Tiger Woods to return to Abu Dhabi

• Tiger Woods will start his season in Abu Dhabi for the second year in a row
• Rory McIlroy also will be in the field
• Torrey Pines, where Woods has won seven times, is the following week; Woods still could play

Tiger Woods will play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in 2013.

Whether he plays in the Farmers Insurance Open is yet to be determined. Or in the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which is open only to winners in the 2012 season.

"I'm going to take a look at the schedule after the World Challenge and really plan out my schedule through the Masters and see how many tournaments I want to play in and how I felt this year," Woods said Wednesday in a teleconference promoting the World Challenge, where he'll defend his title Nov. 27-Dec. 2 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Woods next plays in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia Oct. 25-28. "Right now I'm really focused on playing in Malaysia and playing in the World Challenge. After that I'm going to sit down over my offseason and before the New Year and plan out everything and see how many events I'm going to play in. And whether this year was a good amount, and if I can play more, I can play less, travel more, travel less, and really get a good balance and really analyze what I need to do or what I want to do."

What is known, however, is that for the second consecutive year, Woods will play the European Tour event in the Middle East. The No. 2-ranked player in the world will again be joined by world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in the $2.7 million event. Their commitments were announced Wednesday by Faisal Al Shaikh, event manager at the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, the tournament's organizers. Earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, Woods held a share of the lead through three rounds. Woods finished in a tie for third, two strokes behind winner Robert Rock, with McIlroy a stroke back in second.

"Confirming Rory and Tiger represents a coup and demonstrates how far the championship has come in its relatively short history," Al Shaikh said.

The event is Jan 17-20 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club – one week before the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, where Woods has won seven times, including the 2008 U.S. Open, his last major triumph. Last year Abu Dhabi was the week of the Farmers Insurance Open, forcing Woods to miss the tournament for the first time in his career when he was healthy. This year he could play Abu Dhabi and Torrey Pines back-to-back.

Woods is scheduled to play in 24 tournaments this year, the most since 2005.

"It was nice to be able to, other than one setback at Doral this year, to be healthy enough to where I have the opportunity to play as much or as little as I want," Woods said. "It wasn't something I was forced to sit on the sidelines, forced to rehab and try and get myself back into a position where I can compete. I was able to compete and play as many tournaments as I wanted to.

"So that was a positive. We'll see going forward what that holds."