30 July,2011 01:29 AM IST | | AFP
Tiger Woods, a 14-time major champion who has struggled with a left knee injury, will play his first competitive event in nearly three months next week at a World Golf Championships tournament.
Tiger Woods
The former World No 1 announced yesterday on his website that he will play at the $8.5 million WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio -- a course where he has won seven titles.
"I'm excited to get back out there," Woods said.
Woods has not played since May 12 when he withdrew from the Players Championship after nine holes after aggravating a strained left knee and left Achilles tendon injury he suffered at the Masters in April. "Feeling fit and ready to tee it up at Firestone next week. Excited to get back out there," Woods said in a posting on his Twitter microblogging account.
Woods, who has fallen to 21st in the rankings, has not won a title since the Australian Masters some 20 months ago, just before the eruption of a sex scandal that ruined his iconic image and led to a divorce from Elin Nordergen.
Woods missed the US Open and British Open on the advice of doctors, resting and rehabilitating his left leg, and has only recently started to hit balls in practice sessions.
