AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Arnold Palmer never had an easy time winning majors until the last one. This is the 50th anniversary of Palmer going wire to wire in the 1964 Masters to win by six shots, giving him a record four green jackets. It was his seventh major, significant because it tied him with some of the greats in the game: Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead. Two more and he could have tied Ben Hogan. Four more majors would have put him alongside Walter Hagen. Palmer was only 34. He was the King. He was on a roll, winning roughly one of every three majors. He never won another one. "Well, of course you never think youre going to be at your last stop," Palmer said last week. "But it was great. I suppose that psychologically I had accomplished maybe more than I even realized by winning the Masters and walking up the 18th hole comfortably. That was something that was truly great for me." Tiger Woods was 32 when he won his last major. Through all these years, Woods has only been linked with Jack Nicklaus when the conversation turns to the majors. They are the only players to win the career Grand Slam three times over. The endless chatter is whether Woods will break the Nicklaus benchmark of 18 majors. Is it even remotely possible that Woods, much like Palmer, already has won his last major? Palmer went on to win 19 more times on the PGA Tour. He should have won at least one major and could have won more. Palmer famously lost a seven-shot lead on the back nine of Olympic Club in the 1966 U.S. Open, and then was beaten by Billy Casper in a playoff. He had close calls in 1964 and 1968 at the PGA Championship, the one major that kept him from a career Grand Slam. Unlike Woods, he wasnt the best in the world when he stopped winning majors. Woods captured his 14th major in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. That was six years ago, and so much has happened since, on and off the golf course. The knee surgery. The collapse of his marriage and change in his appeal. Another swing change under a third coach. More injuries. And he no longer seems to make clutch putts, which might be worse than an injury. Woods has won 14 times, two Jack Nicklaus awards as PGA Tour player of the year and one FedEx Cup title since his last major. He is still No. 1, not only in the world ranking but in the eyes of his peers. Speculation about his future in the majors is fueled by this being the golden anniversary of Palmers last major at Augusta National, and the fact Woods isnt here. He had surgery last week on his back to relieve a pinched nerve that has been bothering him for longer that he cares to reveal. Woods wont return until this summer. No telling how many more majors he will miss before he is healthy enough to compete at a high level. His age suggests he is in his prime, but add five surgeries to those 38 years and he seems older. Its foolish to suggest Woods wont win another major. If nothing else he can win one just as easily as Justin Rose did at the U.S. Open or Jason Dufner did at the PGA Championship -- not because of who they are or what they were ranked, but simply because they are very good players and it happened to be their week. Phil Mickelson won a British Open last year when he was 42. Yes, Woods can win another major and probably will. But there was a time when "probably" wasnt part of the equation. "I probably would have put every last dollar I had on the gamble that he would break Jacks record pre-2009," Graeme McDowell said. "Now, slightly longer odds. Im not quite sure Id put every dollar I had on it now." McDowell has seen enough of Woods and the shots he could hit to never rule him out. But he has a good eye for the landscape. McDowell believes 30 per cent of the challenge for Woods will be physical and the other 70 per cent will be the field. The competition has never been this deep. What made it tougher on Palmer, more than anything, was the arrival of Nicklaus. There is no one like Nicklaus -- other than Woods, of course -- in todays game. Rory McIlroy is the best player in golf when he puts his game all the way back together. But that would be comparing a 24-year-old McIlroy with a 38-year-old Woods who will be coming off the disabled list this summer for the second time in three years. Callaway, which sponsors Palmer, had made up special golf bags for its players this week with a crown on the side as a tribute to the King and the 50th anniversary of his last Masters. Is it possible that Nike will be doing the same for Woods at the 2058 U.S. Open? Yannick Weber Jersey . Johnson shared an update after his surgery Tuesday on Twitter. He also wrote, "now lets get on the grind." The running back told The Tennessean he was having surgery in Pensacola, Fla. Filip Forsberg Predators Jersey . Thats 14 consecutive losses to the two-time defending champs, and most of them were over before they even began. Result notwithstanding, Sundays game had a very different feel to it. