Great Britain's Lee Westwood will split his playing time in 2012 between Europe and the USA after deciding to rejoin the PGA tour.

The switch will allow the 38-year-old to feature in The Players Championship at Sawgrass, a competition that he missed last year due to a schedule clash.

"I missed The Players Championship last year when watching it on television," Westwood said. "It was always a scheduling issue for me.

"Though the rules changed making it exempt from PGA Tour restrictions, I had already set my schedule for later in the year in Asia. I didn't want to break any of those commitments.

"It's a great event and one I've always enjoyed playing. It just felt right in Ryder Cup year to commit to a full programme in the United States."

Westwood is currently ranked number three in the world.