Tiger Woods is going into the golf course design business.

The world number one today announced the creation of Tiger Woods Design, with himself as chairman, and said: "My goal is to provide a unique collection of amazing courses all over the world that represent what I love about golf.

"I'm very excited to announce the formation of this company and get to work on finding the right projects for my first few courses.

"I've had the luxury of playing golf around the world and I've spent a lot of time evaluating how to play all kinds of courses.

"I'd like to share my experience and the lessons I've learned and hopefully create some amazing, fun courses."

Woods, in Shanghai this week for the HSBC Champions tournament, added: "There are golfers everywhere that may never get a chance to play a links course in Scotland, a tree-lined course in America or the sand belts of Australia. Hopefully I can bring some of those elements into their backyards.

"I wanted to wait until I felt I had enough golf experience to launch Tiger Woods Design. I've been working very hard over the last decade to get a feel for all kinds of courses and really understand the best elements of design.

"Now I feel I've logged enough time and learned enough lessons to start this venture.

"I've spent a lot of time talking with experts in this field and gathering as much information as possible about what a great course should be.

"Friends like Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio have been a tremendous help by sharing their support and advice on this new venture."