Tiger makes Pebble Beach Pro-Am his 2012 opener

Woods, who hasn’t played in the tournament since 2002, was the winner in 2000 and later that year returned to the California course to win the US Open by a staggering 15 strokes. “I’m excited to start my PGA Tour season at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am,” Woods said on his website. “AT&T is a great partner to my Foundation, and I’m looking forward to playing 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 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 has played the event six times previously and, as well as his win in 2000, can boast a second place in 1997 and two other finishes in the top 15.

Woods’ opening tournament of 2012 will be the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, which starts on 26 January. The former world No 1 ended his 2011 campaign by winning the Chevron World Challenge 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 win drought.

Meanwhile, Steve Stricker took a five-shot lead into the final round of the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii after a late flourish on Sunday. The 44-year-old had initially struggled to build on his stunning second-round 10-under-par 63 – with Martin Laird, Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd all taking advantage to close the deficit. However, four birdies in the last four holes saw Stricker move clear of the chasing pack and to 19-under overall.

Laird, Scotland’s top-ranked player, and defending champion Byrd both signed for 67s to tie for second along with Simpson (69).

Stricker admitted he was delighted to have maintained his healthy cushion at the top of the leaderboard, particularly after a slow start.“It was pretty stagnant out there for me today,” said Stricker. “I was not doing anything very special there for the first, I guess, 14 holes and then just hit a couple of good shots at 15, the par 5, and stole a birdie at 16 after spinning it off the green and chipping it in.

Laird also was pleased with his day’s work, although he was not surprised by the quality of Stricker’s finish. “I got close to the lead before Strick went and birdied the last four holes, but after playing with him yesterday, that’s no surprise,” said the 28-year-old. “I played well today and, the same as the first two days.”