Tiger Woods makes his return
TARGET WORLD CHALLENGE, Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California - Tiger Woods returns from the longest break of his career this week to play at a tournament he has won three times before.
The Target World Challenge features an elite 16-player field that boasts 15 of the top 56 golfers in the world, including half of the world top-20.
 Tiger Woods has won three times at this event. |
Woods, the world No. 1, will be playing competitively for the first time since the last round of the Presidents Cup on September 30th. The defending champion, Woods also won the event in 2001 and 2004.
The $5.75 million event benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation.
“I am excited to get back to the golf course and defend my title,” Woods said in a statement posted on his Web site. “This is our ninth year, and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to raise funds and awareness for the kids that my foundation supports.”
The field features four more players in the world top-10: No. 3 Jim Furyk, No. 4 Steve Stricker, No. 8 Padraig Harrington and No. 10 Vijay Singh.
World No. 11 and notorious Tiger-baiter Rory Sabbatini leads the rest of the field, which includes Masters champion Zach Johnson (No. 15), Henrik Stenson (16), Luke Donald (17), Niclas Fasth (20), Paul Casey (21), Lee Westwood (24), Brett Wetterich (31), Mark Calcavecchia (47), Colin Montgomerie (56) and Fred Couples (491).
The winner will earn $1.35 million — Woods gives his prize money right back to his foundation — and every participant will receive at least $170,000. The 72-hole event begins Thursday and will be covered the first two days by the Golf Channel and broadcast by NBC on the weekend.
EUROPEAN TOUR
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS OPEN, Pearl Valley Golf Estate, Paarl, South Africa - Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera is the only 2007 major winner not in the field this week for Tiger Woods’ Target World Challenge.
 At this event last year, Ernie Els set a tournament scoring record at 24-under 264. |
Instead, Cabrera will highlight the field this week at the South African Airways Open, the sixth tournament already on the 2008 European Tour schedule and last in the 2007 calendar year.
The Argentine will be joined in the field by a pair of South African stars: defending champion and four-time tournament winner Ernie Els, and two-time champion Retief Goosen.
Els is coming off a disastrous finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, where he carried a two-shot lead to the 72nd hole and finished with a triple- bogey to lose by a shot to John Bickerton.
At this event last year, Els set a tournament scoring record at 24-under 264 — three shots better than the previous mark. He owns eight top-three finishes in 13 appearances.
The Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds this week. The European Tour breaks until the start of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on January 10th.
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