Victoria Govt. wants Wood's to play in Australian Masters

Melbourne, Apr 6 (ANI): The Victorian Government will bid to have Tiger Woods return to Melbourne to play in the Australian Masters this year.

Sports Minister James Merlino said Victorians will welcome back Woods with open arms and the government would love to have him back, despite the controversy surrounding his sex life.

Last year Woods received a 3.25 million dollars appearance fee to play in the event, which he won, with the state government chipping in 1.5 million dollars.

Earlier, Australian politician Peter Ryan had said that Woods should be disqualified from receiving taxpayer dollars to play in Victoria because of his infamous transgressions.

"To be committing to Tiger Woods' return at this point in time is not the right thing to do. People in the public arena, in whatever form, whether they like it or not, are role models. It applies particularly to the case of Tiger Woods," The Age quoted Ryan, who is deputy Coalition leader, as saying.

Ryan said Woods was undoubtedly a master golfer but the government should wait to see how he dealt with the issues.

Last year, Woods was paid a three million dollar appearance fee to play at November's Australian Masters - half of which Victorian taxpayers reportedly funded.

According to a report by the state government, the Melbourne tournament, which Woods won, injected more than 34 million pounds into the state's economy. (ANI)