Golf: Tiger toys with European Tour option

Tiger Woods is not ruling out taking out membership of the European tour at some time in the future.

Woods is competing in Dubai for the £1m Desert Classic starting on Thursday.

But to qualify for the Order of Merit Woods would have to play in 11 counting events.

He said: "It's something I've thought about. It would involve a lot of travelling and a lot of demands on my time, but it's something I would like to do one day.

"It's hard to have a run at the money list on both sides (of the Atlantic) and right now my priority is the States, but I like to play globally."

But for that 11-event restriction the world number one would have topped the Order of Merit the last two years. Yet since the four majors and the three world championships count, he is not far from meeting the requirement already.

He won the Johnnie Walker Classic in November - despite the date it counts towards this year's money list - and is also playing in the Deutsche Bank Open in Heidelburg in May.

Attention has focused so far this season on the fact that Woods has not won on any of his five starts.

But the man himself states: "I feel I've been playing pretty good.

"My stroke average is exactly the same as last year - the only difference is that I haven't won.

"I feel I'm close. I'm giving myself chances and that's all you can do.

"It's been frustrating because your ultimate goal is to win and I've not achieved that. But you have to be realistic - you're not going to win all the time - and it (not being as successful as he was last year yet) doesn't hurt."