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Feeling rusty but ready to play again, Tiger Woods said Friday he would return to competition next week at Congressional in the Quicken Loans National.

Woods last played on March 9 at Doral, where he dealt with pain in his lower back and closed with a 78 for his highest final-round score on the PGA Tour. He had back surgery March 31, forcing him to miss the Masters for the first time. He also missed the U.S. Open last week at Pinehurst No. 2.

The announcement on his Facebook page delivered a jolt of good news to golf. Woods has been the game's biggest draw since he turned pro in 1996, and with limited information about his recovery, speculation was starting to build that he might not make it to any majors this year.

"After a lot of therapy, I have recovered well and will be supporting my foundation next week at the Quicken Loans National," Woods said on Facebook. "I've just started to hit full shots, but it's time to take the next step. I will be a bit rusty, but I want to play myself back into competitive shape. Excited for the challenge ahead."

This is the first year for a new title sponsor at the PGA Tour event that donates its charity money to the Tiger Woods Foundation, and the tournament earlier this year secured an agreement to return to Congressional every other year through 2020.

Woods on Thursday announced that he signed a new endorsement deal with MusclePharm, which will display its logo on his golf bag.

"He has been the face of golf for the last 15, 20 years, and golf is a better sport and a better place with Tiger Woods in it," two-time major champion Rory McIlroy said last week at the U.S. Open. "So hopefully, he has a speedy recovery and he gets back on the course soon, because any tournament where Tiger Woods is a factor, he creates a big buzz."

This is the second-longest break Woods has taken from golf because of injury. He missed the second half of the 2008 season when he had reconstructive surgery on his left knee just a week after winning the U.S. Open for his 14th major.

Even though he spent the offseason working on his body, there were signs early that something might be wrong.

He missed the 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines, where he was the defending champion and an eight-time winner at one of his favorite courses. He had his worst finish ever at Dubai when he tied for 41st. Then, he withdrew in the final round of the Honda Classic because of back spasms, and despite being in the penultimate group at Doral, he struggled badly with his back on the final day after taking a swing from an awkward stance outside a bunker.

Woods had microdiscectomy surgery a week before the Masters, and he has said in rare appearances that he did not know how long it would take to properly heal. His agent, Mark Steinberg at Excel Sports Management, said earlier this week that Woods was making enough progress to extend his swing.

Even so, playing the Quicken Loans National was thought to be too soon.

It couldn't come soon enough for the tournament.

"We're thrilled, obviously," said Mike Antolini, the tournament director and vice president of championships for the Tiger Woods Foundation. "Anytime you get that call and Tiger is in your field, it's really the best news you can get. The fact he's a two-time champion and the tournament hosts, we're very excited for the fans."

He said he expected a spike in ticket sales with Friday's announcement.

The strength of Quicken Loans National field has suffered in recent years as more Europeans moved into the top 20 in the world, and they headed across the Atlantic Ocean as the European Tour headed places like Ireland, France and Scotland leading up to the British Open.

Adam Scott, who has replaced Woods at No. 1 in the world while he has been out, was not planning to return this year.

"To be honest, we were prepared regardless for a good event," Antolini said. "Our ticket sales, we think they're going to be increased on this news now."

Three years ago, Woods withdrew after nine holes at The Players Championship because of an Achilles tendon injury and missed more than two months. He said then he had learned from past mistakes and would not try to return before he was in full health.

Assuming he is at full strength now, he likely will be at the British Open at Royal Liverpool and the PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he won majors the last time they were held on those courses. Woods been stuck on 14 majors since that '08 U.S. Open victory.

Woods is at No. 207 in the FedEx Cup — having played only three events — and could have as many as five events to reach the top 125. He also is at No. 67 in the Ryder Cup standings. U.S. captain Tom Watson has said he would use a wild-card pick on Woods, though he had eased off that position in recent weeks when the status of Woods' recovery was unknown.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Experts say last month's historic floods in Bosnia caused about 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in damages and will cause a sharp drop in the country's gross domestic product.

Ricardo Zapata Marti, head of a team of local and international experts, said Wednesday their initial report shows that because of the floods, Bosnia's GDP growth will drop from previous 2.2 percent down to 1.1 percent. They will announce a final report in two weeks.

Bosnia has no way to recover without international help and hopes that a July donor's conference will offer a way out.

May's floods and landslides killed 25 people, forced a quarter of Bosnia's four million people to flee their homes and devastated a quarter of the nation's territory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donors to the campaign committees of the two major parties have forked over at least $614 million so far this election cycle and show no signs of slowing down. That heavy giving will allow the campaign committees to flood voters' televisions with ads, mailboxes with fliers, and phones with calls promoting candidates for House and Senate races.

