PONTE VEDRA BEACH, November 23, 2011 (AFP) - England's Lee Westwood will rejoin the US PGA Tour in 2012 after spending the past three seasons on the European Tour, the world number three announced on Wednesday.
Westwood, who was last a US PGA member in 2008, will be required to play 15 events, including the four majors and World Golf Championships events that he most likely would be playing anyway.
"It just felt right in a Ryder Cup year to commit to a full program in the United States," Westwood said.
Holders Europe will defend the Cup against an American squad next September at Medinah near Chicago.
Westwood said he especially missed playing in this year's US PGA Players Championship, which he skipped because he had previously scheduled events in Asia for the same week.
"It's a great event and one I've always enjoyed playing," Westwood said. I missed The Players Championship when watching it on television.
"It was always a scheduling issue for me. 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."
Former World No. 1 Westwood plans to play his first US event of next year at the World Golf Championships World Match Play in Arizona next February.