Tiger Woods to take part in Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte

Tiger Woods said he was 'excited' about competing in the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte. The tournament is a regular station on his post-Masters calendar and appears to confirm Woods’s intention to resume his normal schedule.

Woods usually uses Quail Hollow as a warm-up event for the so-called 'fifth major’, the Players Championship, and judging by Thursday’s announcement, he can now be expected at both that tournament at Sawgrass and the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village a week later.

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After last week’s Masters at Augusta, when his much-trumpeted return to golf after a five-month absence passed without incident, Woods had hinted at another short break from the game, expressing his intention to “take a little time off and re-evaluate things”. However, this process appears to have taken less than a week, with Woods yet again returning earlier than anticipated.

It will be Woods’s first experience of a boisterous crowd, rather than the reverential congregation that politely applauded him to a fourth place finish at Augusta. Clearly Woods feels ready to enter the gladiatorial arena once more, although it is safe to assume that his wife, Elin, will not be accompanying him.

Although he planned to contest the US Open at Pebble Beach in June, it was thought that he would maintain a sparse itinerary, perhaps turning up at Sawgrass on May 6 as a favour to Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner.

The timing of the announcement is also telling. Following the early submission of his US Open entry form earlier this week, Woods has again opted to make his decision ahead of schedule rather than leaving it until the last minute, as he has tended to in the past.

This latest courtesy by the seemingly rehabilitated Brand Tiger – showing, as he promised, “more respect for the game” – will not go unappreciated by the organisers, who will now have almost two weeks to make preparations for the surge in media and spectator interest that is likely to accompany Woods’s appearance.

The organisers at Quail Hollow could barely contain their delight. “We are very happy to have Tiger coming back,” said executive director Kym Hougham. “Although we did not know if he was going to be able to make it this year, we have been preparing for another strong field.”

It will be Woods’s fifth appearance in what was previously known as the Wachovia Championship, since it was introduced in 2003. He won in 2007, as well as finishing in a tie for third in 2004 and fourth last year.

He will face a strong field, including Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and defending champion Sean O’Hair. “I’m excited about competing,” Woods said. “It’s a wonderful venue and they always have a great field.”

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