Federal law required the committees to report no later than Friday how much money they have raised — and, perhaps more telling, how much they have spent.

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DEMOCRATS PAY DOWN DEBT

The Democratic National Committee is making progress at whittling down a once-enormous debt, trimming its red ink to less than $5 million for the first time since mid-2012.

The DNC amassed significant debt as it spent heavily on President Barack Obama's re-election bid in 2012. At the end of July 2012, the DNC reported almost $4.8 million in red ink, but that number ballooned to a high of almost $23 million in March 2013 as bills came due and donors tired of giving.

The DNC has raised $107 million since January 2013, including $8.6 million last month. It still owes $4.9 million vendors who produce campaign ads, mail and data providers.

The party also reported it had $7.9 million in the bank.

The Republican National Committee had not yet filed its reports.

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SENATE DEMS BUY BUILDING, BEST GOP

Senate Democrats' campaign arm borrowed $5.2 million to buy a Capitol Hill home next to its headquarters.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the last 11 years had leased the Mott House, which has campaign committee offices and is a frequent venue for Democratic fundraisers. The campaign committee borrowed the entire purchase price for the property, which is next door to its main headquarters and is steps from the Senate grounds.

The DSCC report also showed it again outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committee, continuing a trend during 15 of the last 17 months.

Democratic donors gave $8.3 million and helped the DSCC save $28.2 million.

GOP donors, meanwhile, gave $5.8 million in May. The committee has saved $22.1 million.

In all, the Senate committees have raised a combined $154 million.

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DESPITE LONG ODDS, HOUSE DEMS TOP GOP

House Democrats' campaign arm last month again outraised Republican rivals despite long odds of ousting the GOP from the majority.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $7.3 million in May while the National Republican Congressional Committee collected $6 million. Democrats' House-oriented committee has now outraised its GOP counterpart in 15 of the last 17 months.

Combined, the committees have raised $241 million this cycle and have banked $81 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Those staggering sums, however, might be irrelevant to deciding the balance of power in the House. Redrawn congressional districts after the 2010 census heavily favor Republicans, and the party that holds the White House historically has lost seats in elections at this point in a president's term. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, is very unpopular in many congressional districts.

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HOUSE COMMITTEES START SPENDING

The campaign committees are amassing huge bank accounts and are ready to empty them on ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has saved $45.9 million and has booked $44 million in advertising time for November's elections.

The National Republican Campaign Committee has banked $35.2 million. It has reserved $30 million in air time.

Those ad reservations, which have not yet come from the committees' accounts, come on top of the $128 million they've spent this cycle.

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BIG DONORS STILL HAVE SWAY

The Democratic-backing House Majority PAC raised almost $1.8 million in May. Of that, $1 million came from Chicago businessman Fred Eychaner and brought his total giving to the group run by former aides to Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to $1.5 million.

Eychaner, the founder of Chicago-based Newsweb Corp., previously wrote a $4 million check to the Senate Majority PAC, which is run by former aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Senate Majority PAC raised $2 million in May and spent $7 million to help endangered Democrats. The top donation to group was $400,000 from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association PAC. Baltimore attorney Peter Angelos gave $300,000 to the committee, and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians in Tacoma, Washington, gave $250,000.

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Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott

BOSTON (AP) — Four circus acrobats injured during a hair-hanging stunt were expected to discuss the accident that sent them plummeting to the ground during a live performance in Rhode Island.

The four were to speak on Tuesday at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, although that number could change depending on their conditions, said their lawyer, Michael Krzak.

Eight acrobats were injured during a May 4 performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Providence when the apparatus from which they were suspended fell, sending them plummeting to the ground. Most have not spoken publicly about the accident and their injuries.

Krzak said on Monday that seven of the women recently hired his firm, Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices. The eighth acrobat has hired her own local lawyer, he said.

While the firm has not yet filed any lawsuits, he said it is conducting an in-depth investigation into what happened. He said the firm is waiting to get access to several pieces of evidence, including a broken carabiner clip, which held up the mechanism that suspended the women and which local investigators said snapped into three pieces.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is still investigating the accident.

Samantha Pitard, 23, a native of Champaign, Illinois, who was less severely injured than the others with fractures on her spine and a head injury, is among those who hired Krzak. She told The Associated Press last month that every circus performer knows they are risking their lives every time they perform, and it's a risk they take to make people happy. She said she hoped to return to the ring someday.