Golf - European Tour:World number eight Henrik Stenson has defended his decision to rejoin the US PGA Tour this year. The Swede first joined the PGA Tour in 2007 but let his membership lapse in 2008 and 2009.
Now he has rejoined the PGA Tour, indicating he will contest the minimum 15 events while also satisfying European Tour membership by playing 12 Race to Dubai-counting tournaments.
"I've taken up membership this season so I will spend most of the spring and summer in America until the later part of the season," Stenson told reporters on the eve of the Qatar Masters.
"There were a couple of different reasons but family-wise it's convenient to be based over there and have the family in the States and also, all of the big events are in America, from the Accenture Match Play (next month) until the US Open (in June).
"I felt it was time to take up membership again. Great tournaments, great weather and great competition so it's got a lot going for it but obviously Europe is still my home tour and I'll be making a few visits here and there," said the 33-year-old.
Stenson, who has joined Rory McIlroy by committing to the 2010 PGA Tour, is among nine of the world's top-20 playing in Qatar this week.
World number 13 Kenny Perry is also in the field and has called on Tiger Woods to end his self-imposed exile from golf.
Woods is taking an indefinite break from the sport after admitting last month he had cheated on his wife.
"Tiger needs to come back for himself rather than his golf and when he does I'm going to give him a hug and shake his hand and tell him if he needs to talk or if I can help in any way, I will," Perry told reporters on the eve of the Qatar Masters.
"Tiger needs to come back as, you know, we (in golf) are his family too . . . if he comes back to us I'm sure he'll get a lot of support from the players, I really do."
After being heavily criticised for skipping the 2008 British Open, Perry indicated he would compete in July's edition at St Andrews.
"I really got crucified when I elected not to contest the 2008 British Open," he said."But I finished sixth in Milwaukee and I was able to accomplish my goal and make the Ryder Cup team.
"My whole life has been in America, now I'm comfortable with my life and I want to see the world a little bit. It's a great opportunity for me to come over here and see what it's all about and I'm pleasantly surprised."
First round tee-times
(Irl & Gbr unless stated, all times Irish, x denotes amateurs)
Starting at hole 1
0940Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Darren Fichardt (Rsa)
0950Mark Brown (Nzl), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Ariel Canete (Arg)
1000Marc Warren, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Mark Foster
1010Tano Goya (Arg), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Christian Nilsson (Swe)
1020Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Markus Brier (Aut), Gregory Havret (Fra)
1030Michael Jonzon (Swe), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Christian Cevaer (Fra)
1040John Bickerton, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Damien McGrane
1050Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), David Drysdale
1100Richard Bland, Jamie Donaldson, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned)
1110Gary Boyd, Graeme Storm, Steve Webster
1350Anthony Wall, Nick Dougherty, Robert Rock
1400 Michael Hoey,Rhys Davies, Erik Compton (USA)
1410Paul Lawrie, Peter Hanson (Swe), Ross McGowan
1420 Shane Lowry,Todd Hamilton (USA), Shiv Kapur (Ind)
1430Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Michael Campbell (Nzl), Graeme McDowell
1440Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Oliver Wilson
1450Kenny Perry (USA), Ross Fisher, Lee Westwood
1500Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
1510Stephen Dodd, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Niclas Fasth (Swe)
1520Mikko Ilonen (Fin), David Horsey, Marcel Siem (Ger)
1530Sam Hutsby, Marcus Fraser (Aus), Brett Rumford (Aus)
Starting at hole 10
0940Rafael Echenique (Arg), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Francois Delamontagne (Fra)
0950Chris Wood, Alastair Forsyth, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)
1000Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Andrew Coltart, Anders Hansen (Den)
1010Shaun Micheel (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Pablo Martin (Spa)
1020Francesco Molinari (Ita), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Colin Montgomerie
1030Simon Dyson, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
1040Soren Hansen (Den), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
1050Camilo Villegas (Col), Ian Poulter, Retief Goosen (Rsa)
1100Danny Willett, Paul Waring, Simon Khan
1110Max Williams, Seve Benson, Gareth Maybin
1350Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Kenneth Ferrie, Richard Finch
1400Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Barry Lane, David Lynn
1410Johan Edfors (Swe), David Howell, Richie Ramsay
1420Peter Hedblom (Swe), Thomas Levet (Fra), Peter Lawrie
1430Anthony Kang (USA), Rolf Muntz (Ned), Mikael Lundberg (Swe)
1440Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Danny Lee (Nzl)
1450Jeppe Huldahl (Den), James Kingston (Rsa), Alexander Noren (Swe)
1500David Dixon, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Paul Broadhurst
1510Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Thomas Aiken (Rsa)
1520Sam Little, Stephen Gallacher, Gary Lockerbie
1530Gary Orr, Bradley Dredge, Richard Green (Aus)
