Tiger Woods will miss the first PGA event of 2003 after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

Organisers of the season-opening Mercedes Championships in Hawaii confirmed Woods' agent had informed them he would not have recovered in time for the event, which begins on 9 January.

Woods has had fluid drained from inside and outside the anterior cruciate ligament of his knee as well as having a number of benign cysts removed.

The surgeon who carried out last Thursday's procedure said the world number one should be fully fit again by February.

"Progressive full recovery is expected over the next couple of months," said Thomas Rosenberg.

Despite adding a third Masters and second US Open to his long list of honours, 26-year-old Woods has been bothered by inflammation in the knee for most of the year.

"I had been playing in pain most of the year and felt it was time to take care of it," he said.