Tiger to rise again at Phoenix

TIGER WOODS will be looking for only his second victory of the season when he heads a strong overseas field at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan this weekend.

Woods, whose lone success this year came nine months ago at the Accenture Match Play Championship, will be joined in Miyazaki by an array of golf's leading stars such as Open champion Todd Hamilton, two-time Phoenix winner Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Stewart Cink and KJ Choi.

Woods previously visited this event in 2002, but finished a disappointing eighth - six shots behind surprise winner Kaname Yokoo.

Last year's champion Bjorn will be back to defend his title but could be considered an outsider after a poor season. The unpredictable Dane has had a disappointing year, even claiming that "demons" were blocking his view of the fairway before walking off the course six holes into the Irish Open.