Woods choses Pebble

[fiona18]

Tiger Woods is set to end a10-year absence from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am next month.
The former World No 1, who was the Pro-Am winner there in 2000 and then won the US Open at the Pebble Beach Links in 2002 by a staggering 15 strokes, hasn\'t played in the Pro-Am event in 10 years, perhaps because his apparent dislike of Pro-Ams
\"I\'m excited to start my PGA Tour season at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am,\" Woods said on his website this week.
\"AT&T is a great partner to my Foundation, and I\'m looking forward to playing with Nike VR-S Irons in this event. I haven\'t been to this tournament lately, but I have a lot of good memories at Pebble. It will be fun going back.
\"It\'s always been one of my favourite spots,\" said Woods, whose last appearance at the stunning venue on the Monterey coast in California was a fourth place in the 2010 US Open, won by Northern Ireland\'s Graeme McDowell.
Despite no appearance in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for 10 years, Tiger had previously played the event six times and, as well as his win in 2000, can boast a second place in 1997 and two other finishes in the top 15.
Since he last appeared in 2002, the tournament has improved by trimming the field from 180 players to 156 players, and taking Poppy Hills out of the rotation and replacing it with the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula.
Although Pebble Beach, set to be played from February 9-12, will be his first US Tour event of the year, Woods\' opening tournament of 2012 with his Nike VR-S Irons
will actually come at the European Tour\'s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship which starts on January 26th.
Woods ended his 2011 campaign by winning the Chevron World Challenge with Nike VR-S Irons
in December, a result which lifted him back into the world\'s top 25 after he\'d dropped out of the top 50 after a two-year winning drought.