Tiger Woods to play 2011 Australian Open in Sydney

Tiger Woods has confirmed his appearance in the 2011 Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Course in Sydney.

The head of Golf Australia announced this morning that Tiger Woods will be in the field at the 2011 Australian Open. Along with other confirmed starters Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson, the field is surely becoming the best in the 107-year history of the tournament.

It is an interesting announcement considering Woods has been out of action due to injury, he is currently number 28 in the World Golf Rankings, and is no certainty to make the Presidents Cup team to play in Melbourne the week after.

The injury
Woods always said he wouldn’t be returning to competitive golf until he was 100% fit again and he will be making his return at the WGC Bridgestone Invitation at Firestone this week. It is a course he has won on seven times.

If we are to believe Woods, which takes some a lot of effort these days, he obviously believes he is 100% fit and happy to not only play this week, but commit to the Australian Open in November.

The #28 world ranking
We all know Tiger hasn’t played much the past few years and this is the reason for the ranking drop. It is extremely unusual to see Woods out of the top-10 but we all know what he is capable of on (and off) the golf course. Any tournament in the world would be stupid not to want a 14-time major winner in the field.

Furthermore, it has been 15 years since he played in Sydney and is a welcome boost for our national tournament.

The Presidents Cup
Fred Couples, the US Team captain, has always said he will use one of his captain’s picks to choose a 100% fit Tiger Woods. If Tiger is fit enough to play the week before the Presidents Cup, then he’s surely fit enough to play the week after in Melbourne.

He must have had confirmation of this decision by Couples as I couldn’t see Woods playing in the Australian Open without being assured of a spot in the Presidents Cup.