SAN MARTIN, October 4, 2011 (AFP) - Former World No. 1 Tiger Woods tees off for the first time in two months on Thursday at the US PGA Frys.com Open alongside South African Louis Oosthuizen and teen amateur Patrick Cantlay.
Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, has not won any event in nearly two years since the eruption of his infamous sex scandal that led to his divorce last year from Elin Nordegren.
Woods, who has fallen to 51st in the world rankings, missed much of this season with left knee and tendon injuries suffered at the Masters in April. He has not played a PGA event since missing the cut in August's PGA Championship.
Cantlay, a 19-year-old collegian who has four top-25 finishes in US PGA events this year, and Oosthuizen, last year's British Open winner, will join Woods off the first tee at 12:10 p.m. Thursday (1910 GMT) and the 10th tee at 7:40 a.m. Friday (1440 GMT).
Another group features a trio of major champions in American Justin Leonard, Argentina's Angel Cabrera and South African Ernie Els, who has not cracked the top 10 in a US event this season.
Also in the field at par-71 CordeValle Golf Club is England's Paul Casey, who is among those trying to break into the season's top 125 money winners to secure playing rights for next year. He's 135th so far on $460,074.
Woods, who is in no danger of not keeping his card, ranks 118th on this year's money list with $629,863 from only eight events.
The tournament is only a short drive from Stanford University, where Woods attended college.