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Austin-watson-predators-jersey/ . "Win basketball games," Collins said. He will get at least a few more chances. Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with the Brooklyn Nets, who cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 96-80 victory Monday night. Pekka Rinne Jersey . The Canadian defensive tackle suffered the injury on Monday and had tests done on Tuesday. He was a potential starter on the defensive line but head coach Mike OShea said he wasnt even thinking about the ratio when he got the news. Craig Smith Predators Jersey . Selected by the Titans in the 2007 NFL Draft, Johnson rejoined the club last season after a five-year stint with Indianapolis.OAKLAND, Calif. - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades. Especially against Golden State. Tony Parker had 20 points and five assists, Danny Green scored 18 points and the short-handed Spurs outlasted the Warriors 99-90 on Saturday night for their 13th straight victory. "I guess they believe in themselves and in the system, and they just keep working it. Other than that, I dont really know what to tell you," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Theyve just got great character. They never give in, and I think they like the challenge when guys are out. They seem to enjoy it." Tiago Splitter added 17 points and 14 rebounds as the league-leading Spurs (53-16) pulled away with an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter. San Antonio, riding its longest winning streak in seven years, is two games ahead of Oklahoma City for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference. The Spurs did it even while resting stars Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. They are 3-0 against Golden State this season, including two wins in Oakland without their regulars, after eliminating the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs last year. "Everybody stepped up," Parker said. "When somebodys not playing, its just other guys who will do it. And we trust each other." Stephen Curry scored 20 points to go with six assists and six rebounds, and Andrew Bogut grabbed 17 boards as the Warriors head into a five-day break on a sour note. The Warriors (44-27) had won three straight but missed a chance to move up in the playoff chase after Portland lost at Charlotte. Golden State is still in sixth place in the West, 1 1/2 games behind the Trail Blazers and 1 1/2 ahead of Dallas. San Antonio has won 51 of the past 59 meetings against the Warriors. "We made some mistakes. Its a disappointing loss. Itll make us better," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "Hopefully we see them down the road again, but theres a reason why theyre the best team in basketball." After wins at the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night and at Sacramento on Friday night, Popovich rested two of his veterans as he so often does throughout the NBAs marathon schedule. Duncan, Ginobili and Parker all sat out San Antonios 104-102 victory against the Warriors on Dec. 19. Jackson has been trying to take a similar approach dduring the seasons stretch run, though the wins are not always following.dddddddddddd Swingman Andre Iguodala was inactive for the third straight game with tendinitis in his right knee, and backup centre Jermaine ONeal returned after sitting out the previous two games. Even with all the lineup changes, Jackson saw the matchup against the Spurs as a "benchmark" for where his team stands. He joked before the game that the Spurs are like a bunch of "old dudes" at a recreational centre whipping a group of high school All-Americans because of their smarts and savvy. And thats just what it looked like at the start. The Spurs opened the game on a 22-7 run and held the lead most of the way. After the Warriors moved within four in the fourth quarter, Greens 3-pointer capped an 11-0 spurt that put San Antonio ahead 87-74. The Warriors made one last push before the Spurs quickly regrouped. Parker spun for a reverse layup and Green came back with another 3 to stretch San Antonios lead back to 94-82 with 2:18 left, sending most of the announced sellout crowd of 19,596 headed to the exits. "I couldnt be more proud of them," Popovich said. "Their effort with three games in four nights, this late in the season, and the back-to-back tonight, to finish off the three in four was real special because everyone came off the bench and they gave the effort they needed to give and Im just thrilled for them." The Spurs showed off all their best attributes through the game: smothering defence, precision passing and sharp shooting. The Warriors finally found their touch late in the second quarter, when they scored 10 straight points and sliced San Antonios lead to 50-47 at the half. The teams traded scores for most of the third quarter, and the Warriors briefly took a one-point lead. The Spurs put together another surge to