tom Watson has said he wants Woods on the team, provided he is healthy and playing well. At the moment, Woods is healthy. "I think what its going to boil down to, would be my guess, is how healthy Tiger is and how he feels like his game is," said Jim Furyk, who has secured his spot on the team for the ninth straight time. "But its hard to imagine not having a healthy Tiger Woods on the team. Hes arguably the best player ever. If hes healthy and hes been playing, its hard to imagine he wouldnt be on the team. But thats not my call." That decision is for Watson. And Woods can make it a lot easier depending on how he plays the next two weeks. Nike Roshe Two Flyknit . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season. Saucony Shadow 5000 Uomo .J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle.Firing a coach and a change in philosophy havent helped improve the Toronto Maple Leafs fortunes, but a meeting with the Ottawa Senators seemingly provides a good opportunity. Coach Peter Horachek is looking for a better start Wednesday night as the Maple Leafs try to end their longest slide of the season by continuing their dominance of the Senators before entering the All-Star break. Listeners can catch all of the action live on TSN Radio 1200 Ottawa with coverage getting underway at 5pm et. Toronto (22-22-3) has lost 13 of 16 games, a stretch that cost Randy Carlyle his job earlier this month. So far, Horachek hasnt done much better with a system emphasizing defense, losing six of seven while being outscored 16-2 during a five-game slide. Its the first time the Maple Leafs have been held to two goals in five contests since January 1929. Issues were everywhere Monday, when they fell 4-1 to Carolina after giving up the first three goals - two in the first period - to prompt one fan to throw a jersey on the ice, the third such incident in Toronto this season. We know that we gotta pay attention to details, especially early in the first periods, Horachek said of being outscored 7-1 in the opening period over the last five games. A lot of times when you give up goals early in the game, we started to press and theres a lot of talk about goals and you start to cheat. Theres a certain amount of degree of urgency. ... Were not giving up offense, but were just paying more attention to the defensive side of the game. Thats proving to be an issue for Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk, who are tied for the team lead with 19 goals but have not managed a point during the current skid. Kessel - the teams lone All-Star - has two points in nine games and his minus-10 rating matches van Riemsdyks over the paast five. Puma Creepers Beige. They were a combined minus-7 while failing to score on 10 shots Monday. Perhaps facing Ottawa (18-18-9) could get them going. Kessel has 10 goals and 13 assists in his last 16 meetings, while van Riemsdyk has 11 points in eight after scoring a goal in a 5-3 win at Ottawa on Nov. 9. James Reimer made 38 saves in that matchup, as the Leafs won for the 10th time in 12 tries against the Senators. Reimer has won eight of nine starts in Ottawa behind a 1.33 goals-against average, and is likely to get the nod Wednesday. He made all 18 stops Monday after replacing Jonathan Bernier, who gave up three goals on 10 shots. Reimer, though, has a 3.85 GAA in losing his last five starts. The Senators have dropped nine of 13 games (4-6-3) after losing 3-2 in overtime to the New York Rangers on Tuesday. Were close, but Im pretty tired of having this conversation that were close, Craig Anderson told the teams official website after making 32 saves. Were not winning games and thats frustrating. Were here to win games. Were paid to win games. When we dont win games its frustrating and its not fun to be around. Milan Michalek has put together a strong stretch after scoring just two points in 18 games. The left wing scored Tuesday to give him three goals and two assists in five contests. He doesnt have a point in the last nine home meetings with Toronto. Erik Karlsson has 14 points in 10 games after scoring his ninth goal of the season Tuesday. Maple Leafs (47PTS) at Senators (45PTS) TOR is 1-0-0 vs OTT this season, winning in OTT TOR has gone 7-1-0 past 8 games vs OTT OTT (18-18-9): 0-1-1 past 2 games, 2GF in each game, 1/5 on PP Stone (2G, 5A) 6 game PT streak TOR (22-22-3): lost 5 straight, 2GF, 1/15 on PP Kessel 0PTS last 5GP, 0EV-PTS last 9GP, 1EV-G past 19GP Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '