eal 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. Rest

Britains No 1 speed skater Elise Christie broke the 500m world record at the second World Cup event of the season in Salt Lake City. The Sky Academy Sports Scholar had revealed in the build-up to a new season that she had been learning to lose and training with her male team-mates in a bid to sharpen her focus and give her an extra edge for the new campaign. Watch NOW TV All the thrills of Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract! That preparation paid off in Utah as the 26-year-old posted a time of 42.335 seconds in her quarter-final, beating the previous mark of 42.504 set by Fan Kexin of China. But that was to be as good as it got for Christie as she fell in the closing stages of the final which was won by Marianne St Gelais of Canada in a time of 43.059 with Choi Minjeong in second and Kexin in third. Christie had prevailed in the 500m final in Calgary earlier this month The Scot had taken 500m gold in the opening event of World Cup series in Calgary earlier this month.The Livingston-born skater won a silver medal and three bronzes at this years World Championships in March.Next up for Christie are World Cup events in Shanghai and Gangneung in South Korea before Christmas.The short track speed skating World Championships will be held in Rotterdam in March. Also See: Christie takes charge in Calgary Christie prepares for new campaign Christie ready for Korea Sky Sports scholars latest Cheap Hydro Flask . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Swell Cyber Monday . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. http://www.waterbottleblackfriday.com/ .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Swell Cyber Monday Sale . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Hydro Flask Black Friday . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. 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 hiss fully exempt status -- decided to take the rest of the season off and make sure he got healthy.ddddddddddddBecause 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. ' ' '