Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (My Sportsbook) - Five-time major champion Seve Ballesteros will return to competitive golf in 2007 and will join the Champions Tour in April.

Ballesteros, who will turn 50 the week after the Masters, hopes to play in a few PGA Tour events prior to the Masters, which will be played April 5-8. After that, he hopes to play a "significant schedule" on the Champions Tour.

The Spaniard has not played in the Masters since 2003. Ballesteros, who has been battling back problems for several years, has played in just four events over the previous three seasons, including last year's British Open.

"I am very excited to return to championship golf and look forward to competing against many of my friends again," stated Ballesteros, who won three British Open and two Masters titles. "At first, I was unsure about this decision, but after playing at this year's Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, where the crowds were so kind to me and cheered me on to play better than I had expected, I started to become very excited about playing competitively again. I will be happy to see all my friends and look forward to having a lot of fun re-connecting with the fans on the Champions Tour."

Ballesteros won 50 times on the European Tour and nine times on the PGA Tour. He played on eight Ryder Cup teams and captained the European squad to victory at Valderrama in 1997.

"We look forward to seeing Seve in the United States. He certainly brings charisma whenever he is in a tournament field," said Champions Tour president Rick George.