Seve Ballesteros is planning a return to competitive golf next year, including the Masters at Augusta in April and then on the US Seniors Tour.

Ballesteros has played only three tournaments in the last three years, but rounds of 74 and 77 in the last of them - the Open at Hoylake in July - prompted a rethink about retirement.

Last month at The Heritage in Killenard the 49-year-old Spanish star was still undecided, but he announced in Madrid today: "I am very excited to return to championship golf and look forward to competing against many of my friends again.

"At first I was unsure about this decision, but after playing at this year's Open Championship, where the crowds were so kind to me and cheered me on to play better than I had expected, I started to become very excited about playing competitively again.

"I will be happy to see all my friends and look forward to having a lot of fun re-connecting with the fans on the Champions Tour."

Ballesteros turns 50 the day after the Masters, where he has not competed since 2003 and where he has not made the halfway cut since 1996.

The plan is for a number of warm-up tournaments on the PGA Tour in America before heading to Augusta and a return to the course on which he triumphed in 1980 and 1983, but where he shot 85 on his last appearance.

The last of his 89 worldwide victories - three of them Open titles - was the Spanish Open in 1995.