The US Golf Association said it received Woods’ entry on Monday, one day after he tied for fourth in the Masters. It was his first competition in five months since he was caught cheating on his wife.

Even players such as Woods who are exempt from qualifying for the US Open must apply to play. The deadline to enter is April 28.

The US Open will be held from June 17-20 at Pebble Beach, where 10 years ago Woods won by 15 shots and tied the tournament scoring record.
 

In Suzhou,   China,  Liang Wenchong is targeting a third OneAsia title in his homeland as he seeks to become only the third Chinese winner of the China Open which starts on Thursday.

Liang and the 2003 winner Zhang Lianwei spearhead a 32-strong challenge from China in the 2.5-million-dollar event, which is co-sanctioned by OneAsia - a rival to the established Asian Tour - and the European Tour.

It is being held for the first time at the Suzhou Jinji Lake International Golf Club near Shanghai.

The 31-year-old Liang, who fine-tuned his putting and chipping practice in pouring rain on Wednesday, is on a strong run following wins in October's Midea China Classic and this month's season-opening Luxehills Chengdu Open.

"Winning in Chengdu certainly hasn't hurt my confidence. My swing is improving, although I'm still trying to get my short game to where it used to be," said Liang.

"The China Open is the most important tournament to me. It's more important than all the Majors I've played. Your country's national open is the most important event to a player, so I'll try my best."   Yang Yong-Eun, Asia's first Major winner and joint eighth at the Masters last week, heads a 15-strong Korean contingent at Jinji Lake.   Yang will play with defending champion Scott Strange of Australia and Sweden's Henrik Stenson in the first two rounds, as he returns to the country where he beat Tiger Woods to win the 2006 HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

"I'm in good form and was happy to finish top 10 at the Masters," said Yang.

"Every player goes into a tournament expecting to win, but my primary aim is to make the top 10, then I'll go for a win if I'm in contention on Sunday," added Yang, who also won the Honda Classic on last year's PGA Tour.

Stenson, who won last year's Players Championship on the PGA Tour, is the highest-ranked player in the field.

"It's about my 10th time in China and it's good to be back as I've had some great success here and I enjoy playing in China," said Stenson, who won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in 2008.

"We can expect a strong challenge from Asia this week, especially with the likes of Yang Yong-Eun, Thongchai Jaidee and Liang Wenchong.

"Noh Seung-Yul won the Malaysian Open last month, which didn't surprise me as I've been really impressed by him."   Strange, the reigning OneAsia Order of Merit winner, heads a line-up of 23 players from Australia as he attempts to become the first person to successfully defend the Volvo China Open.