Woods Confirmed to Play at Australian Masters

Friday, March 20, 2009 -- Since 1998, Tiger Woods will be making his first appearance in the Down Under Australian Masters in November 12-15 at the Kingston Health. John Brumby, Victoria state premier, predicted that the game with the top rank golfer will increase the state’s earnings to an estimate of $12.54 million economic benefits. It is enough to offset Woods appearance fee of $3 million. Andrew Langford-Jones, director of the Australian Tour tournament, believes the event is a good investment, since their people’s incomes depend mostly in golfing activities.

Tiger Woods is selective with regards to his appearances outside the U.S. The Australian Open would be his fourth appearance since the President’s Cup in 1998. This was the time when U.S. was defeated at the Royal Melbourne. His first visit in the Australian Open was in 1996 in Sydney where he tied for 5th behind Norman.

He also played in the Australian Masters at Hungtingdale in Melbourne in 1997. He finished tied for 8th and was 7 shots behind Australian winner Peter Lonard. In 2002, Woods played in the 2002 New Zealand Open held at the Paraparaumu Beach. He finished tied for 6th with 6 strokes behind Craig Parry.

Woods just returned from an eight-month lay-off due to knee surgery. It took place right after his victory at the U.S. Open in 2008, his 14th career major.