Woods officially commits to play at Doral

As expected, Tiger Woods will tee it up next week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, according to PGA Tour.com.

Woods, the fifth-ranked player in the world, has won three times at the TPC Blue Monster, including a memorable battle with Phil Mickelson in 2005. Mickelson, currently ranked No. 6, also officially committed to the event, which boasts a limited field comprised mainly of the top 50 players in the world rankings.

Woods missed last year's event while away from the game on a self-imposed break. He finished T-9 in his last appearance at Doral in 2009.

The 14-time major champion is off to a slow start in 2011. He finished T-44 at the Farmers Insurance Open in his first event of the season at Torrey Pines, a course where he's long dominated. He then contended in Dubai before a final-round 75 dropped him to T-20. Last week, he was eliminated by Thomas Bjorn in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

Woods hasn't won since the 2009 Australian Masters. He is currently mired in a slump of nine straight official PGA Tour events in which he has failed to finish in the top 10.

-- Alex Myers

Follow on Twitter: @AlexMyers3