Golf:Rory McIlroy has been paired with Tiger Woods and Luke Donald in the marquee grouping for the first two rounds of this week's Abu Dhabi championship. All three players will be making their first appearances of the season at the high-profile event in the desert state.
Woods, who will start his 16th season in the professional ranks, has declared he is the fittest he has been in around a decade as he seeks to get back to his world-beating best.
"Actually it's been quite a few years since I've been physically fit," Woods said today. So I'm looking forward to getting out there and then playing and giving it a full season, which I haven't done in a while, so I'm really looking forward to that. It's probably been about eight, 10, 12 years ago I felt 100 per cent. I had surgery in 2002. I had surgery in 2008. A couple of others ones in there, too.
"I missed most of last year and then to finally be able to get ready for a tournament properly and to do the type of lifting that I think I need to do to be ready, I was finally able to do that. Hence my game came around, so it's very exciting."
Woods - a winner of 14 majors - will tee-up in Abu Dhabi with a formidable record in the Middle East having previously competed in the Dubai Desert Classic on six occasions, winning in 2006 and 2008 and only finishing outside the top-five once.
Woods again expressed his disappointment when asked about the decision of former coach Hank Haney to release a book entitled The Big Miss,chronicling his time working with Woods.
"Am I disappointed? Yes. Frustrated? Certainly, because I have to answer the questions. It's been a while, you know, since I haven't had to answer those questions."
McIlroy aside, there will be seven other Irish players in the field with Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Pádraig Harrington, Michael Hoey, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane all in the Middle East.
