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February 25, 2009

Tiger Woods Returns to Golf After Long Absence
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Woods will play in World Golf Championship Match Play event near Tucson,
Arizona Wednesday for first time since last June's victory at US Open 
       Tiger Woods, 24 Feb 2009World No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods of the
United States returns to action on Wednesday for the first time since
last June's victory at the U.S. Open. Woods will tee off at the World
Golf Championship Match Play event near Tucson, Arizona.

 Woods underwent knee surgery after his dramatic playoff victory at the
U.S. Open during which he struggled hitting his shots and walking the
course. He has been sidelined since then and is anxious to return to
competition.

 He played a practice round for the tournament on Tuesday and held a
news conference afterwards. "[It] feels great to be back out and get
back out in a competitive environment again. And it feels really good,"
he said.

 Woods said both of his legs "are a lot stronger than they have ever
been." He said that during his time off the golf course, he enjoyed
spending time with his family, especially his new son Charlie, who was
born earlier this month. Woods was asked why he decided to return to
competition this week. "My practice sessions have been going really
well, so I felt good there. It was just a matter of [ my wife] Elin and
[my son] Charlie feeling good. And as long as they're healthy and secure
at home, then I was ready to come back and play," he said.

 Even though he has been off the tour for so long, Woods had accumulated
enough points to maintain his top ranking. That means he is the top seed
at this week's tournament. So he will first play the 64th and lowest
seeded golfer, Brendan Jones of Australia 

 Woods knows that in a match-play format, which is head-to-head and
single elimination, he has to be on his game right away. Nearly all
other PGA events use stroke play over four rounds in four days.

 Opponent Jones has spent most of his golfing career playing in Japan.

 Still, Woods said he knows he will be nervous, but that it is great to
feel that rush of adrenaline. He added that the day he is not nervous is
the day he will quit the sport.


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