Tiger Woods officially enters PGA Championship

ATLANTA—Tiger Woods, who missed the US and British Opens this year with left leg injuries, is planning to tee it up at the golf’s last major of 2011, the US PGA Championship.

Woods on Friday formally entered the PGA Championship, to be played August 11-14 at Atlanta Athletic Club.

That news comes a day after the 14-time major champion announced he would play next week at the $8.5 million-dollar WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, a course where he has won seven titles.

“Feeling fit and ready to tee it up at Firestone next week. Excited to get back out there,” Woods said in a posting on his Twitter microblogging account.

Woods has not played since May 12 when he withdrew from the Players Championship after nine holes after aggravating a strained left knee and left Achilles tendon injury he suffered at the Masters in April.

Woods has typically used the WGC event as a tuneup for the PGA Championship, a break from his routine of taking the week off before the earlier majors each year, so the event should be a solid indicator of his form.

While vowing he still has a strong chance to break the all-time record of 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, Woods has struggled with knee injuries for years and has not won a major crown since the 2008 US Open, when he limped through a playoff to claim the crown.

And the man who carried the clubs for Woods in 13 of his major triumphs will not be the man who does so next week.

Woods announced last week he had fired Steve Williams, his bagman for the past 12 years and for all but one of his major victories. The New Zealander has become the caddie for Australian Adam Scott.

Woods has not confirmed who will caddie for him in Akron, although the Golf Channel reported Thursday that Bryon Bell, a friend of Woods since their youth and president of Tiger Woods Design, would caddie for Woods next week.