LOS ANGELES (AP) — All it took were six words on his Web site to bring the buzz back to golf.
"I'm now ready to play again," Tiger Woods said Thursday. More than eight months after Woods winced and wobbled on one good leg to win the U.S. Open, the world's No. 1 player said his reconstructed left knee and his game were in good enough shape to compete.
He entered the Accenture Match Play Championship, which begins Wednesday just outside Tucson, Ariz., and where Woods will hit his first real shot in 253 days.
The return of Woods was welcomed by the PGA Tour, which has seen television ratings plummet in his absence, and even the players whom Woods has routinely beaten while compiling 65 victories.
"He was ready to go weeks ago," Stuart Appleby said. "I don't think he needs to do a couple of laps around the track. He'll be on that horse and he'll be whipping it."
Woods posted his news during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, and the tournament — not to mention its leader, Phil Mickelson, who opened with a career-best 63 at Riviera — soon became insignificant.
"I think it's awesome," Kenny Perry said. "The economy is down. We need something to boost us up. And there's going to be a gazillion reporters there, so it will be fun to be around. That place is going to come to life."
In the eight months that Woods has been gone, Padraig Harrington won two majors, the Americans won the Ryder Cup and Vijay Singh won the FedEx Cup. But with a mainstream audience, golf loses relevance without Woods.
"We are delighted that Tiger is returning to competition and look forward to watching him compete next week," commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement, which read more like an understatement.
Woods has not been seen inside the ropes since June 16, when he rapped in a short par putt at Torrey Pines to defeat Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open for his 14th major, which Woods called "probably the best ever" given the circumstances.
The U.S. Open was his first tournament since surgery on his left knee to clean out cartilage after the Masters. Preparing for his return, Woods suffered a double stress fracture in his left tibia. The swelling was so bad at Torrey Pines that he couldn't see his knee cap.
He limped badly over the final few days, at times using his club as a cane.
A week after the U.S. Open, he had surgery to rebuild the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, ending his season. It was his third surgery in five years on the knee.
What to expect upon his return?
"He's human," swing coach Hank Haney said. "He has played one tournament in 10 months. I would think he would be a little rusty, but I really don't know what to expect. Nothing with Tiger ever surprises me."
