Although his website lists his first event of 2011 as the Omega Dubai Desert Classic as I reported yesterday, Tiger has decided to return to the scene of his most prolific success, Torrey Pines in San Diego where he has won 5 times, in fact the last five times he has played there..
As is so often the case these days we found out about it on Twitter... Here is the AP story.
“I've been working hard on my game, it's game time hooah!!”
With that tweet, Tiger Woods confirmed he will open his 2011 campaign at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
While the tournament has become the traditional start of his season since 2006, Woods has not played the PGA Tour stop at Torrey Pines the last two years. He missed the 2009 event while recovering from knee surgery and last year he was dealing with personal problems related to his extramarital affairs.
Woods has won the last five times he played Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate.
Woods will be joined in San Diego by Phil Mickelson, who will also make his 2011 PGA Tour debut after competing in the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Woods, who lost his No. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood last year, has not won since the Australian Masters in November 2009.
Prior to Wednesday, the only other tournament listed on Woods 2011 schedule was the Dubai Desert Classic in February. Many believe Woods could play as many as five tournaments before the first major of the year, the Masters.
So great news for Farmer's Insurance who have a mediocre field headlined by hometown favourite Phil Mickelson, but now the spotlight is on for them, the PGA tour, CBS and golf fans around the world.
How will Tiger play, has Sean Foley got him back on track. You'd think that with 2 months off to practice everyday he would be all set with his swing, his putter and his confidence, playing on a course he loves..
We shall see.. Tell me, what do you expect from Tiger next week ??
Phil Mickelson gave his press conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this morning and announced he has packed in his Veggie diet and is back on the burgers !!
Here is that report from the Europeantour.com and Reuters..
ABU DHABI - Masters champion Phil Mickelson has abandoned the strict vegetarian diet he adopted to combat psoriatic arthritis during his disappointing 2010 season when victory in Georgia was his only success.
The 34-year-old American joins his three fellow major champions -- Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and defending titleholder Martin Kaymer -- on Thursday in the strongest Abu Dhabi championship in the event’s six-year history.
“I was a strict vegetarian for five months, and that went okay but ultimately, it was doomed to fail,” he told a news conference on Wednesday. “I learned a lot from that as far as eating habits and diet and so I’ve implemented a lot of the things from that.
“I continue to eat a lot more vegetables than I have in the past and I’m trying to have a better balance now than instead of all protein.
“But as far as the arthritis, that’s something that will never go away but I was fortunate. I was fortunate because I got on it right away.
“So the key for me now was getting on it right away before there was permanent damage to any joints or whatnot.”
Mickelson, who is making his competitive debut in the Middle East, has slipped to fourth in the world rankings alongside McDowell. The pair will play alongside on the first two days at the National Club course.
“My goal this year in 2011 is to have the year I expected 2010 to be,” Mickelson said. “With the exception of the Masters, it wasn’t the year I had hoped for. And so I’ve been working hard in the off-season to make 2011 the year I believe I can have and the one I had hoped for last year.”
The former world number two said he had struggled with his strength work in the gymnasium.
“I had lost a lot of strength over the summer from some medications I took before I was really getting treatment,” he said.
“I was having difficulty getting that strength back, and so I have added protein back into my diet, and since then I’ve been able to get back to lifting weights and so forth to what I was lifting before.”
Mickelson like so many ( eg..Colin Montgomerie ) has struggled with his diet over the years, fighting the flab as the great Terry Wogan used to say became more of a focus for him 3 years ago when he decided to take his fitness seriously by eating sensibly and incorporating daily sessions in the gym as part of his regime.
Bryan Angus
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