Ernie Els returns to the Doral Golf Resort and Spa this week for the first time since he held off Tiger Woods to win the 2002 Doral Championship by two shots.
The big South African, ready for his third successive PGA Tour start of the year, is delighted to be back at one of his favourite venues.
"I'm really looking forward to it," the world number four said on his official website.
"In the past few years this event has always clashed with the 'Desert Swing' on the European Tour but, with the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters moving to an earlier slot in the diary, it means I can play here.
"It's nice to be going back to a golf course where I've won before and played well. I've got a lot of good memories from this place.
"I'm hoping the 'Blue Monster', as its known, will inspire me and kind of get my game moving into top gear."
Three-times major winner Els, sidelined for four months at the end of last year after twisting his knee on a family sailing holiday in the Mediterranean, has struggled for form in his first two U.S. appearances of the season.
He tied for 23rd at the Nissan Open in Los Angeles two weeks ago before being eliminated by Germany's Bernhard Langer three days later at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the biggest upset of the opening round.
"I knew I'd have to be on my game to come through, but unfortunately my long game let me down and he basically didn't make many mistakes," Els said. "No complaints. Bernhard deserved to win this match.
"Is there a bright side to losing in the first round at La Costa? Probably not, but at least I got a chance to spend some time working on my game before the Ford Championship at Doral.
"It's my first time back here since 2002, when I won the tournament by two shots, holding off a last-day charge from Tiger."
Els loves the balance of Doral's par-72 Blue Course.
"I just love the straightforward playability of this course," he said. "There are holes where you need to fade it, others that require a draw.
"You've got long par-fours, short par-fours, a nice mixture of par-threes and par-fives. You need to be able to work the ball here, basically have all the shots to score well."
Els faces one of the strongest fields of the season in his bid to clinch the 16th victory of his PGA Tour career.
American Woods returns to defend the title he won 12 months ago after overhauling Phil Mickelson by a stroke with a superb final-round 66.
The win returned Woods to the top of the world rankings after an absence of 26 weeks and was one of seven titles he claimed worldwide last year.
Apart from Woods and Els, seven other members of the game's top 10 are competing this week.
Second-ranked Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen (third), Mickelson (fifth), Sergio Garcia (sixth), 2000 champion Jim Furyk (seventh), David Toms (ninth) and Chris DiMarco (10th) are all in the field for the 10th event on the 2006 PGA Tour.
The sole absentee is world number eight Adam Scott of Australia, who will return to the U.S. for next month's Players Championship, a tournament he won in 2004.
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