Tiger Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee yesterday to repair cartilage damage, his second operation in five years on the same knee. He is expected to miss at least a month while he recovers.

The surgery, announced on his Web site, came two days after Woods finished two shots behind Trevor Immelman in the Masters. He likely will miss The Players Championship, but should return in time to play the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

“I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters,” Woods said. “The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can.”

The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods’ left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.

Woods gave no indication his knee was bothering him the first three months of the season, when he won his first four tournaments to extend a winning streak that dated to September.

“Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthoscopic surgery was recommended,” said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG. “Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible.”