Fit Tiger raring to go in 2012

Tiger Woods says he will start this season fitter than he has in at least the past eight as he prepares for the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

The 14-time major winner will compete at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club for the first time, choosing to play the European Tour event instead of the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open, which he has won six times.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's start to the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, Woods said he was entering this season the fittest he has been in a while.

"It's been quite a few years since I've been physically fit," Woods said on Tuesday, as he prepares to 'give it a full season' in his bid to regain the world number one ranking.

When asked when he last felt this fit during January, Woods said: "I don't know, probably eight, 10, 12 years ago."

Woods, the world number 25, broke a two-year drought without a win when he took out the Chevron World Challenge in December last year.

A win against a strong field at Abu Dhabi could lift him into the world's top 10, and he said the quality of opposition excited him.

"The guys who have played here have said these wonderful things," Woods said, preparing to take on the likes of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer.

"This is a new event for me. This is exciting for me. This is an incredible field that they've assembled here."