Tiger Woods is working on his golf game with coach Hank Haney this week, according to Golf Digest and the Golf Channel, but only time will tell if the work means a comeback is soon. The world No. 1 took an indefinite hiatus from competitive golf in the wake of a sex scandal that has engulfed him since late November, but the work could indicate he is preparing his game to compete at next month's Masters. Website reports for the television network and magazine, each citing unnamed sources, say Woods is working as hard as he has at any time since news of his infidelity became public. Woods, 34, has won 14 major titles, four shy of the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus, and this year's first three majors will be played on courses where Woods has taken record-setting triumphs. Woods could play at Augusta National, where he has won the Masters four times, and then have a US Open at Pebble Beach, where he captured the 2000 US Open by 15 strokes, followed by a British Open at St. Andrews, where he won the event in 2000 and 2005. US PGA players Charles Howell and J.B. Holmes told the Golf Channel they have seen Woods practicing his swing at Isleworth and it looked good. If Woods is on form, it could mean he will return to defend his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando from March 25-28. The event is two weeks before the Masters and the last major tuneup event for many Masters entrants. Woods has won the event six times, from 2000-2003 and again in 2008 and 2009. Woods has typically skipped next week's PGA event and seldom played in the week before a Masters but he has previously played in the Tavistock Cup, an exhibition between PGA talent from rival exclusive clubs Isleworth and Lake Nona which is set for March 22-23. “It's certainly going to be interesting to see not just how he plays but just how he handles the whole situation,” Britain's Rory McIlroy said. “I think everyone is excited to see him just get back out on to the golf course and play golf and from the reports I've heard, he seems to be swinging it well and as good as he ever was. “It will be exciting the next few weeks, whenever he comes back, I know a lot of people are saying Tavistock or Bay Hill,” McIlroy said. “It would be nice to see him back.”
