US TOUR SBS CHAMPIONSHIP:TIGER WOODS' former coach Butch Harmon believes the world number one could return to golf in March. Woods, who is taking an indefinite break from the sport, has been in hiding since admitting last month he had cheated on his wife.
“Those who say he won’t play again are crazy,” Harmon said in an interview with Sky Sports on Friday.
“People who say he probably won’t play this year, I don’t really believe that (either). If you want to put a timetable on it, I’d say you may see him in Florida before the US Masters (in April).”
There are four PGA Tour events in Florida in March – the Honda Classic, WGC-CA Championship, Transitions Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods generally plays in the WGC-CA and Palmer tournaments.
Harmon said the main reason he believed the 14 times major winner will compete in 2010 is that the US and British Opens are being played on courses Woods likes.
“Pebble Beach and St Andrews are two of his favourite places so I think he will come back and play there,” said the American who now coaches world number two Phil Mickelson.
Jack Nicklaus believes Woods will find it tougher to break his record of 18 major wins if the world number one does not play this year.
“I dont know what he is going to do or play, only he can answer that,” said Nicklaus in a teleconference yesterday. “Certainly this year where (three of the four) majors are, he loves Augusta, Pebble Beach and St Andrews . . . he ‘owns’ all three of those places.
“If Tiger is going to pass my record I think this is a big year in that regard. If he doesn’t play this year obviously the chore will be a little tougher.” Woods has won the US Masters at Augusta four times, the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach and the British Open at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005.
Scotland’s Martin Laird got his PGA Tour season off to a flying start in Hawaii and immediately targeted a place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team. Laird ended the opening day a shot behind first-round leader Lucas Glover at the SBS Championship at the Kapalua Resort in a 28-player, season-opening field restricted to last year’s US Tour event winners.
The Glaswegian, who landed his maiden professional victory at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas last October, sank seven birdies and one bogey for a six-under-par 67. Glover birdied the last to take sole possession of first place.