go ahead 76-69 entering the fourth quarter, and held on for their longest winning streak since rolling off 13 in a row was from Feb. 13 to March 13, 2007. "You dont win 50-something odd games at this point and not have a good second unit," said ONeal, who had nine points and seven rebounds. "They really fly around." NOTES: Spurs reserve F Matt Bonner also sat out with a strained right calf. ... San Antonio (15-1) and Golden State (13-5) have the most wins in the NBA since the All-Star break. ... The Spurs and Warriors meet for the final time this season April 2 in San Antonio. ' ' 've lost five straight. Jeremy Affeldt (2-1) tossed one scoreless inning to help the Giants (41-21) win for the ninth time in 11 games. Bartolo Colon gave up three runs -- one earned -- and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings for the Mets. The 41-year-old, who spent the past two seasons across the bay in Oakland, struck out four and walked two. Hudson, who began the game witth a majors-best 1.dddddddddddd5 ERA, is the first pitcher in San Francisco history with an ERA below 2.00 through his first 12 starts with the team. Even with the tough outing, Hudsons ERA is 1.97. The Mets grabbed leads of 3-0 and 4-1, but stranded 12 runners on base. "We did a good job of limiting the damage," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. The Mets ended Hudsons scoreless streak at 16 consecutive innings in the second, when Duda doubled and scored on Reckers single. In the third, Duda broke his bat hitting an RBI single off the wall in right and Recker drove in another run to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. The Mets might have had more if not for a baserunning blunder. Ruben Tejada was tagged out between second and third after Duda stopped at third and Recker ran to second. With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth, Posey grounded into a double play to score San Franciscos first run. Colon then got Sandoval to fly out. New York extended its lead to 4-1 on a wild pitch by George Kontos in the sixth, but couldnt overcome an error by third baseman David Wright in the bottom of the inning. Wright fielded a grounder and misfired to second trying to get the lead runner with two outs. Pagan followed with a two-run single to bring the Giants within 4-3 and chase Colon. Pences single loaded the bases for Posey again, but Jeurys Familia struck out Posey on a sinking fastball clocked at 96 mph. NOTES: Giants reliever Santiago Casilla, who is on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, threw 30 pitches in the bullpen. He is scheduled to throw again before Mondays game and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Wednesday. ... The Mets optioned C Travis dArnaud to Triple-A Las Vegas after the game and called up C Taylor Teagarden. ... Collins said Wright, who has started the first 62 games this season, will likely get Sunday off. The Mets dont play Monday. ... Former Giants prospect Zack Wheeler takes the mound for the Mets against San Franciscos Tim Lincecum (4-4, 5.01 ERA) in Sundays series finale. ' ' 'ey this week.dddddddddddd "I didnt see it." Stroud made five putts from over 20 feet, all coming in his last 12 holes. His made putts in the round combined for just under 221 feet, the most on the PGA Tour since Brent Geiberger covered 240 feet during the first round at Booz Allen in 2006. And Stroud did that using a new putter he picked up this week. "It has no lines on it. ... Ive been using another, but it had a bunch of lines on it," Stroud said. "I simplified my putting. Get over it, line up and try to bring the putter back square and back to the ball square at impact. Ive just been rolling it beautifully." Stroud drained a 16-footer on the 193-yard 13th hole, his third birdie of the day coming on his fourth hole. The Texas native was just getting started, with his first 20-footer coming at the par-3 16th when he made birdie from 23 1/2 feet. There was a 22-footer for birdie at the par-5 No. 1 hole, and he rolled in a 56-footer across the green at No. 4, the difficult 211-yard par 3. There was a 26-footer at No. 6 and yet another long birdie putt at his last par 3, a 34-footer at No. 8. "My driver has been bad. ... Ive hit it terrible the last two days. Really, really bad. But putted awesome," he said. "So I dont have to worry about the greens. I just need to get the ball on the greens. Usually its the opposite. I usually hit the ball really well and struggle to get the ball in the hole." On his final hole, the 406-yard dogleg-right ninth, Strouds approach was well left into a bleacher area near a concession stand. After a free drop and pitching to about 26 feet on the fringe, he two-putted from 26 feet for bogey. Tim Clark was 7 under and tied for the lead after four consecutive birdies only six holes into his round of 68. But he three-putted at the par-3 16th and didnt have another birdie until No. 9, his last hole, to get to 5 under and tied for fourth. ' ' '