Westwood to Rejoin PGA Tour


England's Lee Westwood has decided to rejoin the PGA Tour in 2012. In order to do that, he must play a minimum of 15 events in the U.S. His first tournament will be the Accenture World Match Play in Arizona in February.

"I missed the Players Championship last year when watching it on television," Westwood said. "It was always a scheduling issue for me.

"It's a great event and one I've always enjoyed playing," he said of the tournament at Sawgrass in Florida.

"It just felt right in a Ryder Cup year to commit to a full program in the United States," added Westwood, who'll also play in European Tour events. "The FedEx Cup looked pretty good on TV this year. I thought it would be great to give it a go, having never taken part.

"Though the rules changed making it exempt from PGA Tour restrictions, I had already set my schedule for later in the year in Asia. I didn't want to break any of those commitments."

PGA Tour chief of operations Andy Pazder was pleased about the return to the U.S. by the current No. 3-ranked player in the world: "We are delighted to welcome back Lee as a member of the PGA Tour. He has obviously proven himself to be one of the very best and most consistent players in the world, and fans of the PGA Tour will enjoy having more opportunities to watch him compete."