Woods to lead strong field at Aussie Open

Sydney (AP):

Tiger Woods is poised to sign to play the Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club from November 10-13.

Open officials remain tight-lipped but a formal announcement will be made as early as tomorrow.

The inclusion of the former world No.1 will cap an already stellar field for the national championship.

Woods will head arguably the best field to compete for the Stonehaven Cup. Dustin Johnson (world No.7), Jason Day (No.8) and Bubba Watson (No.13) have already committed to play alongside defending champion Geoff Ogilvy and Presidents Cup captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples.

But Woods, 35, is the feather in the promoters' cap and his appearance - first tipped by The Daily Telegraph last December - will create massive interest.

Pulling power

Terms of the contract are unclear, but it is understood the state government, through Events NSW, will foot the majority of the bill.

The controversial American has played to full houses in Melbourne for the past two years at the JBWere Masters and is sure to have NSW fans and sponsors clambering to be involved, with tickets on sale from the middle of this month.

Woods has not played in Sydney or at the Australian Open since November 1996 when he tied for fifth at The Australian Golf Club as a 20-year-old, just six months before he took the world by storm with the first of his four US Masters titles.

He has since won 14 major championships, only four behind Jack Nicklaus on the all-time list.

Adding to Woods' pulling power is the drama that has dogged him since he left Melbourne in 2009.

The Masters at Kingston Heath remains his most recent tournament victory, coming just days before his world fell apart in a sex scandal that ended in a tumultuous and public divorce.

He has since suffered repeated leg injuries and fallen out of the top 20 in the world rankings for the first time since January 1997.

Woods' decision to play the Open caps a busy week after announcing he would play in this week's WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio, then the following week's US PGA Championship. These will be Woods' first tournaments since he withdrew midway through the first round of The Players Cham-pionship in May with knee and achilles injuries he suffered during the US Masters in April.

His prolonged absence has also sent Woods crashing down the rankings for the American Presidents Cup team. But although his 25th rating is well outside the automatic top 10 who will qualify to play at Royal Melbourne the week after the Australian Open, it is the most concrete sign he will return to Victoria for a third successive year.

Big names guaranteed

Couples indicated in June that he wanted his two captain's selections to play in Sydney, and it is highly unlikely Woods would venture to Australia on a one-week jaunt with the Presidents Cup just a week later.

Couples has made no guarantees, but has said a fit Woods would be an almost certain starter to take on the international team at the biennial event.

With Johnson and Watson all but guaranteed to be automatic selections, it also makes it possible that another big-name American will join the growing party at The Lakes.

Americans in the mix to get the nod from Couples include Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Moore, 2007 US Masters champion Zach Johnson and emerging star Rickie Fowler.

A host of big-name Aussies are likely to join Day and Ogilvy, but Adam Scott will probably defend his Singapore Open title.