Tiger Woods' planned return to golf at the U.S. Masters drew plenty of criticism from the international press yesterday with the most scathing comments from Britain.

Daily Mirror columnist Oliver Holt questioned the top-ranked golfer's reasons for coming back to play at Augusta National.

"How typical of the man to hijack the world's most famous golf tournament," Holt wrote. "How could he turn Augusta into a circus like this? Does his vanity know no limits?"

Woods crashed his SUV outside his Florida home in November, an accident that set off sordid tales of extramarital affairs.

"When he finally sticks his head above the parapet before a hungry media at Augusta National, don't be surprised if he refuses to talk about anything relating to matters that predate February 19 on the ingenuous grounds that he has already dealt with that," Douglas Lowe wrote in the Scottish paper The Herald.

The Daily Telegraph's Mark Reason called Woods a liar for making his return so soon after last month's apology.

In the Toronto Star, columnist Dave Perkins made fun of Woods' affairs.

"So that's what Tiger Woods meant when he said he would be fighting the temptations: He's coming back to golf at a club that doesn't allow women," Perkins wrote. "Bada-boom."

Not everyone attacked the American, however.

Karl MacGinty of the Irish Independent wrote: "Tiger's comeback will rival that of legendary heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali as the world tunes in to see the greatest-ever golfer face the most harrowing challenge of his career."