Woods sights set on a return to number one

Golf Digest/US Tour:Tiger Woods goes into the Nissan Open in Los Angeles today with a chance to reclaim the world number one spot he lost to Fiji's Vijay Singh last September.

Second-ranked Woods needs to finish in the top four at Riviera Country Club if he is to regain his status as the game's leading player, according to world rankings organiser Ian Barker of Official World Golf Ranking.

"Tiger needs to pick up 19 world ranking points at the Nissan Open to overtake the Fijian," Barker said yesterday.

"Based upon the current declared field for the PGA Tour event, this means he has to finish no worse than outright fourth or in a three-way tie for third."

Although Woods has not won the Nissan Open in nine attempts, he has produced four top-10 finishes there, including a runner-up spot in 1998 and a tie for second in 1999.

Making matters a little easier for him at Riviera is that the in-form Phil Mickelson, winner of the last two PGA Tour events, has taken the week off.

So too have Singh, who ended Woods's five-year reign at the top after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship last September, and world number three Ernie Els.

Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell, who meet in the first round of next week's World Matchplay, are also in the field.

Woods, who trails Singh by a ranking points average of just 0.12, returns to action after a three-week break since his victory at last month's Buick Invitational.

World ranking points are accumulated over a two-year period, with points awarded in the most recent 13-week spell doubled.

Each player is ranked according to his average points per tournament, points being weighted according to the status of the event and strength of the field.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Des Smyth will make his first outing on the Champions Tour this season when he joins Mark McNulty in the field for the ACE Group Classic at Twin Eagles GC, Naples, Florida, tomorrow. Craig Stadler will attempt to become the third player to successfully defend a title in Naples and the first since Mike Hill won back-to-back events in Naples in 1993-94.

Lee Trevino is the only other player to win back-to-back in Naples, claiming the 1990-91 events.

CHALLENGE TOUR: Waterville's David Higgins will join his fellow Irishmen Michael Hoey, Colm Morairty and Tim Rice in Panama today as the European Challenge Tour continues its tour of Latin America at the Panama Masters.

Higgins, who has three career victories on the Challenge Tour, missed out on last week's Costa Rica Open, where Hoey produced another fine display to finish in fifth place which moved the Belfast man to second place on the current Challenge Tour Rankings.

Hoey will be looking to continue his sparkling Latin American form, adding to his outstanding showings at the Panasonic Panama Open (where he finished third) and the TIM Peru Open (where he took second place) before Christmas.

Those fine performances have earned Hoey €29,080 for the 2005 season so far, and have left him in an excellent position to go on and secure his European Tour Card as one of the top 15 Challenge Tour players at the end of the season.