It's been my contention all along that he wouldn't miss Augusta. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded in my outlook on life, but I couldn't see Tiger missing a major championship.

Score one for the bald guy.

1 back into the top 10 of this week's world golf rankings.

Els' win at Doral moved the three-time major winner up 12 spots to No. 8 this week.

Woods made a statement Tuesday, saying he will end his self-imposed hiatus from the game at the year's first major championship, set for April 8-11 at Augusta National in Georgia.

"The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect," Woods said in a statement on his personal website. "After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta." Woods has not played a tour event in 2010, taking time off to concentrate on his personal life in the aftermath of the car accident last Thanksgiving weekend that led to revelations of marital infidelity.

Lamely, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour, completed the event at 19- under-par 269.

The win was history-making too.

Farmers was the title sponsor for the first time earlier this year when Ben Crane fended off Michael Sim, Brandt Snedeker and Marc Leishman by a single stroke.

"We're absolutely delighted that Farmers, based upon its positive experience with the 2010 tournament, has agreed to continue as title sponsor over the next four years," stated PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. "Farmers Insurance did such an outstanding job of becoming fully engaged with the tournament on such short notice and in maximizing its role as title sponsor. We now look forward to working with Farmers Insurance on a long-term basis along with the host organization, the Century Club of San Diego, to continue the growth and local impact of the Farmers Insurance Open." Buick

Goosen closed with a one-under 70 in the final round last year, which was good for a one-stroke victory over Charles Howell III and Brett Quigley. It marked the two-time U.S.

Open champion's first PGA Tour win since the 2005 International.

Streelman made five birdies in 11 holes when the third round resumed in the morning after being suspended Sunday night due to darkness. His bogey-free 64 gave him a 17-under 199.

Steve Wheatcroft (67), Kris Banks (67) and Chad Collins (68) were tied for second place at 14-under 202 after the third round.

The decision to hold the team event only in odd years follows a vote last year by the IOC to add golf to the Olympic program beginning in 2016.

The 28-team competition will also get a new home in 2011, moving to the Mission Hills course on China's Hainan Island. It was played at the Mission Hills course in Shenzhen, China, the last three years.

Rain delays the first two days pushed everything back, as the second round was finally completed earlier Sunday.

The third round got underway with Collins in the final group. He was two-under through five holes, while Streelman was three-under through seven; the pair share the lead at minus-12.

Collins is six-under par through 11 holes of his second round and is in first place at nine-under par at Trump International Golf Club.

The second round was suspended due to darkness as this tournament tries to catch up from two days of disastrous weather.

Rain continued to pose a problem at the Trump International course, which has seen more than a foot of the wet stuff since last weekend.

Skip Kendall reached five-under par through his first nine holes to take a one-shot lead over two players, but only half of the field had even teed off following two stop-and-start days.

Investigative records obtained by the newspaper from the Florida Highway Patrol paint a clearer picture of the moments following Woods' Nov. 27 car crash, which touched off allegations and then an admission that the golfer was unfaithful to his wife.

The paperwork, according to the Sentinel, says that Elin Woods was not allowed to ride in the ambulance with her husband because the crew believed it was a domestic violence case.

Refuting an earlier New York Post report that targeted Woods' return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks, FOXSports.com led a pack of media outlets pointing to a season debut at Augusta National instead, where Woods would be playing for the first time since the fall of 2009.

A source close to Palmer told FOXSports.com earlier Thursday that they had not heard anything about the possibility of Woods teeing up at Bay Hill, a course Woods loves, in a tournament he has won six times -- including last year.

Only 18 players in a full PGA Tour field teed off before play was suspended at 7:19 a.m. local time.

After a six-hour delay, the decision was made to postpone the round for the day.

In a story Thursday, the Post credits "two sources in the golf community" with information that Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary to President George W. Bush, is working with Woods on a game plan on how to return to the tour.

That return appears to be at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks.

Appleby owns eight PGA Tour titles, including three straight wins at the winners-only Mercedes Championships, now known as the SBS Championship. The Australian ended his run of three straight wins at that event in 2006, and later that season won the Houston Open. Since then, nothing, at least in terms of wins.

Appleby had a decent 2007 with four top-10 finishes worldwide, and two top-12 finishes in the four majors. The following season, he was off to a blazing start. After missing the cut in his first start of the '08 season, Appleby reeled off six consecutive top-10s, five of which came on the PGA Tour. But following that hot start, he posted just two more top-10s the rest of 2008.

No one knows when Woods will return, but this week seemed a safe bet as he has won this event six times in the tournament's first 10 years.

Minus Woods, and Ryo Ishikawa, the remainder of the world's top-50 players will be part of the 68-man field at Doral this week as Phil Mickelson defends his title.

Tiger Woods remained No. 1 and the top nine was unchanged from last week with Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Jim Furyk, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy following Woods.

Henrik Stenson and Geoff Ogilvy moved up one spot apiece to 10th and 11th and were followed by Villegas, who has three top-eight finishes on the PGA Tour this year.

The waiver, announced Monday, means Ping's controversial Eye2 clubs will no longer be exempted from the new PGA Tour regulations banning clubs with square grooves.

"We all believe it is in the best interests of golf," John Solheim, chairman and chief executive of Ping, said in a release The waiver goes into effect March 29 and will apply to the PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours. Following a request from the United States Golf Association, the waiver will also be applied to the U.S. Open.

More than 1,500 miles away, Manuel Villegas was signing his scorecard at the Nationwide Tour's Bogota Open, a final-round 67 that earned him a tie for 15th place and a $9,900 check.

Hours later, Camilo Villegas holed a 19-foot putt on the last hole to win the PGA Tour's Honda Classic by five shots. His third PGA Tour victory netted him more than $1 million.

The 28-year-old Colombian posted a 13-under 267 to beat Anthony Kim by five shots at PGA National.

Kim had a three-under 67 and finished alone in second at eight-under 272, while Justin Rose fired a 64 to take third place at seven-under 273.

Villegas finished 54 holes at 11-under 199 and is three strokes clear at PGA National.

Vijay Singh, 1999 champion, had a one-under 69 on Saturday and is tied for second place with Australian Nathan Green, who carded a three-under 67 in round three. The pair is knotted at eight-under 202.

Villegas shot his second consecutive four-under 68 and Kim matched the course record by firing a six-under 64 on Friday. The pair is knotted at eight-under 132, which is only a shot off last year's winning score.

Vijay Singh, the 1999 champion, posted a four-under 66 and is alone in third place at seven-under 133. Jerry Kelly managed a five-under 65 and is fourth at minus-six.

The Ritz-Carlton tradition is legendary, of course, and that high standing continues here in the southwest.

Eleven months after the sensational Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course opened, The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain Resort was christened in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains.

Camilo Villegas, ranked 21st in the world, posted a four-under 66 and was joined in a share of third place by Oliver Wilson and Monday-qualifier Alex Rocha.

Vijay Singh, Bubba Watson and D.J. Trahan are tied for sixth place at minus- three on the Champion Course at PGA National Resort & Spa.